• ZalaniGholamhossein SalehiGSCenter for Health Human Resources Research & Studies, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran., Roghayeh Khalilnezhad, Elmira Mirbahaeddin, Azad Shokri, Tahereh Kashkalani, and Mahboubeh Bayat.
• Center for Health Human Resources Research & Studies, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
• East. Mediterr. Health J. 2018 Dec 9; 24 (9): 846-854.

BackgroundIt is impossible to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) without an adequate, competent and motivated workforce.AimsThe study aimed to describe how the Iranian health sector has formulated its human resources strategies to achieve UHC.MethodsThis was a qualitative study using a conceptual framework approach to content analysis. Primary data were gathered through expert focused group discussions and document analyses. Both transcribed discussions and the selected documents were analysed using in-depth thematic analysis. A conceptual framework from the Global Health Workforce Alliance was used for content analysis and to draft and develop the strategies. The framework suggested five human resources for health (HRH) pathways to achieve UHC aspects structured according to availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality.ResultsThirty strategies were formulated for Iranian HRH. Eleven of the developed strategies were related to the field of education and training, such as development of new required academic disciplines; balancing university admissions based on workforce requirements; and enrolling local students from deprived and underserved areas. Ten of the developed strategies were structured under the workforce accessibility dimension.ConclusionsStrategies for HRH were formulated by adopting a comprehensive, scientific and collaborative approach to ensure alignment with the country's health system priorities and Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health to overcome health workforce challenges.Copyright © World Health Organization (WHO) 2018. Some rights reserved. This work is available under the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo).

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