The 14th Annual IHMEC Conference
March 30 - April 1, 2005
San Francisco, California

Preamble
The modern world faces a health crisis of vast proportion rooted in the current demographic trends of burgeoning population, high birthrates in some countries and aging populations in others, wars and other humanitarian crises, and new or recrudescent epidemics.  The demand for healthcare services outstrips the supply of trained personnel in the healthcare sector in the developed and especially in the developing world. 

Over the past decades the World Health Organization, World Bank and many others have addressed in detail all three major components of human resources development – planning, training and management.  Despite intensive work major problems continue to limit health system scope and effectiveness.  To cite just some of the problems that affect countries to varying degrees: high pre- and post-graduation loss rates; external migration; inefficient staff mix and deployment; geographic maldistribution; the failure to utilize women health personnel effectively; globalization impacts on trade and services; poor or inappropriate training; high costs; low productivity; poor public-private sector coordination; and weak management.  As a result of these many complex problems WHO’s vision for achieving Health for All by the year 2000 still remains years away.

By way of example, the problem of external migration is especially troublesome for both donor and recipient countries.  Industrialization, global economic interdependence, free trade and service agreements, the rapid flow of information and weakened control over national borders have combined to create powerful incentives to migrate.  These migrations have aggravated existing nurse and doctor shortages in the resource poor donor national health programs and migrants often lack cultural competence in their destination country.  Such shortages even affect the oil-rich / nurse-poor Gulf States.  The unmet demands for a larger and more effective workforce in the developed nations continue to erode progress being made in developing country healthcare services. 

The IHMEC conference will open by providing an overview to major problems such as those mentioned above, their impacts on the delivery of services and on current efforts to ease them.  Plenary panels and concurrent breakout sessions will then focus on those areas where IHMEC members, their institutions and students can make the greatest contribution, whether by training, research or service.  Of special interest will be the exchange of ideas and experiences through a review of demonstration projects, innovative approaches to teaching, and institutional exchanges.

An Agenda for Action

Translating the global vision of Health for All in the 21st Century requires supportive policies, financial and human resources, and a coherent framework for local action.  This includes building on past efforts — learning from failures and successes, strengthening governmental and private organization partnerships and community programs, identifying replicable models with established outcomes, and reducing societal and individual risk factors.  It requires multi-sectoral strategic planning and accountability --ethical, financial and programmatic -- at all levels.  The 14th Annual IHMEC Conference to be held in San Francisco will provide a forum for the exchange of ideas about the global workforce crisis and ways in which it might be eased.

IHMEC is committed to developing practical and targeted actions that improve local and global health, with a particular emphasis on vulnerable and disenfranchised populations. Strategies to accomplish these goals will include education of students and future leaders, development of faculty skills, improving teaching methods, promoting collaborative research and developing partnerships between universities and between universities and communities.

IHMEC provides educational and other resources to its more than 70 member institutions and 300 faculty while also serving as a forum for exchanging information, ideas and for promoting a broader understanding of global health issues. Through its membership and network of partners around the world, IHMEC is committed to reducing health inequities and improving the health of individuals around the world.