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Health worker shortages in Zambia: An assessment of government responses

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Abstract

A dire health worker shortage in Zambia's national health programs is adversely impacting the quantity and quality of health care and posing a serious barrier to achieving Millennium Development Goals to improve population health. In 2005, Zambia's Ministry of Health developed a 10-year strategic plan for human resources for health to address the crisis through improved training, hiring, and retention. The plan has neither arrested nor reduced the shortage. We review the causes of the shortage, present results from a health worker survey showing that safe work conditions, manageable workloads, and career advancement opportunities matter more to respondents than financial compensation. We comment on the adequacy of government efforts to address the health worker shortage.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Accounting, Economics and Finance, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia

    Jeff Gow

  2. Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD), University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

    Jeff Gow, Gavin George & Given Mutinta

  3. Department of Economics, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia

    Sylvia Mwamba & Lutungu Ingombe

Authors
  1. Jeff Gow
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  2. Gavin George
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  3. Given Mutinta
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  4. Sylvia Mwamba
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  5. Lutungu Ingombe
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jeff Gow.

Additional information

Despite a 2005 ten-year strategic plan to address the crisis, a dire health worker shortage in Zambia's national health programs compromises population health. The authors review the causes of the shortage, report survey results about what could make a difference, and comment on the adequacy of government efforts.

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Gow, J., George, G., Mutinta, G. et al. Health worker shortages in Zambia: An assessment of government responses. J Public Health Pol 32, 476–488 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1057/jphp.2011.41

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/jphp.2011.41

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