HRH Resources
- CCA's 2008 U.S.-Africa Private Sector Health Forum: Innovative Solutions to the Health Worker Shortage Workshop Panel Presentations
- USAID ISSUE BRIEF: "Increasing the Role of the Private Health Sector"
Innovative Initiatives Addressing the HRH Crisis
African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) - AMREF hosts a number of training initiatives in over 40 African countries, which adds more than 10,000 community health workers each year. Several highlights include the Sudan 's Maridi National Health Training Institute and the Kenyan “eLearning” initiative. Opened in 1998, Sudan 's Maridi National Health Training Institute offers a three-year course in public health care, nursing care and surgical procedure covers anatomy, orthopedics, and pathology to pharmacology, psychology and psychiatry. It produces skilled and well-rounded medical professionals, able to diagnose and treat illness, perform surgery and educate communities. In conjunction with Accenture, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, AMREF, the Nursing Council of Kenya, and the Kenyan Ministry of Health developed an “eLearning” program with the goal of registering 20,000 Kenyan nurses by 2011. The program consists of four computer-based training modules being delivered through more than 100 eLearning centers – reaching nurses in the most remote areas of Kenya . Twenty-five nursing schools are also taking part in the program. To date, more than 4,500 nurses have enrolled in the program, using both print and eLearning modules.
The Capacity Project – An innovative global initiative funded by the USAID, the Capacity Project is designed to help developing countries build and sustain the health workforce so they can respond systemically to the challenges of implementing and sustaining quality health programs. At the U.S.-Africa Private Sector Health Forum, Senior HR Management Systems Advisor Ummuro Adano highlighted one of the Capacity Project's successful partnerships, the Kenya Emergency Hiring Plan. Thanks to Deloitte, AMREF, the Kenya Institute of Administration, and the Kenya Medical Training College , the project hired 890 staff in much needed communities in less than six months. In addition to their onsite presence, members of the Capacity Project developed the HRH Global Resource Center, a user-friendly, online library devoted to the HRH crisis in developing countries.
Ghana Surgical Skills Training Center – Located in the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra , the Ghana Surgical Skills Training center conducted the first Advanced Trauma Operative Management (ATOM) course in West Africa in 2005. Since then, the center has trained hundreds of surgeons in the region. ATOM is guided by three key objectives: 1) improving the level of care for severely injured trauma patients in West Africa; 2) forging professional exchanges between trauma surgeons in the U.S. and surgeons in West Africa; and 3) training surgeons in West Africa on the techniques of advanced trauma operations management. An International Aid initiative, this program receives support from Johnson & Johnson and the West African College of Surgeons.
Health Careers of America – Health Careers of America, Inc. (HCOA) is in the business of helping to solve a global healthcare problem through the training, retention and replenishment of nurses and allied health professionals for international service in Asia, Africa, Europe, Caribbean and North America . Through its incredibly innovative program Millennium Managed Migration (M3), HCOA connects trained health professionals from “source” countries such as Uganda to “destination” countries such as Canada . As stipulated in the agreement, a sponsor hospital or clinical hires a trained worker from a source country. Throughout the program, the worker's wages are divided among bank accounts in both the home and “import” countries, and upon successful completion of the program the worker is eligible for tuition reimbursement. The savings mechanism is the true driving force of this initiative. As noted in an article written for CCA's HIV/AIDS & Health Initiative, should the program be successful, they “ anticipate the program will grow from 500 workers beginning July 2009 (6-months savings) to a cumulative number of 20,000 workers each saving 12-months out of the year at an average of $500 per month or $6,000 per annum.” In a cyclical fashion, all parties involved benefit and learn through this partnership.
HealthStore Foundation/CFW Shops - As Chairman of the Board and Co-Founder Scott Hillstrom noted in a plenary session at the U.S.-Africa Private Sector Health Forum, HealthStore uses franchising to distribute basic health care in the developing world. Operating out of Kenya and Rwanda , HealthStore/CFW targets nurses and community health workers as franchise owners to address a short list of diseases. Franchisees offer therapies and interventions, including medicines supplied through the CFW shops, for which they are specifically trained. CFW concentrates on creating many small outlets offering a limited number of services, but reaching more people with these basic services. The CFW model may be more efficient for the health system as patients with basic ailments will have the option of going to one of these outlets rather than waiting until their disease progresses and traveling, often by foot, to a sometimes distant district hospital. This private sector financing model expands the reach of existing workers, recruits new workers to higher levels of health intervention and provides a novel, self-sustaining franchise model as the vehicle.
