Kate Tulenko

Six Reasons Ministries of Finance Should Invest in Health Workers

Carol Bales — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 13:12:22 +0000

Last week’s high-level talks about human resources for health in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, resulted in the Addis Ababa Call to Action on financing the health workforce, signed by the nine ministries of health that participated.

The call to action is a powerful tool that ministries of health, national health professional associations, and other health systems and health workforce champions can now use to advocate to their ministries of finance to invest more in health workers as the most direct way to meet their countries’ health goals.

Yet the fact that none of the ministries of finance that participated in the Addis health financing meetings earlier in the week participated in the later health workforce meeting highlights the challenge we face in simply getting the attention of ministries of finance, much less persuading them to act.

Author's name:

Misrak Makonnen and Kate Tulenko

Publication Date:

July 2015

Why We Need Data on Frontline Health Workers

Carol Bales — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 13:58:48 +0000

The lack of data on frontline health workers, particularly community health workers, constrains training, service delivery, and decision-making in global health. To understand better why this data is critical, and what can be done to improve it, mPowering Frontline Health workers and the One Million Health Workers Campaign are conducting a series of interviews to hear from the experts.

This week, we interviewed Dr. Kate Tulenko, Vice President, Health Systems Innovation for IntraHealth International and Director of CapacityPlus, USAID’s flagship health workforce project. Dr. Tulenko previously coordinated the World Bank’s Africa Health Workforce Program and has served on expert panels for the World Health Organization, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the American Hospital Association, amongst others. Her latest book, Insourced, identifies the links between the US and global health worker shortage and offers affordable solutions. Follow her on twitter at @ktulenko.

Author's name:

Kate Tulenko

Publication Date:

July 2015

Youth Can Take the Lead in Health Governance and Accountability

Carol Bales — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 15:39:43 +0000

This post originally appeared on VITAL, the blog of IntraHealth International.

Dozens of young people participated in the 67^th World Health Assembly last month in Geneva, including young people from HIV-positive communities, sexual minority communities, and health professional students and recent graduates.

Throughout the meeting, the World Health Organization (WHO) and partner leaders championed the cause of involving young people in local, national, and global health agendas. Panels on universal health coverage, HIV/AIDS, and health systems included youth speakers. The young people added energy, vibrancy, and new ideas to the meetings.

Yet beneath the enthusiasm lay some discontent.

Author's name:

Dr. Kate Tulenko and Allison Annette Foster

Publication Date:

June 2014

Top 5 Reasons the Global Health Community Should Have Its Eyes on Recife

Carol Bales — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 12:38:08 +0000

This post was originally published on the IntraHealth International blog.

From November 9-13, more than 1,200 of the world’s top decision-makers and thought leaders on the health workforce will convene in Recife, Brazil, for the Third Global Forum on Human Resources for Health.

If you work in any aspect of the field of global health for any type of organization, the proceedings of the Forum should be important to you. Here are the top five reasons:

Author's name:

Dr. Kate Tulenko

Publication Date:

November 2013