Developing the Public Health Workforce

Health systems rely on well-trained and sufficient human resources in order to deliver good quality services. Efforts to strengthen the capacities and performance of health systems are therefore closely linked to the development of the health workforce, including those working on public health. Since governments and health economists across Europe have grappled with problems related to maximizing the return on health spending, it seems reasonable that public health should play a larger role in the health systems across Europe, including the availability of a comprehensive public health workforce. Apart from ensuring proper availability and distribution of personnel, this also calls for a clear understanding of the existing training capacities, career opportunities, and the work of professional organizations in Europe. To shed more light on these issues, this chapter reviews the current structures that are in place for the education and professional development of European public health workers. It addresses current definitions and common characteristics of the public health workforces in Europe; describes the current status of the European public health workforce while making a case for their enumeration as a precondition for capacity building and education; and elaboraties on the structures for the education and professional development of the public health workforces and the measures needed for their further development in Europe.status: publishe