AAAH: Asia-Pacific Action Alliance on Human Resources for Health

There is a global crisis in human resources for health (HRH), which is limiting access to effective health services for many, particularly the poor and the most vulnerable, and hindering the progress towards health and development goals and targets. The HRH crisis directly affects the ability of global mechanisms to tackle major health issues and to accomplish their mandates, such as the work of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) and the Global Alliance for Vaccine Initiative (GAVI). Progress towards global targets, such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is dependent upon the effectiveness of HRH and the strength of the health system. Globalization, demographic and socio-economic transition and rapid technological development, all add to the challenges of equitable and effective health services provision that should be universally accessible. With global market in human resources for health that fuels the migration of health workers from rural to urban areas, from public to private sector and from resource poor to richer nations, national and regional responses must be aligned with international and global response.

Human resources for health include all persons who provide health services or who assist persons using health services to do so in appropriate ways . Despite being the biggest item in health budgets, planning and investing in human resource training, development and retention have been neglected for several decades. The consequences of under investment in human resources for health were highlighted by the Rockefeller supported Joint Learning Initiative (JLI) in its HRH Strategy Report where critical HRH problems including global shortages, skill imbalances, mal-distribution, poor work environments, weak knowledge, and increasing demand were clarified.

The JLI report recommends that actions must be pursued over a decade for human resources for health (2006-2015) through several mechanisms, including regional action alliances. All agencies, training institutions, professional associations, nongovernmental bodies, and private initiatives should join their efforts in strengthening sustainable health systems, including the HRH, in all countries; mobilizing to combat health emergencies in crisis countries, particularly those that are in severe shortage of HRH; and building the knowledge base for all.

The Asia Pacific Action Alliance on Human Resources for Health (AAAH) is a regional partnership mechanism established in response to international recognition of the need for global and regional action to strengthen country capacity for HRH planning and management. Several key events and meetings have highlighted the issue, in particular the meeting of key global and regional health development experts held in Oslo in February 2005. The Oslo meeting called for Global and Regional Platforms of action to be formed. Hence, at the Workshop on Asian Action Learning Network on HRH (ALN) in August 2005 in Bangkok supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and WHO, participants from 10 countries namely Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Philippines, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Thailand agreed unanimously that a regional mechanism that would address HRH issues in the region is needed. Hence, the AAAH was established with 10 founding members and an interim secretariat hosted at the International Health Policy Program, Thailand. The AAAH memberships further expanded at the 1st AAAH Conference held in Ayuthaya, Thailand, in October 2006 with support from the European Commission and the WHO when 5 additional members from India, Nepal, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Samoa joined. The AAAH is also a regional collaborator of the Global Health Workforce Alliance (GHWA) in the Asia-Pacific.

Vision

Strengthened HRH planning and management capacity toward adequate, equitable, efficient and effective HRH and health systems for health equity and quality improvement in the Asia-Pacific region

Mission

To generate and collate necessary evidence for effective human resource planning and management; to develop the capacity within the region under a broader framework of overall health systems strengthening; to increase access to effective health services, particularly for the poor, and to enable accelerated progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.

Objectives

1. To review regional HRH situation and to advocate actions for target HRH priority and health systems related HRH strategic plan and policy at country level, particularly in relation to health related crisis.

2. To coordinate HRH knowledge generation, management and sharing

3. To work as information clearing house for regional HRH monitoring and to support HRH information system strengthening at country level.

4. To coordinate and assist countries on capacity building for HRH management.

5. To coordinate and identify regional HRH expertise and to mobilize resources for HRH technical supports as requested by the countries.

Priority Actions and Key Activities

At the 1st AAAH Conference in Ayutthaya, Thailand, the participants prioritized five key actions to be implemented as follows: 1) Advocacy for HRH at regional and country levels; 2) Information monitoring and HRH information system strengthening; 3) Knowledge generation, management and sharing; 4) Capacity building in member countries; and 5) Technical support. More details on priority actions and activities can be found in the AAAH Workplan 2007-2008.

List of key activities in 2007-8 under each priority action are:

1. Advocacy-AAAH Website - AAAH Newsletter - AAAH media: slides, brochure - Email correspondents and other communications - Participation in key global and regional HRH events e.g. Peru, Sydney, Bali - Regional HRH consortium meeting with other regional HRH stakeholders

2. Information monitoring- Develop minimum HRH core datasets - Develop regional database on HRH stocks, producers, strategic plans, etc. - Support development of country information systems - Support regular HRH assessment and situation analysis in member countries

3. Knowledge generation and sharing - Regional database as above - Health Workforce Financing multi-country study - Collect case studies and best practices - Support country HRH knowledge management

4. Capacity strengthening- HRH Planning Workshop for Trainers - HRH Leadership Development Workshop - Annual AAAH Conference - activities embedded in the AAAH Website & Newsletter - Other training workshops as needed

5. Technical support- Proposal writing workshop for GAVI & GFTAM - National strategic plan development in 5 priority countries - others as requested

For more information about the AAAH Governing Structure and our activities for the next 2 years please check out the AAAH Governance and the AAAH Workplan 2008 - 2009. The calendar of AAAH Events is regularly updated and accessible from our AAAH Events page. In addition, the AAAH Newsletter, a bimonthly newsletter by the AAAH Secretariat, provides a nice summary of up-to-date regional and global development on health workforce.

This website serves as one of the communication channels between members of the Alliance. It is under development and would benefit from your suggestions and comments. Please send an email to secretariat@aaahrh.org for additional information.