Sources of statistics for the World Health Report 2006
Notes on the specific sources used to compile the health workforce statistics published in the World health report 2006
A number of sources exist that can potentially be used to generate statistics on the health workforce. They include national population censuses, labour force and employment surveys, health facility assessments and routine administrative information systems.
Generally, when data were available from more than one source in a given country, we chose census based sources because they provide a complete enumeration of the health workforce, regardless of employment sector, and on both health service providers and health management and support workers. However, recent census micro-data with sufficiently detailed, internationally comparable occupational coding were only available and accessible for a few countries. The 12 countries for which census data were reported in the WHR2006 were: Australia, Plurinational State of Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, Panama, Paraguay, Thailand and Turkmenistan.
For a few countries, the data presented were from nationally representative labour force or employment surveys, for which micro-data were accessed through the Luxembourg Income Study data archives. Cross-nationally comparable occupational data were available from this source for 3 countries: Estonia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America.
For all countries in the African region as well as many in the South-East Asia and Eastern Mediterranean regions, health workforce statistics were obtained by means of a special data collection instrument developed by WHO and executed through its regional and country offices. As much as possible, the survey attempted to obtain information from ministries of health and other partners on both health service providers and health management and support workers. The special survey was implemented in: Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, India, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
For 24 countries, data were obtained from routine administrative reports of ministries of health, public service commissions or other such sources. These countries were: Argentina, Belize, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Chile, China, Colombia, Cook Islands, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Finland, Jamaica, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Venezuela, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Tonga, Tuvalu and Viet Nam.
For the remaining countries, the relevant data were compiled from existing databases available in the public domain, including the OECD Health Data database, the European Health for All database and earlier versions of WHO's Global Atlas on Human Resources for Health. The list of countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Latvia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Malta, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Nauru, Netherlands, Niue, Norway, Palau, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Spain, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Vanuatu.