Partnering to Build Human Resources for Health Capacity in Africa: A Descriptive Review of the Global Health Service Partnership’s Innovative Model for Health Professional Education and Training From 2013-2018

Document Type : Short Communication

Authors

1 Seed Global Health, Boston, MA, USA

2 Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

3 Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

4 Seed Global Health, Kampala, Uganda

5 Seed Global Health, Lilongwe, Malawi

6 ASCEND Program/Crown Agents, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

7 Center for Global Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

8 University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA, USA

9 Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA

10 Catholic Medical Mission Board, New York City, NY, USA

11 Former US Peace Corps, Washington, DC, USA

12 Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

Abstract

Several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (3, 16, 17) point to the need to systematically address massive shortages of human resources for health (HRH), build capacity and leverage partnerships to reduce the burden of global illness. Addressing these complex needs remain challenging, as simple increases in absolute numbers of healthcare providers trained is insufficient; substantial investment into long-term high-quality training programs is needed, as are incentives to retain qualified professionals within local systems of care delivery. We describe a novel HRH initiative, the Global Health Service Partnership (GHSP), involving collaboration between the US government (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief [PEPFAR], Peace Corps), 5 African countries, and a US-based non-profit, Seed Global Health. GHSP was formed to enlist US health professionals to assist in strengthening teaching and training capacity and focused on pre-and in-service medical and nursing education in Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Eswatini and Liberia. From 2013-2018, GHSP sent 186 US health professionals to 27 institutions in 5 countries, helping to train 16 280 unique trainees of all levels. Qualitative impacts included cultivating a supportive classroom learning environment, providing a pedagogical bridge to clinical service, and fostering a supportive clinical learning and practice environment through role modeling, mentorship and personalized learning at the bedside. GHSP represented a novel, multilateral, public-private collaboration to help address HRH needs in Africa. It offers a plausible, structured template for engagement and partnership in the field.

Keywords


  1. Goal 3: Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform. United Nations. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg3.  Accessed May 29, 2020.
  2. World Health Organization (WHO). The World Health Report 2006: Working Together for Health. Geneva: WHO; 2006.
  3. Campbell J, Dussault G, Buchan J, et al. A Universal Truth: No Health Without a Workforce. Geneva: WHO; 2013.
  4. Cometto G, Tulenko K, Muula AS, Krech R. Health workforce brain drain: from denouncing the challenge to solving the problem. PLoS Med. 2013;10(9):e1001514. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001514
  5. Awases M, Gbary A, Nyoni J, Chatora R. Migration of Health Professionals in Six Countries: A Synthesis Report. WHO Regional Office for Africa; 2004.
  6. Aiken LH, Buchan J, Sochalski J, Nichols B, Powell M. Trends in international nurse migration. Health Aff (Millwood). 2004;23(3):69-77. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.23.3.69
  7. Institute of Medicine. The U.S. commitment to global health: recommendations for the public and private sectors. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2009.
  8. Kerry VB, Ndung'u T, Walensky RP, Lee PT, Kayanja VF, Bangsberg DR. Managing the demand for global health education. PLoS Med. 2011;8(11):e1001118. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001118
  9. Siegel KR, Ali MK, Hutcheson M, Narayan KM. Global Health and US Academia: Converging Interests. Health Affairs; 2013. doi:10.1377/hblog20130405.029821
  10. Cancedda C, Cotton P, Shema J, et al. Health professional training and capacity strengthening through international academic partnerships: the first five years of the Human Resources for Health Program in Rwanda. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2018;7(11):1024-1039. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2018.61
  11. Republic of Liberia. Investment Plan for Building a Resilient Health System in Liberia, 2015 to 2021. Liberia: Ministry of Health; 2015. https://au.int/web/sites/default/files/newsevents/workingdocuments/27027-wd-liberia-_investment_plan_for_building_a_resilient_health_system.pdf.  Accessed May 29, 2020.
  12. World Health Organization (WHO). The Global Burden of Disease: 2004 Update. Geneva: WHO; 2004.
  13. Mullan F, Frehywot S, Omaswa F, et al. Medical schools in sub-Saharan Africa. Lancet. 2011;377(9771):1113-1121. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(10)61961-7
  14. United States Government. H.R.5501 - Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008. Washington, DC: United States Government; 2008. https://www.congress.gov/bill/110th-congress/house-bill/5501.
  15. Chiaravalli J, Lufesi N, Shawa E, Nkhoma V, Sigalet E, Dubrowski A. Management of an obstructed tracheostomy in a limited-resource setting. Cureus. 2017;9(5):e1246. doi:10.7759/cureus.1246
  16. Monroe-Wise A, Mashalla Y, O'Malley G, et al. Training tomorrow's leaders in global health: impact of the Afya Bora Consortium Fellowship on the careers of its alumni. BMC Med Educ. 2016;16(1):241. doi:10.1186/s12909-016-0750-x
  17. Feldman MD, Arean PA, Marshall SJ, Lovett M, O'Sullivan P. Does mentoring matter: results from a survey of faculty mentees at a large health sciences university. Med Educ Online. 2010;15. doi:10.3402/meo.v15i0.5063
  18. Malawi. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/countries/mwi/en/.  Accessed May 29, 2020. Published March 21, 2020.
  19. Bezuidenhout MM, Joubert G, Hiemstra LA, Struwig MC. Reasons for doctor migration from South Africa. S Afr Fam Pract. 2009;51(3):211-215. doi:10.1080/20786204.2009.10873850
Volume 11, Issue 7
July 2022
Pages 919-927
  • Receive Date: 08 June 2020
  • Revise Date: 02 November 2020
  • Accept Date: 04 November 2020
  • First Publish Date: 29 November 2020