PAHO launches virtual course on health workforce planning for universal access to health and universal health coverage

More than 160 people participated in the launch of the course "Introduction to health workforce planning for universal access to health and universal health coverage,” available at the Virtual Campus of Public Health of the Pan American Health Organization. 

The panelists of the event were: James Fitzgerald, Director, Department of the Health Systems and Services, PAHO; Cristina Caballero, National Director, Strategic Directorate of Human Resources for Health, Paraguay; Malhi Cho, Human Resources for Health Advisor, PAHO; Maria del Carmen Cadile and María Isabel Duré, Consultants, Virtual Campus for Public Health. 

This initiative aims to provide managers and decision-makers with the basic concepts, strategies, and considerations for health workforce planning. These must be adjusted to the needs of each country, state, or region, in alignment with the model of care. They must also consider that appropriate organization and projections for the health workforce are essential to ensure healthcare for the population and advance towards universal health. 

This course offers participants the opportunity to develop competencies to enable a more flexible, collaborative, and rigorous approach to decision making, problem-solving, and adapting to unexpected and changing situations in health workforce planning. It presents different models, strategies, and methodologies through a simulated case that allows participants to become involved in managing and planning of the health workforce and to analyze the feasibility and requirements for governance in human resources for health. 

This is open access, self-learning course with a total course workload of 15 hours. Participants can study at their own pace and choose the time they allot for completion. It is intended for technical teams and those responsible for human resource planning and/or management of national or subnational health ministries, social security institutions, and public health institutions; those who participate in the planning process for health teams; management of Integrated Health Services Networks or related programs; those responsible for planning at the level of higher education at the ministries of education and in universities and schools dedicated to training technical and professional health workers, and those who design educational offerings.

Access the course here.

Access the recording of the event here.