South Asia

The overall goal of this study was to evaluate whether two tools, developed to build the capacity of health workers globally to respond to their adolescent and young clients effectively and with sensitivity, improved the quality of service provision and experiences of care for reproductive health services to young female clients in two districts in India. [adapted from summary]

The present study was conducted at KIST Medical College, a private school in the Lalitpur district, to obtain information on student perceptions about working in rural Nepal after graduation. [adapted from abstract]

Although all occupational hazards are important, the risk of laboratory-associated infection in employees of clinical laboratories is greater than it is in many other occupations. This survey was conducted in Pakistan to assess the awareness of biosafety measures and the practices performed by laboratory technicians during their routine laboratory work. [adapted from introduction]

The study estimates the cost of recruiting and training of community health workers (CHWs), the cost of replacement of CHWs, and forgone services in the community due to CHW dropout. [adapted from abstract]

The objective of this study was to determine, in one low income country (Nepal), which characteristics of medical students are associated with graduate doctors staying to practise in the country or in its rural areas. [from abstract]

This paper aims to address provide a more complete picture of India’s health workforce.

In many countries with a high burden of tuberculosis, most patients receive treatment in the private sector. This study evaluates a multifaceted case-detection strategy in Karachi, Pakistan, targeting the private sector. [from abstract]

This study examined the attitudes of and inclination to rural healthcare careers among medical students in India. [from abstract]

In rural India, frontline health workers—called accredited social health activists (or ASHAs)—are improving the health of women and families in their own communities by offering key preventive health services. Through the Manthan Project, IntraHealth International is testing a promising multi-media mobile phone application called mSakhi as a tool to make ASHAs’ jobs both easier and more effective. [from author]

To better understand health information needs and barriers across all of levels of the health care system, the authors conducted a needs assessment in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India to examine how health care workers define, obtain, and apply information in the course of their daily work. [adapted from abstract]

This study outlines a detailed analysis of the information needs of village health workers (ASHAs) in India to ascertain information needs, sources, and barriers at different levels of the health system; undertake an in-depth assessment of the health information needs of ASHAs; understand the role and functioning of health care networks; and assess access to and use of ICTs across different levels of the health system. [adapted from summary]

In this report, an attempt is made to provide a comprehensive
situation analysis of human resources in health in Sri Lanka together with a comprehensive assessment of the factors contributing to the present situation. [from introduction]

This presentation outlines the status of all level of human resources for health in India and the importance of HRH to service delivery.

This presentation outlines two studies concerning the recruitment and retention of health workers in underserved areas. [adapted from author]

This study focused on the causes of absenteeism among doctors and paramedical staff in primary health care centres in Karnataka and loss of resources due to absenteeism and related issues, with a view to suggest ways and means of reducing absenteeism and maximising impact on the utilisation of public resources. [from summary]

In response the lack of sufficient human resources for health and the skewed geographic availability of medical personnel, the Apollo Hospital Group adopted telemedicine as the most effective way to accellerate the bridging of the demand supply gap without physically shifting resources. This case study examines the network and its processes. [adapted from author]

This case study reports on how the Institute for Rural Health Studies has managed to provide seamless access to healthcare for thousands of people throughout the state of Andhra Pradesh through both rural clinics and its related programs in the city’s bus station connecting to a network of patient counselors in government hospitals. [from author]

This case study highlights the efficiency with which the Community Health and Development (CHAD) program of the Christian Medical College, Vellore has obtained results through a combination of community-based provider training and innovative community service delivery methodologies, as well as discuss how aspects of the model can be adopted by other institutions to achieve similar results. [adapted from author]

This case study has studied the service delivery model of Kollyani, worked with the remote villages of the Bandarban district to create primary health centers where previously the area had none. Utilizing the local people and resources, they were able to create six local clinics run by trained villagers. The study examines the inputs invested and the outcomes produced in terms of health and social development and the issue of sustainability. [adapted from publisher]

The objective of the study defined in this report was to evolve a community-based model of monitoring absenteeism in public health centres that can induce demand accountability of service providers, along with measuring the rate of their absenteeism and the satisfaction of the beneficiaries, and to do evidence-based advocacy for adopting the model and improving the service delivery. [from abstract]

This 8 minute video highlights one solution to the problem of doctor absenteeism being deployed in the Karnataka region in southern India. When patients arrive at a primary health clinic and the doctor is absent, they can use their phones to text a central location which will record this data to allow the government to track and citizens to see which clinics are chronically understaffed. [from publisher]

This paper presents a case study of a multi-component school health promotion intervention in India that was delivered by lay school health counsellors, who possessed neither formal educational nor health provider qualifications. [from abstract]

The government of Pakistan identified 4 medical colleges for the introduction of a new medical curriculum, but despite concerted efforts, it was not implemented. The purpose of this research was to identify the barriers and reasons for delay in implementation of the curriculum and to assess the understanding of the stakeholders. [adapted from abstract]

This paper describes a systematically developed intervention for a lay health worker delivered, community-based intervention for schizophrenia care in three sites in India. [adapted from abstract]

As part of a community-based package of maternal-neonatal health care, community health workers (CHWs) were trained to conduct household surveillance and to identify and refer sick newborns according to a clinical algorithm. Assessments of newborns by CHWs at home were linked to hospital-based assessments by physicians, and factors impacting referral, referral compliance and outcome were evaluated. [from author]

The authors present data from a nationally representative all-India survey which enumerators physically verify the attendance of providers during unannounced visits, and found that nearly 40% of doctors and medical service providers are absent from work on a typical day. [from abstract]

This video tells the story of a Sri Lankan paediatric doctor who is participating in a government scheme that places doctors in oversees placements for training with a bond that requires the doctor to return home and work at least four years for every year spent abroad in the placement. [adapted from publisher]

This background paper for “The State of the World’s Midwifery 2011” provides detailed information on the midwife cadre in Bangladesh, its role in the health system, training and the state of the field.

The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive, engaging, and visible framework of HRH system development. This has been further developed from the lessons distilled from Japanese experiences of supporting HRH system development in three fragile and post-conflict health systems: Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Cambodia. [from author]

India is facing shortage of qualified mental health manpower. Recognizing this key constraint, the government of India has formulated a manpower development scheme to address the issue. This article outlines the scheme’s primary initatives: centers of excellence in mental health, departments in mental health specialties, upgrading of psychiatric wings of medical colleges, and modernization of state-run mental hospitals. [adapted from abstract]