Note: Governments provide the political leadership, resolve and resources to effectively steward the education, deployment, management, financing and performance of a health workforce that equitably serves population needs, promotes the right to health and accelerates progress towards population-specific, comprehensive universal coverage.
Partners, including consumers, civil society, the private sector, professional organizations, academia, and – in those countries where it is applicable – multilateral and bilateral agencies, support and facilitate the strengthening of the health workforce through mutual respect, participation, accountability, solidarity and financial subsidy, aligned with national needs and mechanisms.
Health workers, in all cadres and sectors, should be responsive to population needs and enhance the quality of health systems and services.
Governments, partners and health workers collectively and individually support a transnational, coordinated effort to strengthen the health workforce. They do so by ensuring the effective implementation of applicable international and regional conventions and resolutions on the right to health, the social determinants of health, universal coverage and the health workforce, using evidence, innovation and technologies to do so.
Adapted from Global Health Workforce Alliance (2013).27
We recognize the limitations inherent in an ex post analysis such as this. The complexity of decision-making and the confounders influencing improved health outcomes are not discussed here. Hence, while the paper explores causal mechanisms, it is beyond its scope to express causal conclusions. Instead, we use the case studies and wider published literature to identify what appears to have worked and where and draw examples of good practice from this evidence base.