Towards a comprehensive policy for health workers

Health workers are crucial to the performance of a health system. Their situation is critical and this has been recognized as a global problem. The main challenges are their number, distribution, skills and performance conditions. Addressing these issues must necessarily involve a multifactorial, intersectoral and international approach, where determinant factors are: educational policies, forms of recruitment, permanency and termination of contract, issues that arise throughout their working cycle. In Chile, the management of health workers does not follow a comprehensive outlook. The type, number and distribution of technicians and professionals do not respond to a nationwide planning the system is not responding to the health needs of the population, nor is fulfilling the promise of a public service career that encourages good performance, investing in its human resources.