Informing investment in health workforce in Bangladesh: a health labour market analysis.

Background: As the 2016 Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health: Workforce 2030 (GSHRH) outlines, health systems can only function with health workforce (HWF). Bangladesh is committed to achieving universal health coverage (UHC) hence a comprehensive understanding of the existing HWF was deemed necessary informing policy and funding decisions to the health system.

Methods: The health labour market analysis (HLMA) framework for UHC cited in the GSHRH was adopted to analyse the supply, need and demand of all health workers in Bangladesh.

Implementing a health labour market analysis to address health workforce gaps in a rural region of India.

Background: Human Resources for Health (HRH) are essential for making meaningful progress towards universal health coverage (UHC), but health systems in most of the developing countries continue to suffer from serious gaps in health workforce. The Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health-Workforce 2030, adopted in 2016, includes Health Labor Market Analysis (HLMA) as a tool for evidence based health workforce improvements. HLMA offers certain advantages over the traditional approach of workforce planning.

Inequal distribution of nursing personnel: a subnational analysis of the distribution of nurses across 58 countries.

Background: Nursing personnel are critical for enabling access to health service in primary health care. However, the State of the World's Nursing 2020 report showed important inequalities in nurse availability between countries.

Methods: The purpose of this study/analysis was to describe the differences in nurse-to-population density in 58 countries from six regional areas and the relationship between differences in access to nurses and other indicators of health equity.

Increasing access to health workers in rural and remote areas: what do stakeholders' value and find feasible and acceptable?

Background: The primary aim of this study is to assess stakeholders' views of the acceptability and feasibility of policy options and outcome indicators presented in the 2010 World Health Organization (WHO) global policy recommendations on increasing access to health workers in remote and rural areas through improved retention.

Methods: A survey on the acceptability, feasibility of recruitment and retention policy options, and the importance of their outcome indicators was developed. It followed a cross-sectional approach targeting health workers in rural and remote settings as well as policy- and decision-makers involved in the development of recruitment and retention policies for such areas.

Health workers' strikes in low-income countries: the available evidence.

Objective: To analyse the characteristics, frequency, drivers, outcomes and stakeholders of health workers' strikes in low-income countries.

Methods: We reviewed the published and grey literature from online sources for the years 2009 to 2018. We used four search strategies: (i) exploration of main health and social sciences databases; (ii) use of specialized websites on human resources for health and development; (iii) customized Google search; and (iv) consultation with experts to validate findings.

The role of financial factors in the mobility and location choices of General Practitioners in Australia.

Background: The geographic distribution of health workers is a pervasive policy concern. Many governments are responding by introducing financial incentives to attract health care workers to locate in areas that are underserved. However, clear evidence of the effectiveness of such financial incentives is lacking.

The supply of general practitioners across local areas: accounting for spatial heterogeneity.

Background: The geographic distribution of general practitioners (GPs) remains persistently unequal in many countries despite notable increases in overall supply. This paper explores how the factors associated with the supply of general practitioners (GPs) are aligned with the arbitrary geographic boundaries imposed by the use of spatially referenced GP supply data.

Methods: Data on GP supply in postcodes within Australia are matched to data on the population characteristics and levels of amenities in postcodes.

Testing for HER2-positive breast cancer: a systematic review and cost-effectiveness analysis.

Background: Testing to determine HER2 status has come into focus since the approval of trastuzumab (Herceptin) for the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer. We compared the cost-effectiveness of various strategies used to test HER2 status, an important first step toward evaluating the overall cost-effectiveness of trastuzumab therapy.

Methods: We performed a systematic review of studies that evaluated concordance between immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization testing to determine HER2 status.

Primary data collection in health technology assessment.

This study discusses the value of primary data collection as part of health technology assessment (HTA). Primary data collection can help reduce uncertainty in HTA and better inform evidence-based decision making. However, methodological issues such as choosing appropriate study design and practical concerns such as the value of collecting additional information need to be addressed.