Five Investments Countries Can Make for Healthier People and Economies

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

There is a crisis in our global health workforce. A looming shortage of 18 million skilled workers stands between us and the promise of universal health coverage—and the economies it could help stimulate.

But how do we recruit more smart, capable workers to this field around the world? How do we make the most of the health workers we have? And how can countries build the fit-for-purpose workforces they need to foster healthy, productive populations, which are a must for economic growth?

I spend every day thinking about these questions and looking for answers in the countries where IntraHealth International works.

For years, global health and development have been the domains of aid workers and the public sector, of governments and nongovernmental agencies, all working with limited resources to solve huge problems in the midst of other huge problems—meeting the need for new hospitals and health centers in the remotest regions, for example, while also struggling to bring much-needed electricity and roads to them.

These problems are too big for the public sector alone. We need new stakeholders, and an all-new architecture for working together—not only for greater global good, but for greater economic well-being, as well.

Source: Huffington Post (link opens in a new window)

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Health Care
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public health