In Pacific island countries; the shortage of skilled health workers, compounded by out-migration, is a major constraint in the delivery of health care and health interventions. Subsequently, the World Health Organization is convening a working group meeting in Nadi in the coming week on the Pacific Human Resources for Health Alliance (PHRHA), which is aimed at ensuring that the roadmap for PHRHA is relevant and aligned to the human resources for health needs and priorities of the Pacific.
Dr Chen Ken, WHO Representative in the South Pacific stated, “The need for a specially trained and multi-skilled health workforce to meet the specific needs of the small island populations living in relative isolation from secondary health services has been discussed both informally and formally on many occasions.”
Dr Chen also went on to state “Now, we have the coordinating framework to initiative this change. This meeting presents an opportunity of great potential for strengthening the most important building block of the health system – the health workforce, the backbone of the health system.”
A key ingredient of well-functioning health systems is a health workforce that is sufficient, competent, fairly remunerated, equitably distributed, and properly equipped and supported. However, having such health workforce capacity and support will require among other things, political commitment, government leadership, unprecedented partnerships and collaboration among all stakeholders, development partners, and resource investment by both countries and partners to implement national health workforce policies, strategies and plans.
Thus the meeting, which follows closely on the Informal Consultation on Human Resources for Health held in Suva in December 2007, will be attended by senior officials from the Ministries of Health of Pacific island countries, representatives from various regional and international organizations; and education institutions involved in the preparation of health personnel.