Innovating to increase health workers in Indonesia

Indonesia, a middle-income country1 consisting of approximately 17,000 islands, and one of the world's most populous countries, has a health system that has been crippled by a critical lack of human resources for health (HRH),2 impeding progress to provide equitable access to essential primary health care services. The average number of HRH per 100,000 population is below the minimum level required to achieve the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Universal Health Coverage (UHC).3 Indonesia's most critical HRH challenges include inadequate HRH quantity and quality ; mismatch between production and demand; mal-distribution between urban, rural, and remote areas4 (an additional 11,000 midwives are needed in rural areas);5 and poor retention strategies,6 all linked to poor population health indicators. Hospitals and community health centers suffer from considerable shortages of nurses and mid-level providers. 22 references