The Joint Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program in Kenya - This program trains local scientists to respond to disease outbreaks and improve the region's overall public health system. In addition to teaching field investigation skills, the program trains participants to use lab techniques to quickly identify the source of an illness or potential outbreak. Once they complete the two-year program, participants receive a master's degree in public health and graduate to work with the Kenya Ministry of Health, where they help the country respond to emerging threats and prepare for future public health needs.
Leadership Management & Sustainability Program – Funded by USAID and under the leadership of Management Sciences for Health (MSH), the LMS program supports people and organizations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America to strengthen the way they lead and manage their own programs to achieve widespread improvements in health. Focusing in the areas of reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, infectious disease, and maternal and child health, LMS helps improve the performance of leaders and managers, planning and managing human resources, and building capacity to anticipate and respond effectively to changing external environments.
Living Goods - Living Goods, based in Uganda , operates Avon-like networks of door-to-door Health Promoters who make a modest income selling essential health products at prices affordable to the poor. The model combines the latest and best practices from the fields of micro finance and public health to create a truly sustainable system for improving access to basic health products and defeating the diseases of poverty. Living Goods is also a vital force of economic development, improving livelihoods by providing rural women a reliable source of income as Health Promoters, by keeping wage earners healthy and productive, and by averting costly medical treatments through prevention. Key partners in this program include the Ugandan Ministry of Health, Harvard Business School and School of Public Health Project Antares , and Freedom from Hunger.
Medical Knowledge Institute - Operating in 14 Sub-Saharan African countries, MKI offers a solution to the HRH crisis in the form of Health Information Centers. A decentralized approach, MKI emphasizes the empowerment of communities (instead of individual health care workers). Closely associated with local hospitals, clinics, or orphanages, each Health Information Center is run by a board of local people, which in turn reports to the health committee MKI, a Dutch non-profit organization. In addition to housing an impressive health library (covering topics such as child health, reproductive health and family planning, HIV/AIDS, and skin diseases), the Health Information Centers raise public awareness and education through training workshops to teach different life skills.
Physicians for Human Rights – Based in Boston , MA , PHR is a membership organization that mobilizes health professionals to promote the advancement of health and human rights in developing countries. A well-respected and accomplished organization, PHR investigates and reports on human rights abuses, provides evidence in support of justice and accountability, and promotes health systems that advance well-being and dignity. In 2004, PHR joined with Health GAP to address the health worker shortage, focusing particularly in Uganda and Kenya . Dedicated to finding a solution, PHR has published two reports to help educate and motivate members of the public and private sector: An Action Plan to Prevent Brain Drain and Bold Solutions to Africa's Health Worker Shortage . PHR is very active in educating the US Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, the Global Fund, leaders of the G8 nations, and US Congress about the realities of the global HRH crisis.
The Touch Foundation - In cooperation with the Tanzanian Government, the Weill Cornell Medical College , and the Bugando Medical Centre (BMC), the Touch Foundation has helped the Weill Bugando University College of Health Sciences become the largest health facility in the Lake Zone region. Starting with just ten students enrolled in its first program in 2003, the university has expanded to include eight programs and over eight hundred students. The Touch Foundation was instrumentally involved in this endeavor, providing renovated and new dorms, full scholarships for all students (with a nominal copayment), renovated teaching space, and fifty new academic faculty, 150 university staff, and fifty physicians at the Bugando Medical Centre who teach university and diploma level students. In 2007, the Touch Foundation collaborated with McKinsey & Company on the Twiga Initiative, a program to help the Tanzanian Ministry of Health reach its goal doubling student intake in health training programs. Swahili for “giraffe,” this initiative carefully links the pace of workforce growth to the pace of building new facilities, so that facilities are only built when there are enough health workers to staff them. Construction projects have often been easier to undertake than training programs, so this last component provides a blueprint for preventing waste of precious financial resources. The Twiga Initiative is incorporated into the country's internal budget and process for requesting international assistance.
The UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Management Development Institute – Conrad Person, Johnson & Johnson's Director of International Programs and Product Giving, showcased this program at the U.S.-Africa Private Sector Forum. The UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Management Development Institute (MDI) for HIV/AIDS service providers is a one-week intensive program designed to enhance the management skills of program managers and leaders of African organizations devoted to the care, treatment and support of people and their families living with this disease. The program is funded by Johnson & Johnson, and is offered in cooperation with AMREF, The African Medical and Research Foundation, and GIMPA, The Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration. Based in Nairobi , Kenya , the program's curriculum consists of 6 pillars: organizational planning, financial management, HR management, operations management, health management information systems, and program monitoring and evaluation. Understanding the importance of African leadership for sustainability, Mr. Person mentioned that MDI's future plans include expansion into Southern Africa in 2010 as well as the launch of an e-learning program in 2009..
