Human resources

Adequately resourced and appropriately structured human resources are essential for health service provision. Here you will find details of projects WCPT is involved with and other useful organisations.

Global Health Workforce Alliance
Positive practice environments
IOM Inter-Sessional Seminar on Migration and Human Resources for Health
International Centre on Nurse Migration
Institute of International Education's Scholar Rescue Fund
World Health Organization resources
WCPT Congress learning materials
- Recording of discussion panel - Health human resources: factors affecting equitable access to physical therapy in all parts of the world

Global Health Workforce Alliance

The Global Health Workforce Alliance (GHWA) was created in 2006 as a common platform for action to address the chronic critical shortage of health workers worldwide. The Alliance is a partnership of national governments, civil society, international agencies, finance institutions, researchers, educators and professional associations dedicated to identifying, implementing and advocating for solutions. It recently published an annual report on Adding Value to Health.

GHWA have a dedicated YouTube channel focusing on health workforce issues. Videos on the channel can be shared through YouTube's networking tools.

The Global Health Workforce Alliance launched a microsite to highlight and raise awareness of the global health workforce crisis ahead of the Second Global Forum on Human Resources for Health, in Bangkok, 25-29 January 2011. This site was developed in partnership with the Guardian.

E-updates
- January - February 2010
GHWA newsletters

The GHWA newsletter is published quarterly with news and events of the Alliance Secretariat and the wider Alliance. It also provides brief information about recent publications published by the Alliance or its members.

The Global Health Workforce Alliance, the Prince Mahidol Award (PMA) Conference and the World Health Organization are delighted to announce that they will jointly convene the Second Global Forum on Human Resources for Health in Bangkok, Thailand on 25-29 January 2011.

This Forum will review and assess progress made on the Kampala Declaration and Agenda for Global Actions; celebrate successes and identify gaps and new challenges for the health workforce crisis.

Visit www.who.int/workforcealliance/forum/2011/en/index.html for further information.

The first Global Forum on Human Resources for Health was held in Kampala, Uganda from 2-7 March, 2008. It called for immediate and sustained action to resolve the critical shortage of health workers around the world. Attendees at the Forum endorsed the Kampala Declaration and Agenda for Global Action. This high profile event was attended by nearly 1500 participants, including donors, experts and ministers of health, education and finance.

Mark your calendar
- Second Global Forum on Human Resources for Health
  - Report from the Forum
- First Global Forum on Human Resources for Health

A Call to Action: Ensuring Global Human Resources for Health

International Health Workforce Migration
Geneva, Switzerland - 22-23 March 2007

In May 2008 a new report from the March 2007 conference, A Call to Action: Ensuring Global Human Resources for Health, was released and presents specific recommendations for hospital and health system leaders, funding agencies, professional associations and government officials on ways to improve the scaling up of workforces and health systems infrastructure in both developing and developed countries. The release of this report comes just after the Global Health Workforce Alliance (GHWA) statement on the announcements by the US and UK governments to provide support for increasing the numbers of health workers across four African countries.

Webcasts of the plenary sessions from this conference are also available.

Positive Practice Environments (PPEs)

PPE Campaign to improve work environments and aid in staff recruitment and retention.

PPEs are settings that ensure the health, safety and personal well-being of staff, support the provision of quality patient care and improve the motivation, productivity and performance of individuals and organisations. There is clear evidence globally that the current workforce shortages and the lack of positive practice environments are having a serious negative impact on the recruitment and retention of health professionals, the productivity and performance of health facilities, and ultimately on patient outcomes.

To address the issue of PPE, the World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT), The International Council of Nurses (ICN), International Hospital Federation (IHF), International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), World Dental Federation (FDI), and World Medical Association (WMA) are collaborating with the Global Health Workforce Alliance (GHWA) to undertake a campaign to improve work environments and aid in staff recruitment and retention through the development of positive practice environments (PPEs).

Country case studies developed as part of the PPE campaign in Uganda and Zambia are available on the PPE campaign website.

IOM Inter-Sessional Seminar on Migration and Human Resources for Health

An intergovernmental organization established in 1951, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society.

In March 2006, the IOM together with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) held a seminar on Migration and Human Resources for Health: From Awareness to Action, in Geneva, Switzerland. You can download a copy of the summary report of the IOM Inter-Sessional Seminar on Migration and Human Resources for Health

International Centre on Nurse Migration

The International Centre on Nurse Migration (ICNM) is a collaborative project launched by the International Council of Nurses and the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools. Established in 2005, ICNM works to address gaps in policy, research and information with regard to migrant nurse workforce and serves as an international resource for the development, promotion and dissemination of documentation on nurse migration.

Access ICNM newsletters.

Institute of International Education's Scholar Rescue Fund

The Institute of International Education's (IIE) Scholar Rescue Fund (SRF) provides fellowships for established scholars whose lives and work are threatened in their home countries. These fellowships permit professors, researchers and other senior academics to find temporary refuge at universities and colleges anywhere in the world, enabling them to pursue their academic work and to continue to share their knowledge with students, colleagues, and the community at large. When conditions improve, these scholars will return home to help rebuild universities and societies ravaged by fear, conflict and repression. During the fellowship, conditions in a scholars home country may improve, permitting safe return post-fellowship; if safe return is not possible, the scholar may use the fellowship period to identify a longer-term opportunity.