Abstract:
This paper reviews the challenges facing the public health workforce in developing countries and
the main policy issues that must be addressed in order to strengthen the public health workforce.
The public health workforce is diverse and includes all those whose prime responsibility is the
provision of core public health activities, irrespective of their organizational base. Although the
public health workforce is central to the performance of health systems, very little is known about
its composition, training or performance. The key policy question is: Should governments invest
more in building and supporting the public health workforce and infrastructure to ensure the more
effective functioning of health systems? Other questions concern: the nature of the public health
workforce, including its size, composition, skills, training needs, current functions and performance;
the appropriate roles of the workforce; and how the workforce can be strengthened to support
new approaches to priority health problems.
The available evidence to shed light on these policy issues is limited. The World Health
Organization is supporting the development of evidence to inform discussion on the best
approaches to strengthening public health capacity in developing countries. WHO's priorities are
to build an evidence base on the size and structure of the public health workforce, beginning with
ongoing data collection activities, and to map the current public health training programmes in
developing countries and in Central and Eastern Europe. Other steps will include developing a
consensus on the desired functions and activities of the public health workforce and developing a
framework and methods for assisting countries to assess and enhance the performance of public
health training institutions and of the public health workforce.
