The Human Resources for Health Program in Rwanda — A New Partnership

A global shortage of 4.3 million health professionals poses a major bottleneck to poor people worldwide with regard to benefiting from the fruits of modern medicine. 1 Among existing health professionals, there are also staggering inequities in skill levels and geographic distribution. 2-4 Unsurprisingly, the deepest national gaps in human resources for health run parallel to poor population-level health outcomes. ub-Saharan Africa bears 24% of the global burden of disease 5 but is served by only 4% of the global health workforce. The health graduate schools in the region face overwhelming financial, infrastructural, and personnel constraints, limiting their ability to address the shortage. 2,5,