Human Resources for Health [hrh] - Discussion List

One of the recommendations coming out of the National Consultation was the establishment of a South African discussion list on HRH issues to keep debates alive. The Health Systems Trust kindly agreed to host the discussion list.

Below a bit of background to this new discussion list, which aims to facilitate debates and conversations which will take the very topical matter of human resources for the health sector in South Africa forward.

Globally, there is wide acknowledgement that human resources are the greatest obstacles to achievement of the goals of public health. It is therefore essential for greater attention to be paid to this critical component of the health sector in order to address the global public health crisis which has been mediated by circumstances such as the HIV/AIDS pandemic, by efforts to reform the health sector, and by global macro-economic policies.

For the past two years, the Rockefeller Foundation-facilitated Joint Learning Initiative (JLI) on Human Resources for Health (HRH) has been engaged in discussions towards understanding the global challenges, and making recommendations for a renewed global agenda for this important and vital component of the public health sector. Issues related to the:

• history of human resources for health;
• their supply;
• the dimensions of demand for human resources for the health sector;
• responses to specific priority conditions of global concern;
• some innovative approaches to addressing the challenges; and
• a special focus on the crisis in Africa

have been explored through a global enquiry and consultation facilitated by a number of working groups, comprised of individuals with a range of experiences.

The JLI developed and worked with the following conceptual framework to understand the inter-relatedness and complexity of HRH issues:

Much has been achieved during this short period: in particular, the JLI has succeeded in placing the issue of HRH – on the agendas of many of the major donor and development agencies, and has contributed to the revitalisation of the human resources division of the World Health Organization.

However, within the JLI, there has been acknowledgement that the process is incomplete, and that a systematic approach to ensuring country-level engagement in the global dialogue is a vital next step. To this end, the JLI has facilitated national consultations on HRH in a few countries, including Thailand, Lithuania and Brazil.

On 3 and 4 September a JLI National Consultation was held in Cape Town. It was attended by altogether 52 participants from the following stakeholder groups:

• Government departments:
• Health, Education, Public Service
• Public health system:
• national, provincial, district, local
• Professional associations
• Regulatory bodies
• Trade unions
• Higher education institutions
• Research bodies
• Civil society NGOs & advocacy groups
• JLI global and country meeting representatives

Very useful discussions were held over two days.

Below is a summary of suggested agenda points to be tackled over the next few years.

To Subscribe to the list
Send a message to: lyris@hst.org.za
In the body of the message: subscribe hrh Name Surname

Keywords	This Item is associated with the Following Keywords: Human Resources.
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