'Global networks, alliances and consortia' in global health education-the case for south-to-south partnerships.

摘要

As President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) delegates its operations on the African continent to local providers, close attention should be given to appropriate capacity building and strengthening of health care systems by nurturing partnerships between institutions on the subcontinent. Health infrastructures originally crafted for treating HIV will also need to be expanded to cope with the coming wave of chronic diseases. Given the alarming discrepancy between the small health workforce and the burden of disease, such workforce capacity will likely only be achievable through sharing partnerships-or "networks, alliances and consortia" as suggested in a recent article in The Lancet (2010). Medical schools, as the training ground of the emerging workforce, will be at the forefront of this change. How global donors allocate funding to emerging medical and nursing schools will be crucial to the ultimate success of a sustainable health workforce development.