Global Health Workforce Alliance: increasing the momentum for health workforce development

The Global Health Workforce Alliance was launched in 2006 to provide a joint platform for governments, development partners, international agencies, civil society organizations, academia, private sector, professional associations, and other stakeholders to work together to address a global crisis in human resources for health. Five years later the vision and mandate of the Alliance still remain valid. Despite advances in bringing the health workforce to the fore in international health policy arenas, more available knowledge and tools, and encouraging signs of commitments from many countries, health workforce bottlenecks continue to prevent many health systems from delivering essential and quality health services. Latin America is not spared from the challenges. The 2010 Second Global Forum on Human Resources for Health provided an opportunity to review progress, identify persisting gaps, reach consensus on solutions, and renew the momentum for and commitment to acutely needed investment and actions.