Wanda Jaskiewicz is a former Senior Director for Chemonics’ Global Health Division.
In many low- and middle-income countries, health systems face shortages of qualified health workers, and decision-makers lack the data and tools needed to optimize existing resources.
After work, once every couple of months, I have the luxury of making my way across town to the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) Washington, D.C. Affiliate meeting to spend a couple of hours eating lukewarm Peruvian chicken and discussing issues affecting midwives at the local and national level. It’s not the meetings themselves that…
During the internship year of my medical training, Peru was affected by a severe El Niño. At that time, millions of people living in the poor peri-urban belt of Lima lacked access to clean water and sanitation services. These factors were a recipe for a massive outbreak of diarrheal diseases in children. The pediatric services…
In 2015, the United Nations ratified the Sustainable Development Goals, which include bold targets to eradicate poverty and deliver comprehensive healthcare worldwide by 2030. To achieve Goal 3, ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages, reaching the largest segment of the world’s poor — the women, children, and men who live…
Earthquakes, hurricanes, epidemics, outbreaks — when disaster strikes, the immediate needs like food, shelter, and medical aid are obvious. It is easy to see these needs as they often manifest in physical and more tangible ways. Yet the residual mental health effects of any crisis, be it a natural disaster, conflict, or a health outbreak…
As the human resources director at the Ministry of Health, you know your country has health workforce challenges. You know that certain regions in the country suffer from maldistribution of health workers with challenges for retention in rural, hard to reach areas. Your reports show that health workers are stationed in rural posts but there…
Global health leaders have consistently identified motivation and retention of health workers as hurdles to achieving the vision of universal health coverage. In its strategic plan, the Jordan Ministry of Health suggests that 2.7 percent of doctors and 6.8 percent of nurses leave the country every year. What issues do you believe have the most…
“No one is going home soon,” stated the moderator at a recent Society for International Development-Washington panel discussion about the global refugee crisis. This simple observation drives home the reality that governments, aid organizations, and refugees themselves have confronted around the world for nearly five years. It is a reality that has more recently entered mainstream…
The 69th World Health Assembly presents a significant milestone for those of us who work in human resources for health (HRH): HRH has finally been recognized as a foundational principle in reaching world health goals. More so now than at any other point in history, the public health community is devoting significant attention and effort…
We need to face facts: In many developing countries, there simply isn’t any money to hire more health care workers. According to WHO there is a global shortage of more than 7 million health care workers; 83 countries fall below WHO’s basic recommendation on of 23 health care providers per 10,000 population. By 2035, that…