High-level meeting on health workforce mobility challenges and policy options in Republic of Moldova
WHO
A technical meeting on "Strengthening the health workforce knowledge base to support evidence-informed health policies" took place in Chisinau, 28–29 June 2012. Participants examined the role of statistical data and information systems on generating evidence for decision-making on human resources for health, and reviewed the findings from a recent European Union study on health workforce mobility in Europe.
The meeting was organized by WHO/Europe in collaboration with the South-eastern Europe Health Network and hosted by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Moldova. It brought to the attention of decision-makers in the Republic of Moldova the challenges and policy options of health workforce planning to match population health needs.
Representatives from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Israel, Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia also reviewed the progress of the newly established Regional Health Development Center (RHDC) on Human Resources for Health (HRH), hosted by the National Center on Health Management in Chisinau. They were further informed about the development, contribution, roles and functions of HRH observatories (based on recommendations from the July 2011 WHO global meeting on HRH observatories in Lisbon, Portugal), and progress in implementation of the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel.
Human resources mobility project
The workshop served as the kick-off meeting of a three-year project on health workforce mobility in the Republic of Moldova funded by the European Union and coordinated by WHO. The project aims to help the Ministry of Health better manage health workforce migration and mobility by fostering circular migration and mitigating the effects of brain drain and waste. The Republic of Moldova is also the lead country in regional cooperation related to human resources for health issues in south-eastern Europe.
Speaking at the workshop, Dr Andrei Usatîi, Minister of Health of the Republic of Moldova, said: "The problems of human resources for health are not limited to one country, but extend beyond the boundaries of a single state and have joint features, especially regional. To respond to this big challenge, the Ministry of Health approved the Framework Concept for Human Resources Development, elaborated an Action Plan for implementation of the development programme for medical and pharmacy education in the Republic of Moldova for 2012–2020 and established in 2011 the Department for the Analysis and Planning of Human Resources for Health at the National Center of Health Management".
