SEA/RC67/21 Rev.1 - Regional strategy on strengthening health workforce education training

Abstract

Progress has been made since the World health report 2006 on “Working together for health” and resolution WHA59.23 on rapid scaling up of health workforce production. However, challenges in human resources for health (‎HRH)‎ or health workforce (‎HWF)‎ still remain in Member States of the WHO South-East Asia Region. Among others, these include weak HWF policy and planning, low investment levels, and discrepancies between demand and supply. As a consequence, shortage, inadequate competency, maldistribution and poor working environments are issues common to all Member States. To address the urgent need to improve the quantity and quality of health workforce in the Region, the Sixty-fifth session of the Regional Committee for South-East Asia adopted the resolution “Strengthening health workforce education and training in the Region”. As a follow-up, the WHO Regional Office has developed a draft “Regional Strategy on Strengthening Health Workforce Education and Training in the South-East Asia Region” based on the outcome of country comprehensive assessments. The draft was reviewed at the Regional Expert Group Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, in May 2014. The High-Level Preparatory (‎HLP)‎ Meeting held in the Regional Office in New Delhi, India, from 14 to 17 July 2014 reviewed the draft Regional Strategy and made the following recommendations: Action by Member States (‎1)‎ Member States should develop partnerships between educational institutions and the health-care delivery system to make the educational system more responsive to the health needs of the country. Action by the WHO Regional Office (‎1)‎ The topic on the Regional Strategy on Strengthening Health Workforce Education and Training in South-East Asia should be included in the Agenda of the Sixty-seventh Regional Committee for its consideration.