International Collaboration for Strengthening Human Resources for Health in the Americas: A Joint Meeting of PAHO and IADB Officials

On March 20, 2024, in Washington D.C., representatives from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) convened to discuss potential areas of cooperation focused on enhancing human resources for health (HRH) in the Region of the Americas. The goal of the meeting was to share ideas based on the institutions’ priorities in this area and identify possibilities for collaboration.

During the meeting, Benjamin Puertas, PAHO’s Unit Chief of Human Resources for Health, presented the Health Workforce Policy 2030: strengthening human resources for health to achieve resilient health systems (CD60/6), and highlighted PAHO’s key areas of work, including HRH information systems, HRH migration and mobility, interprofessional teams, transformation of health professionals’ education, and the strengthening and expansion of the roles of nurses.

Sebastian Bauhhoff, Principal Health Economist of the IADB Social Sector Unit, discussed the bank’s main focuses and HRH projects related to training and competency, professional trajectories and workplace, recruitment, retention, and improving HRH productivity. The meeting explored technical cooperation topics such as assisting countries in HRH planning through tools like health labor market analysis