This handbook is an essential resource which brings into focus key advances, challenges and lessons learned in strengthening human resources for health (HRH) data and evidence as a strategic objective of implementing the Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health: Workforce 2030, the recommendations of the United Nations Secretary-General High-level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth, and in the achievement of the WHO Thirteenth General Programme of Work (2019–2023 (GPW 13) targets, for a measurable impact on population health and development. Divided into three parts, the handbook presents the complementarity between WHO Health Labour Market Analysis Guidebook and WHO handbook on national health workforce accounts (NHWA) system strengthening approach to improving the availability, quality, analysis, dissemination and use of health workforce data and evidence to inform decision-making and planning in countries. It also features the committed country efforts, catalysed by networks and partner investments, in strengthening HRH information systems and their growing success in implementing NHWA and other WHO normative tools. Contributed by the six technical working groups of the Global Health Workforce Network (GHWN) Data and Evidence hub, the handbook is aimed at HRH policy-makers and planners, to provide contemporary insight on data sources and information needs to address policy questions around health workforce development, and as part of the broader intersectoral agenda to strengthening health systems resilience.

This document belongs to the National Workforce Capacity for Essential Public Health Functions Collection, which includes an operational handbook and guidance on functions, competency-based education and workforce enumeration.

Several years have passed since the launch of the National Health Workforce Accounts (NHWA) in 2017. And following a global pandemic that disrupted healthcare services worldwide, it is an opportune time to reflect on the progress, priorities, gaps, and adaptations of the NHWA. The NHWA has witnessed unprecedented engagement from countries, partners, and all three levels of the World Health Organization, with focal points nominated by most Member States (90%). Thanks to collective efforts, there has been a significant improvement in the availability and quality of health workforce (HWF) data. Standardized measurement approaches, streamlined reporting mechanisms, and the involvement of multiple stakeholders from various sectors, including partner organizations, have played a vital role in this advancement. The data monitored and reported through NHWA has contributed to generating evidence on various policy issues, including HWF shortages, ageing, migration, and inequalities related to gender and subnational disparities. Furthermore, it has shed light on the significant contributions of the HWF in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. NHWA has also facilitated the development of key global products, such as the State of the World’s Nursing report, the State of the World’s Midwifery report, as well as several national and regional reports. Since 2017, the World Health Assembly has adopted a series of new resolutions highlighting HWF issues, such as the Strategic Directives on Nursing and Midwifery, the Working for Health Action Plan, and the Global Health and Care Worker Compact, to name a few. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a greater recognition of the role of the HWF for universal health coverage (UHC) and health security. The development of the Roadmap for building national workforce capacity to deliver the essential public health functions, initiatives on non-communicable diseases, community health workers (CHWs), primary health care (PHC), and traditional and complementary medicine, all recognized the centrality of the health and care workforce as well as the need for data and evidence to inform policies and planning. While ensuring continuity in the standardization of HWF statistics and maintaining the legacy of NHWA v1.0, this revision of NHWA incorporates necessary changes and adaptations to accommodate priority data needs for health and care workers (HCWs)-related new initiatives and challenges. The implementation of NHWA remains committed to core principles, which include a systems-strengthening approach, progressive implementation, multi-sectoral governance, and diversification of data sources. This revised version also provides more examples of NHWA data use.

The report presents two key indicators of estimating health worker mobility as reported by destination countries – the share of the foreign-trained and/or foreign-born health workers. The results presented in this report formulate new thinking around the interlinkages of monitoring Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Indicator 3.c.1 on health worker density and distribution and health worker mobility and migration. This report provides the most comprehensive compendium of data on health workforce migration ever published, with data from 134 countries, areas and territories, covering all six WHO regions. This report stipulates [highlights/emphasizes?] the importance of accurately measuring and monitoring health worker mobility – as a lever of influence – in designing, implementing and assessing remedial policies aimed at addressing skills imbalances and future health systems performance development.

With new chapters on key topics such as mental health, the environment, race, ethnicity and health, and pharmaceuticals, this new edition maintains its multidisciplinary framework and bridges the gap between health policy and the sociology of health. It builds upon the success of the first by encompassing a range of issues, studies, and disciplines. The broad coverage of topics in addition to new chapters present an engagement with contemporary issues, resulting in a valuable teaching aid. This second edition brings together a diverse range of leading international scholars with contributors from Australia, Puerto-Rico, USA, Guatemala, Germany, Sri Lanka, Botswana, UK, South Sudan, Mexico, South Korea, Canada and more. The second edition of this Handbook remains a key resource for undergraduates, post-graduates, and researchers across multidisciplinary backgrounds including: medicine, health and social care, sociology, and anthropology. PART ONE: Culture, Society and Health PART TWO: Lived Experiences PART THREE: Health Care Systems, Access and Use PART FOUR: Health in Environmental and Planetary Context

This document provides a standard-based tool for health workforce planners and decision-makers developing an electronic system or modifying an existing health information system to count and document all health workers within national and subnational contexts. The minimum data set for health workforce registry provided in this document can be used by ministries of health to support the development of standardized health workforce information systems. The minimum data set allows standardization of data values within existing electronic human resources for health (HRH) information systems. When used appropriately by information systems designers and software developers, a functional electronic health workforce registry can be designed to enable health workforce data interoperability, i.e. the ability to exchange health workforce data between software applications and computer systems within broader sub-national or national health information systems. Through this approach, rapid aggregation and display of health workforce data for decision-making can be fully realized.