Hmmm...10 Facts to Ponder...

The World Health Organization recently issued a list of 10 facts about the global health workforce, tocoincide with the First Global Forum on Human Resources for Health, held this month, 2-7 March, inKampala, Uganda.

What do you think of these facts? What would you change or add to these facts?

Here are the 10 Facts:

Fact 1 - Health workers work
Health workers are people whose main activities enhance health. They include health care providers and people who manage and support delivery systems. Worldwide, there are 59.8 million health workers. Without them, prevention and treatment of disease and advances in health care would not reach those in need.

Fact 2 - Shortage of health workers
In 2006, WHO stated that a country with less than 2.3 doctors, nurses and midwives per 100 000 people is undergoing a critical health worker shortage. This is the case in 57 countries (36 of which are in sub-Saharan Africa).

Fact 3 - One million health workers missing in Africa
The global health worker shortfall is over 4.2 million, with 1 million health workers needed for Africa alone.

Fact 4 - Sub-Saharan Africa has 25% of the global disease burden
Sub-Saharan Africa faces the greatest challenges. It has 11% of the world's population and carries 25% of the global disease burden. Yet the region has only 3% of the global health workforce and accounts for less than 1% of health expenditures worldwide.

Fact 5 - Americas have 10% of the global disease burden
In comparison, North America and South America, which together have 14% of the world's population but only 10% of the global disease burden, employ 37% of the global health workforce and are responsible for over 50% of the global health expenditure.

Fact 6 - Pandemics
Many factors have led to the health workforce crisis, including growing economic disparities between countries and upsurges in new and old pandemics. Such pandemics pose special challenges to workers; for example, HIV/AIDS is a 'triple threat' to health workers, causing far bigger workloads, psychological stress, and the daily risk of HIV infection.

Fact 7 - Innovative trainings
Training a nurse takes at least three years; training a doctor can take more than six. If action to expand the health workforce is taken now, effects will only begin to be felt years later. Innovative methods (distance learning, task shifting or community health worker programmes) can shorten this delay effect, but there is no "quick fix" to this problem.

Fact 8 - Migration
Health worker migration is increasing due to disparities in working conditions, wages and career opportunities. One in four doctors and one in 20 nurses trained in Africa later migrate to work in more developed countries. In Africa and some Asian countries, a public sector physician's monthly wage can be less than US$ 100; in higher resource countries, monthly salaries can exceed US$ 14 000.

Fact 9 - Funding
WHO estimates that a rapid health workforce scale-up by 2015 would cost US$ 447 million on average per country per year. WHO advocates for 25% of the US$ 12 billion (2004 figure) devoted to international health aid to be spent on the health workforce.

Fact 10 - Global Health Workforce Alliance
The health workforce issue crosses many sectors – no single entity can successfully address it on its own. The Global Health Workforce Alliance has brought together a coalition of health leaders, civil society and workers to explore solutions to this crisis at the first Global Forum on Human Resources for Health in Kampala, Uganda in March 2008.