ArticleHealth policy and planning2024
Human resource challenges in health systems: evidence from 10 African countries.
Article in Health policy and planning, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- Patient perspectives on group problem management plus for adults with major depressive disorder in rural Malawi.Global health action · 2025Trial
- Qualitative Exploration of Healthcare Providers' Perspectives on HIV Service Vulnerability During Funding Disruption in Nigeria.AIDS and behavior · 2026Article
- Job Strain Profiles in Pharmacy Workforce: Evidence from the Job Demand, Control, and Support Model in Ghana.Safety and health at work · 2026Article
- Informing life-course immunization and pandemic preparedness: a COVID-19 vaccine evaluation and HPV introduction experience in Sierra Leone.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Evaluation of measles outbreak response in Geze Gofa district, South Ethiopia region, using the 7-1-7 timeliness metrics.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- The cost-effectiveness of male-partner treatment to prevent recurrence of bacterial vaginosis.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Determinants of Patient Satisfaction in a Public University Hospital in Ghana: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach.Health services insights · 2026Article
- Core competency gaps among Somalia's disease surveillance workforce: a cross-sectional study.The Pan African medical journal · 2026Article
- A comparative analysis of infection prevention and control guidelines across Kenya, Tanzania, and Nigeria.Antimicrobial stewardship & healthcare epidemiology : ASHE · 2026Article
- Predictors of Health-Workforce Job Satisfaction in Primary Care Settings: Insights from a Cross-Sectional Multi-Country Study in Eight African Countries.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- What enabled the successful implementation of a quality certification initiative in Bhavnagar, Gujarat? A policy analysis case study.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Human resource development in public health emergency management: a scoping review.BMJ public health · 2025Review
- 35 Years of modern cardiothoracic surgery in Ghana: a legacy of excellence, a future of perfection.Therapeutic advances in cardiovascular diseaseReview
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Sub-Saharan Africa has fewer medical workers per capita than any region of the world, and that shortage has been highlighted consistently as a critical constraint to improving health outcomes in the region. This paper draws on newly available, systematic, comparable data from 10 countries in the region to explore the dimensions of this shortage. We find wide variation in human resources performance metrics, both within and across countries. Many facilities are barely staffed, and effective staffing levels fall further when adjusted for health worker absences. However, caseloads-while also varying widely within and across countries-are also low in many settings, suggesting that even within countries, deployment rather than shortages, together with barriers to demand, may be the principal challenges. Beyond raw numbers, we observe significant proportions of health workers with very low levels of clinical knowledge on standard maternal and child health conditions. This study highlights that countries may need to invest broadly in health workforce deployment, improvements in capacity and performance of the health workforce, and on addressing demand constraints, rather than focusing narrowly on increases in staffing numbers.
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