At the multilateral level, the Global Health Workforce Alliance (GHWA), is a partnership hosted and administered by the World Health Organization, provides a forum for governments, NGOs, international organizations, donors, academic institutions, professional associations and workers to search for solutions to the current "crisis" in the health workforce.
As an example of South-South capacity building at a bilateral level: Cuba offers training of health personnel to other developing countries, for example through its Latin American School of Medicine, which produces more than 2000 graduate doctors every year for Latin America and the Caribbean; and its brigades of health professionals to fill resource gaps in poorer countries.
The Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP) was established in 2003 under the aegis of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to ensure that the education programmes of medicine and other health professions offered by institutions in participating countries are recognised nationally and regionally to be of international standard. This single, common registration mechanism enables doctors and nurses from CARICOM countries to do only one exam and practise anywhere in the region.
The Nursing MRA was signed by ASEAN member countries on December 9, 2006. This Arrangement facilitates the mobility of nursing services professionals within ASEAN, enhances exchange of information and expertise on standards and qualifications, promotes adoption of best practices for professional nursing services and provides opportunities for capacity building and training of nurses.
The case of Malawi is one of a developing country with severe health system problems and shortages of skilled workers that is seeking solutions through comprehensive training and retention strategies. Prior to 2004, Malawi had lost some 56% of its workers to HIV/AIDS and 40% through resignations or migration. This had seriously affected the delivery of health.
This project seeks to support Rwanda’s outreach to its diaspora in the EU and beyond and supports short-term individual teaching placements in the health sector.
This allowed for 13 specialist doctors from the Diaspora to participated in short-term programs treating Rwandans in hospitals located in remote areas of the country.
The MOU focuses on two main areas: the sharing of expertise and information on a range of key areas, and opportunities for time-limited placements in each other’s countries.
The sharing of skills and expertise between the two countries has led to the development of many links, based on requests and identified needs. There have also been a number of twinning arrangements between individual UK and South African institutions.
The Balik Scientist Program (BSP) was established in 1975 to encourage overseas Filipino scientists, professionals and technicians to return or reside in the Philippines, and share their expertise in order to accelerate the scientific, agro-industrial and economic development of the country.
Under the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with Indonesia and the Philippines, Japan started to accept Indonesian candidates in the field of nursing and nursing care on an annual basis in fiscal 2008 and Filipino counterparts in fiscal 2009.
The agreements required such overseas candidates to undergo six-month Japanese-language training (except for those candidates already possessing a certain level of proficiency in the language).
The UK aims to support robust health systems with human resource planning to mobilize funds for training, maintenance, retention and a better distribution of the health workforce to serve those in the greatest needs in low-income countries. For example, programs that include women for health in Northern Nigeria, which is training 7000 girls and women to become health workers and supporting the government of Pakistan in training 100.000 lady health workers, bringing health services to remote rural and poor communities to around 80 million people.