Strengthening Workforce Capacity to Address HIV/AIDS

Workforce planning. Health worker skills and performance. Retention rates. These are just a few of the major challenges to strengthening health systems in the developing world. Add to this the growing pandemic of HIV/AIDS and one begins to see the human resources for health crisis and its effect on HIV/AIDS service delivery goals. This is especially true of countries in sub-Saharan Africa, where in the last 30 years, the health workforce has declined relative to population growth, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic has intensified health service needs. Through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is strengthening the human resources needed to implement quality health programs through its Capacity Project, a cross-cutting initiative that is addressing human resource needs across many areas, including HIV/AIDS.

In Rwanda, a new human resources assessment for HIV/AIDS services examines workforce issues surrounding HIV/AIDS service delivery. The report highlights staffing data from 20 public and private facilities of various sizes and characteristics, including the time required to provide HIV/AIDS services and the quality of those services. In addition, the report presents data relative to the numbers of clients needing different types of HIV/AIDS services, providers’ degree of compliance with service delivery standards, and the time it takes to provide services. Staffing scenarios are projected to estimate how many staff would be required to meet targets, and from them, costs are projected.

For more program highlights, visit http://www.hrhresourcecenter.org/.