Supporting National Health Workforce Accounts

Activity

Strengthen HRH/HSS Leadership and Governance

Supporting National Health Workforce Accounts (NHWAs)

To reach the goal of universal health coverage, national policymakers need complete, accurate data about the health workforce. Decision-makers must consult many sources in order to develop a full understanding of HRH dynamics. Recognizing this, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed the National Health Workforce Accounts (NHWA) to standardize sources of countries’ health workforce information and improve their interoperability.

Beginning this work in 2016, HRH2030 collaborated with USAID, PEPFAR and WHO to conduct a workshop for nine country teams on NHWA. Building on this work, HRH2030 has provided joint technical support with WHO to develop effective and adaptable approaches to assist low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) for NHWA implementation. Specific activities have included working with stakeholders in Indonesia, Ethiopia, and the Philippines to develop governance and tools that stakeholders may use to conceptualize NHWA and operationalize NHWA by establishing a step-by-step, sustainable process of collecting and analyzing HRH data for NHWA:

Introduction of the NHWA concept, framework, modules, data requirements, and mapping of current systems
Identify how NWHA will be leveraged to support HRH decision making, policy development, and overall support, planning, and optimization of the health workforce
Explore the capability and maturity (in content and data use) of existing human resources for health information systems (HRIS) and national HRH observatories in participating countries, identifying areas needing enhancement and then supporting these areas
Establish next steps towards national roadmaps to support the implementation of NHWA, providing technical assistance for this implementation