Public Health Workforce: Selected Literature Review

In 2005 the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) endeavored to reach some kind of consensus on the definition of what the public health workforce is, including its makeup, its competencies, and its job descriptions, and to propose specific plans for its characterization and improvement.

To this end, a review of the literature that addresses public health workforce issues and human resources in health in the 1990s and a compilation of the most significant literature into a comprehensive summary, have been performed with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

This literature review contributes to systematize available pertinent information and observations on the public health workforce, to learn from national experiences, and to provide a basis for discussion of these findings with experts in the field.