Human resources for health

Health worker migration and retention in east and southern Africa

EQUINET through University of Namibia, University of Limpopo and Training and Research Support Centre, in co-operation with the Regional Health Secretariat for east, central and southern Africa, is implementing in east and southern Africa research, capacity building and programme support for the retention of health workers and for management of out- migration of health personnel.

EQUINET research and dialogue identified three areas of focus for action on health workers:
• Valuing health workers so that they are retained within national health systems. This includes reviewing and implementing policies on non-financial incentives for HRH such as career paths, housing, working conditions, management systems and communication.
• Promoting relevant production of HRH, particularly in terms of the health personnel for district and primary care levels, and drawing on experience in the region on training of auxiliaries.
• Responding to migration, which requires closing the evidence gap with respect to migration (levels, flows and causes), financial flows, costs (benefits, losses) and return intentions and mapping the effectiveness of current policies.

Work has been implemented co-ordinated by University of Namibia on retention to support country programmes to monitor, evaluate and manage incentives for retention of health workers, particularly non financial incentives. EQUINET has also through University of Limpopo reviewed how global and international funds have supported - or not- current strategies for health worker retention.

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