Human Resources for Health in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Current Challenges to Achieve Universal Health Coverage

Human resources for health have been recognized as key predictors of good health outcomes and as a measure for assessing the quality of care for every population and critical to improving population health, ensuring universal health coverage, and the achievement of wider development goals. However, many countries face major difficulties in training, distributing, and retaining health workers. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates a projected shortfall of 18 million health workers by 2030, mostly in low- and lower-middle-income countries. The geographical maldistribution of the health workforce is a major obstacle to the achievement of equity and universal health coverage. Shortages, poor distribution, skills imbalances, obstacles to inter-professional collaboration, inefficient use of resources,poor working conditions, lack of educational paths, and aging workforce are all challenges that need to be urgently addressed by a boosted political will. Developing an effective and resilient health workforce capable of addressing twentyfirst-century priorities requires matching the supply and skills of the health workforce with the current and projected needs of the population. Population growth, increased life expectancy, epidemiological transition, and environmental change are just some of the factors that are most influencing and changing health needs nowadays. This is accompanied by an increased demand for patient-centered and community-based care, for which a paradigm shift with inclusive models of care encompassing promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative, and palliative care is required. Approaching the healthcare workforce challenge in low-resource environments is complex, multifaceted, and context-specific.