Data.FI partnered with USAID to develop a digital tool that links human resources and program data to analyse staffing needs for HIV service delivery. USAID’s initial application of tool helped 14 country teams to optimise staffing investments during Country Operational Plan 2021 (COP21) planning.

Around the globe, healthcare workers are not only essential to ensuring that people living with HIV (PLHIV) have access to quality health services, but to ending the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Yet, in many places, healthcare workers are in short supply and resources to strengthen the workforce are limited.

Given the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, smart investment in human resources for health is more important than ever.

To optimise investments in health worker staffing, in 2020 the Data for Implementation (Data.FI) project, led by Palladium and funded by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), partnered with USAID to develop a user-friendly tool to analyze human resource needs and program and funding options.

The tool, called the Human Resources for Health Needs and Optimization Planning Solution (HRH Solution), allows program planners to see where there are potential staffing shortfalls or excess capacity that could then be deployed more optimally—bringing better services to PLHIV.

Historically, human resources for health (HRH) data have been underutilised by decision makers for various reasons. With the new data tool in hand, USAID began to review PEPFAR staffing investments in 14 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. An initial round of applications of the HRH Solution helped USAID to identify potential staffing gaps or surpluses and play out different staffing and funding scenarios.

For example, preliminary findings suggested that staffing needs could be reduced by up to 30 percent if more clients were seen at clinics and received medication every six months rather than more frequently.

Better Data for Improved Annual Planning

Updated each calendar year, PEPFAR’s Country Operational Plans (COP) outline the U.S. government’s annual support for a country’s national HIV response. In 2021, USAID used the HRH Solution to inform COP investments in health worker staffing by looking at ways to redistribute current staff or make shifts in staffing investments for greater programmatic impact and efficiency.

The HRH Solution can also now be applied using data from the new PEPFAR HRH Inventory―a comprehensive database of the global health workforce supported by PEPFAR. Recent enhancements to the tool will provide PEPFAR teams with additional analytical features to inform planning and resource allocation for Country Operational Plans in 2022, helping to strengthen the HIV workforce and ensure that people around the world have access to quality HIV services.

Palladium, the lead partner in the Data.FI consortium, is helping to improve the quality and use of health data, including data on global human resources for health; this is critical to planning for HIV/AIDS programs and investments. See a brief on the HRH Solution on Data.FI’s website about half-way down the page. Contact info@thepalladiumgroup.com for more information.