The health workforce in the Americas: Regional data and indicators

This is the first report from the Region of the Americas to provide information on the availability, distribution, characteristics, and flow of health workers. Developed by the Human Resources for Health Unit of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), this report examines and analyzes data from the National Health Workforce Accounts (NHWAs) for the period 2017–2021. 

NHWAs collect data reported by the countries, providing a good overview of the progress and challenges faced by the Region with regard to its health workforce and to building robust, quality information systems. Depending on the availability of data for each country, the report presents the situation of health personnel based on a series of indicators for eight occupations: medical doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists, pharmacists, physiotherapists, psychologists, and community health workers. Information disaggregated by country is also provided, along with a comparative analysis of indicators regarding such aspects as the density, flow, and training of health workers during the period studied. 

PAHO makes its technical cooperation available to countries to increase the availability of data on the health workforce and provide evidence-based guidance to facilitate informed planning and decision-making in the Region of the Americas.