Health worker remuneration in WHO Member States

Objective To present the available data on the money spent by Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) on remunerating health workers in the public and private sectors. Methods Data on government and total expenditure on health worker remuneration were obtained through a review of offi...

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Main Authors: P Hernandez-Pena, JP Poullier, CJM Van Mosseveld, N Van de Maele, V Cherilova, C Indikadahena, G Lie, T Tan-Torres, David B Evans
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The World Health Organization 2013-11-01
Series:Bulletin of the World Health Organization
Online Access:http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0042-96862013001100808&lng=en&tlng=en
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author P Hernandez-Pena
JP Poullier
CJM Van Mosseveld
N Van de Maele
V Cherilova
C Indikadahena
G Lie
T Tan-Torres
David B Evans
author_facet P Hernandez-Pena
JP Poullier
CJM Van Mosseveld
N Van de Maele
V Cherilova
C Indikadahena
G Lie
T Tan-Torres
David B Evans
author_sort P Hernandez-Pena
collection DOAJ
description Objective To present the available data on the money spent by Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) on remunerating health workers in the public and private sectors. Methods Data on government and total expenditure on health worker remuneration were obtained through a review of official documents in WHO's Global Health Expenditure Database and directly from country officials and country official web sites. Such data are presented in this paper, by World Bank country income groups, in millions of national currency units per calendar year for salaried and non-salaried health workers. They are presented as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), total health expenditure and general government health expenditure. The average yearly change in remuneration (i.e. compound annual growth rate) between 2000 and 2012 as a function of these parameters was also assessed. Findings On average, payments to health workers of all types accounted for more than one third of total health expenditure across countries. Such payments have grown faster than countries' GDPs but less rapidly than total health expenditure and general government health expenditure. Remuneration of health workers, on the other hand, has grown faster than that of other types of workers. Conclusion As they seek to attain universal health coverage (UHC), countries will need to devote an increasing proportion of their GDPs to health and health worker remuneration. However, the fraction of total health expenditure devoted to paying health workers seems to be declining, partly because the pursuit of UHC calls for strengthening the health system as a whole.
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spelling doaj.art-1af9921183f14e0c894aed44ef63ad5b2024-03-02T16:51:06ZengThe World Health OrganizationBulletin of the World Health Organization0042-96862013-11-01911180881510.2471/BLT.13.120840S0042-96862013001100808Health worker remuneration in WHO Member StatesP Hernandez-PenaJP PoullierCJM Van MosseveldN Van de MaeleV CherilovaC IndikadahenaG LieT Tan-TorresDavid B EvansObjective To present the available data on the money spent by Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) on remunerating health workers in the public and private sectors. Methods Data on government and total expenditure on health worker remuneration were obtained through a review of official documents in WHO's Global Health Expenditure Database and directly from country officials and country official web sites. Such data are presented in this paper, by World Bank country income groups, in millions of national currency units per calendar year for salaried and non-salaried health workers. They are presented as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), total health expenditure and general government health expenditure. The average yearly change in remuneration (i.e. compound annual growth rate) between 2000 and 2012 as a function of these parameters was also assessed. Findings On average, payments to health workers of all types accounted for more than one third of total health expenditure across countries. Such payments have grown faster than countries' GDPs but less rapidly than total health expenditure and general government health expenditure. Remuneration of health workers, on the other hand, has grown faster than that of other types of workers. Conclusion As they seek to attain universal health coverage (UHC), countries will need to devote an increasing proportion of their GDPs to health and health worker remuneration. However, the fraction of total health expenditure devoted to paying health workers seems to be declining, partly because the pursuit of UHC calls for strengthening the health system as a whole.http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0042-96862013001100808&lng=en&tlng=en
spellingShingle P Hernandez-Pena
JP Poullier
CJM Van Mosseveld
N Van de Maele
V Cherilova
C Indikadahena
G Lie
T Tan-Torres
David B Evans
Health worker remuneration in WHO Member States
Bulletin of the World Health Organization
title Health worker remuneration in WHO Member States
title_full Health worker remuneration in WHO Member States
title_fullStr Health worker remuneration in WHO Member States
title_full_unstemmed Health worker remuneration in WHO Member States
title_short Health worker remuneration in WHO Member States
title_sort health worker remuneration in who member states
url http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0042-96862013001100808&lng=en&tlng=en
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