Comparative study on health human resources composition in the Eastern

Background: The health human resource is the heart of health system and the majority of problems within the health care system are caused by shortage, surplus, or imbalance in health manpower. Objective: This study was aimed to compare the health human resources in Eastern Mediterranean countries based on income and geographical groups. Methods: This was a comparative study based on library resources performed in 2007. Twenty three countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region were classified based on the World Bank income groups (4 income groups) and geographical region (African countries, non-oil and oil-rich countries). Later, the data concerning the health human resources in 2007 were extracted from the international websites including the WHO and EMRO. Data were statistically analyzed using the bivariate Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Findings: Significant disparities were found in health workforce density within the Eastern Mediterranean countries in particular among the low and high income countries. Health workforce density showed negative correlation with country population (P<0/01) whereas a positive correlation was observed with per capita income (P<0/05). Also, the income level, to some certain extent, affected the health workforce density. Conclusion: Population, immigration rate of health workforce, and general government expenditure on health are the factors influencing the health workforce density.