On Wednesday and Thursday this week, the Global Health Workforce Alliance (GHWA)’s board will meet to decide the best path forward to continue advancing the advocacy and monitoring of human resources for health (HRH) investments and improvements. IntraHealth International commends the World Health Organization (WHO) and GHWA board and members for their successes in raising awareness, generating political support, and advocating for investments in the global health workforce and encourages continued investment in a platform for global health workforce governance.

GHWA was created in 2006 by the WHO to serve as a platform for action to address the global health workforce crisis. GHWA is a partnership of national governments, civil society, international agencies, finance institutions, researchers, educators, and professional associations dedicated to identifying, implementing, and advocating for solutions to HRH challenges.

In preparation for this week’s board meeting, GHWA engaged consultant Dr. Sigrun Mogedal to dialogue with a variety of partners to gather perspectives on options for continued global multi-sector governance of global health workforce actions. These consultative meetings were designed to inform the board’s decision-making on ensuring a robust global health workforce platform aligned with the post-2015 development agenda and the WHO’s call for universal health coverage. IntraHealth hosted consultative meetings in Washington, DC, and Dr. Mogedal held additional consultations with key stakeholders in Washington, DC, and New York.

Key findings from the consultative meetings held in the US, as outlined in Dr. Mogedal’s report, include the widespread recognition of the critical role of the health worker in achieving development goals and equitable access to health, but also inconsistent and insufficient data to effectively track the production, distribution, management, and migration of health workers. As the report states: “Despite the broad consensus of HRH importance and the gains made through advocacy and the convening role of GHWA, the articulation of HRH strategies and funding for HRH are still not appropriately represented in health and related development programs and strategies.” The report also calls for ongoing advocacy and strategic engagement by a variety of stakeholders at national, regional, and global levels.

IntraHealth continues to contribute to collective advocacy for the vital role of health workers and for greater and more strategic investment in the global health workforce. In addition, we continue to work, through the US government’s flagship CapacityPlus project and other initiatives, to support countries in developing and implementing robust evidence-based health workforce strategies and programs. As IntraHealth president and CEO Pape Gaye said during testimony before the US Senate’s Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs in December 2014: “Let there be no misunderstanding. If health workforce deficiencies do not get the high-level political attention the issue sorely needs and it continues to languish as a global health policy afterthought, this Ebola outbreak will continue to threaten both global health security and the tremendous progress the United States has helped to lead in saving women’s and children’s lives and fighting diseases such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.”