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Strengthening health workers’ capacities in contexts of fragility and conflict: lessons learned from German technical cooperation

September 26, 2023

Strengthening health workers’ capacities in contexts of fragility and conflict: lessons learned from German technical cooperation

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) joined forces to host a high-level meeting on pandemics. Despite the challenges ahead, a sense of hope and determination prevailed that progress can be made.

In the post-COVID period, a strong midwifery workforce is more essential than ever

November 2, 2021

In the post-COVID period, a strong midwifery workforce is more essential than ever

A World Health Summit panel calls for investments in midwifery to achieve Universal Health Coverage and resilient health systems

Linking rural health centres up with Malawi’s digital health architecture

September 21, 2021

Linking rural health centres up with Malawi’s digital health architecture

An electronic patient register allows health workers in rural facilities to improve diagnoses and treatment and to contribute to, and use, the national health information system.

Midwifery education in Nepal: Training the first generation of professional midwives

August 31, 2021

Midwifery education in Nepal: Training the first generation of professional midwives

Nepal plans to produce and deploy thousands of professional midwives across the health system to improve women’s access to quality maternity care. With support from Germany, midwifery education programs are now up and running – and the first graduates are already busy at work.

Compassion-based quality improvement for Cambodia’s healthcare system

July 15, 2021

Compassion-based quality improvement for Cambodia’s healthcare system

To enhance the quality of care provided at health facilities, a project explored, and built on, health workers’ motivations and cultural values related to care-giving – with surprising results.

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Health workforce – The backbone of a functioning health system

The COVID 19 pandemic has made the global health worker shortage very visible. Almost all countries, regardless of their socio-economic status, face difficulties in training, paying and retaining the staff needed to provide adequate health care. Despite these difficult conditions, health workers continue to be at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic. 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that there will be a global shortage of 18 million qualified health workers by 2030 (WHO, 2020). A total of 47 countries are now affected by a shortage of health workers. Low- and middle-income countries in Africa and Southeast Asia in particular struggle with this challenge.

In 2018, the health and social sector was a source of employment for 130.2 million workers worldwide (ILO, 2018). Sustaining existing jobs in the health and social sector and creating new ones is not only key to the attainment of UHC but also promotes countries’ sustainable economic growth. Women make up 70% of the health and social care workforce. Therefore, investments in the health workforce are also investments in the future careers of women and youth (WHO, 2020).

German development programmes tackle health worker shortages 

Human resources in health is part and parcel of German bilateral programming in health. BMZ’s new health-related priorities, including pandemic preparedness, a One Health approach and sexual and reproductive health and rights, require sustained investments in the health workforce. These investments are likely to also generate returns in the fields of technical and vocational training, economic development, migration and gender equality – all priority areas for German Development Cooperation.  

On behalf of BMZ, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and KfW Entwicklungsbank are therefore supporting, among other things, the development of curricula for health professionals, the accreditation and certification of training and further education programmes, and the possibilities for sustainable public financing of all these measures. Private companies are also involved in the design of training programmes, as they play an important role in the provision of medical care in many partner countries.

Germany is making a strong case for health workers at the international level

At the international level, the German government supports, among other things, the High Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth (ComHEEG) and the implementation of the joint action plan of the WHO, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
It cooperates with the WHO’s Global Health Workforce Network (GHWN) and advocates for compliance with the WHO Code of Conduct on the International Recruitment of Health Workers.

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