Rethinking human resources: an agenda for the millennium.

Health care reforms require fundamental changes to the ways in which the health workforce is planned, managed and developed within national health systems. While issues involved in such transition remain complex, their importance and the need to address them in a proactive manner are vital for reforms to achieve their key policy objectives. For a start, the analysis of human resources in the context of health sector appraisal studies will need to improve in depth, scope and quality by incorporating functional, institutional and policy dimensions.