Health workforce education and training
The Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health and the
report of the High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth evidence a growing mismatch between supply, need (SDG-based) and demand (ability to employ) resulting in skills and staff shortages, even in high-income countries.
Shortages are driven both by the demographic and epidemiological transitions facing countries and by the ambition of UHC and integrated, people-centred service delivery models.
Scaling up and strengthening the quality of health workforce
education and training to address the global gap of 18 million health workers, and to support, strengthen and empower the existing health workforce, is a priority in the 2019 multi-agency SDG global action plan and the WHO 13th General Programme of Work.
The WHO Secretariat supports countries to review policy options, including regulatory frameworks, management and information systems for human resources for health,
and education systems that can meet current and future needs of communities. Socially accountable education models for health professionals will have to be matched by scale-up of technical vocational education and training for other health and
social occupations.
Current priorities within the WHO Health Workforce Department include:
- The Global Health Workforce Network Education Hub, coordinated by the WHO Health Workforce Department, brings together a collaboration of networks, agencies, academic institutions and individual experts to work collaboratively towards the development and dissemination of products that facilitate better alignment of student selection, pre-service and in-service education and training with population needs, health systems and health labour markets. The Education Hub is currently focusing on the development of a Global Competency Framework for UHC;
- Ensuring the quality and sustainability of the health workforce is essential to the achievement of UHC. The accreditation of educational institutions and the regulation of health worker practice are core mechanisms to ensure health workforce quality and sustainability. Across WHO Member States, regulatory mechanisms and resources are under stress due to the increasing volume and privatization of health professional education; rising importance of previously unregulated occupations; emergence of new occupations; humanitarian crises; accelerating international mobility; as well as escalating patient demand and expectation. At the same time, innovations and reforms in regulation are underway across WHO Member States to strengthen health workforce quality and sustainability. WHO is convening 2-300 stakeholders at a symposium in December to address these issues;
- Digital education, if properly designed and implemented, can strengthen health workforce capacity by delivering education to remote areas and enabling continuous learning for health workers. WHO is developing guidelines on digital education for health
workforce education and training.