Human resources for health--challenges for the 21st century.

A quality health workforce is critical for the development of health systems and the delivery of health services. Although significant resources have been devoted to this area, imbalances persist in most countries. There is a growing recognition that to address current demographic, epidemiological, technological and socioeconomic changes, approaches to human resources for health development must be more comprehensive. While education and training of health personnel is a crucial element, the areas of policy development, planning and management of human resources must receive appropriate attention. Health sector reform initiatives have not included human resources development as an integral part in their processes, which has led to failures of reforms in some cases. Human resources for health must have a more prominent place on the political agenda of countries. It is apparent that to meet current and future challenges, partnerships between the many actors must be established.