Where is the Evidence on Building Sustainable Health Systems in a World of Unrest?

Civil unrest is spreading quicker than a pandemic across the Middle East and North Africa. How will these events affect people’s health and the health systems in these countries?

How Health Workers Influence Attitudes and Decisions about Family Planning

Last month, a new World Health Organization publication compared current data to data from the early 1990s on the readiness, willingness, and ability of women to use modern contraceptives in sub-Saharan Africa.

Open Source at the State Department: Loud, Timely, Not Your Parents’ State Department

Last Friday, I was in Washington, D.C., for Tech@State’s Open Source Conference. Tech@State is an inspiring step by the State Department, connecting technologists to targeted goals of the U.S. diplomacy and development agenda via networking events as part of Secretary Clinton's 21st Century Statecraft initiative.

Retaining Health Workers in Rural Kenya: What We Can Learn From Other Countries

In the northern arid lands and other remote parts of Kenya, the Capacity Kenya project has been working with the Ministry of Health to design simple packages to attract health workers and encourage them to stay.

Local Solutions, Global Solidarity, and Accountability

While the Second Global Forum on Human Resources for Health was full of opportunities, it was also quite deficient in addressing the one global issue that continues to hinder progress.

What Brought Us Here Won’t Get Us There: Implementing Country-level Health Workforce Development Plans

Three years ago, we met in Kampala, Uganda, to discuss the critical needs of the global health workforce. Last week in Bangkok, we gathered to take stock of what we’ve accomplished since. Today, 86%...

It Doesn’t Count If You Can’t Count It: Measuring Successes in the Health Workforce

Gathering the right evidence to inform a program’s success or failure is the cornerstone of any health program.

Exploring the Siriraj Hospital at the Second Global Forum on HRH

Despite the 6:30 a.m. reporting time, the field trip to Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok—part of the Second Global Forum on Human Resources for Health—turned out to be one of the best events of the week.

Reconvening Hope for the Future of the Health Workforce

I want to write from Bangkok about why I am excited and hopeful about the future of the global health workforce.

Crowdsourcing: The New Buzz in Productivity and Quality

CapacityPlus is developing a crowdsourcing application and exploring pilot sites in several countries. This will allow the general public with any mobile telephone—with simple SMS texting capability—to report on the presence or absence of health workers, patient waiting times, or other selected quality or productivity indicators at any given clinic at any point in time.