The Health and Human Rights Programme at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, in conjunction with the Health Professions Council of South Africa, the South African Nursing Coulncil, the South African Medical Association and the Democratic Nurses Organisation, hosted a conference exploring what are Core Competencies in Human Rights for graduates in the health professions. The conference aimed to provide guidance to those bodies setting standards for our graduates as to what kinds of competencies and skills should be expected of doctors, nurses and other health professionals once they graduate from our training institutions. The conference took place from Wednesday 5th to Friday 7th July and helped to develop recommendations for curriculum standards for graduates in the health professions in South Africa.
Human Resources
The Kenya Medical Association (KMA) received a copy of a petition to the Minister for Health from its members who have been on internship. The immediate consequence to this is that the concerned doctors will have their salaries stopped and asked to vacate their stations as they wait for the positions of medical officers to be advertised. This letter states expands on how and why KMA fully support the petition by the medical officer interns.
Miriam Ahmed's face contorts in pain as her frail and bony fingers clutch her stomach. A sweat breaks on her head as she writhes in pain on her bed. The 16-year-old girl is the latest patient to be admitted to Mandera District Hospital following an outbreak of cholera in the area. The District Medical Officer of Health, Dr Boniface Musila, says the situation is under control. But Mandera District Hospital Medical Superintendent, Dr Muktar Omar, said there was a shortage of nurses at the facility.
More disgruntled Zimbabwean government employees have joined striking doctors and nurses to demand higher salaries as the economy continues to rumble. Lecturers at the country's eight state-owned educational institutions have become the third group of employees - after doctors and power utility workers - to take industrial action this year. Government awarded civil servants across the board a 300 percent salary increase, but this was rejected as too low.
The Mozambican Red Cross will begin training hundreds of volunteer workers to manage antiretroviral therapy (ART) for people in their care living with HIV/AIDS. "This training is extremely important and will improve the work of our carers," Paula Macava, the Red Cross Mozambique coordinator of the HIV/AIDS programme, told IRIN. "We have now finalised an eight-module training package on antiretroviral therapy management, specifically designed for carers."
This paper presents some initial findings from a survey of public sector workers, in a number of countries in Europe, Africa, North America, Latin America and Asia, and how they have been affected by policies of liberalisation in relation to wages, working conditions and other forms of socio-economic security. This survey was a joint initiative between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Public Services International (PSI), an international trade union. The aim of the survey was to explore three themes: workers’ socio-economic security; quality and accessibility of public services; and relations between government, foreign and domestic capital, trade unions and civil society.
Some 400 newly qualified doctors in public hospitals are reported to be facing dismissal in December. This media report outlines the proposed measure which ends the automatic employment of interns due to budgetary retraints, to make way for incoming interns. While a share of these doctors may be rehired in the annual advertisement of positions this is reported to no longer be automatic.
Endorsing the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), the international community committed itself to significant improvements in the health of the poor and set ambitious targets. Achieving the MDG will depend on improving access to priority health interventions, which requires significant supply and demand side constraints to be overcome. The study investigated the human resource implications of expanding the coverage of priority health interventions in Tanzania and Chad. The authors conclude that the health workforce in Tanzania and Chad, and probably in many other SSA countries, is grossly insufficient for the expansion of priority interventions envisaged in current international dialogue. An immediate response at the national and international level is required to ensure progress towards the MDG.
This paper discusses how Mozambique coped with the health system needs in terms of specialised doctors since independence, in a troubled context of war, lack of financial resources and modifying settings of foreign aid. Different scenarios, partnerships and contract schemes that have evolved since independence are briefly described, as well as self-reliance option possibility and implications. Lessons learned about donor initiatives aimed at contracting specialists from other developing countries are singled out. The issue of obtaining expertise and knowledge in the global market as cheap as possible is stressed, and realistic figures of cost planning are highlighted, as determined by the overall health system necessities and budget limitations.
This report presents a comprehensive analysis of the human resources for health (HRH) currently available and required to reach the targets set by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in both the public sector and the faith-based organisations (FBOs) in Kenya. A stratified convenience sample of health facilities at all levels of care in each of the eight provinces was selected for the assessment. A sample of Ministry of Health and FBO health facilities at all levels of service in each of the eight provinces was selected for the assessment. Conclusions include that the geographical distribution of skilled HRH in Kenya is heavily skewed towards urban areas; and substantial annual growth rates (across all staff categories) are needed to meet the future requirements.