About AHP

The Foundation for Professional Development
http://www.foundation.co.za

The Foundation for Professional Development (FPD) is South Africa's only private university, and has trained over 100 000 healthcare workers since 1997. It also has numerous outreach programmes aimed at supportive healthcare delivery in South Africa. AHP was formed as a joint venture between FPD and the Rural Health Initiative (see below) in 2007. Two of AHP's board members are appointed by FPD. FPD provides AHP with operational support, particularly in areas such as human resources, information technology and finance. The organisation also assists with strategic decisions, while much of our funding comes from FPD donors. Last but not least, FPD provides training for the healthcare workers that are placed by AHP.

The Rural Health Initiative
http://www.rhi.org.za

The Rural Health Initiative (RHI) is an initiative created by the South African Academy of Family Physicians Trust. The project was established to support rural healthcare facilities and the doctors who work in rural areas. RHI appoints two members to the AHP board, and much of our South African, CSI-based funding comes through them.

Homecoming Revolution
http://www.homecomingrevolution.co.za

The Homecoming Revolution is a non-profit organisation aimed at assisting South Africans who wish to return home to do so. AHP is their point of contact for any health professionals wishing to return to South Africa. They also help promote the organisation by providing space for us to market what we do at conferences.

The Rural Doctors Association of Southern Africa
http://www.rudasa.org.za

The Rural Doctors Association of Southern Africa (RuDASA) is an advocacy organisation that was established in order to ensure adequate staffing of healthcare facilities, and to be a voice for doctors in terms of working conditions. They provide strategic guidance to AHP, as well as ad hoc support for our doctors whenever it is required. AHP supports the annual RUDASA conference by providing funding for students, as well as the doctors we have placed, to attend. We also fund the organisation's Rural Doctor of the Year award.

The Rural Health Advocacy Project
http://www.rhap.org.za

The Rural Health Advocacy Project is a coalition of organisations that are working on advocacy and policymaking to improve conditions in rural healthcare facilities. The project is of immense value to us, as it acts as a credible voice to discuss essential issues affecting the work we do and the people we place at facilities. A representative from AHP sits on the board of the Rural Health Advocacy Project.

International Organisation for Migration
http://www.iom.int

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is the leading inter-governmental organisation in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners. AHP partners with IOM on research and strategic-level initiatives aimed at ensuring that southern African health workers affected by the diaspora can obtain permission to seek professional employment in South Africa.

PEPFAR – The United States President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief
http://www.pepfar.gov

PEPFAR has been a key partner to AHP since 1 October 2007. This initiative is focused on ensuring HRH (human resources in health) support. PEPFAR assists AHP by providing funding to place health workers in HIV/Aids treatment and management roles. The funds are largely being used to attract local health workers out of the private sector and into NGOs, with a secondary emphasis on attracting foreign workers into general facilities that focus on HIV/Aids and/or TB. PEPFAR has also assisted AHP with funds for specific initiatives, such as orientation packs for foreign doctors, a study on community service doctors, and for funding general infrastructure surrounding recruiting.

Last but not least, the USAID team is assisting AHP as we expand our service into the neighbouring countries of Swaziland and Lesotho. This team actually facilitated our introduction to the relevant health ministries, and are funding our work through SAHCD (The South African Human Capacity Development Coalition).

The Atlantic Philanthropies
http://www.atlanticphilanthropies.org

The Atlantic Philanthropies has been helping AHP since 2006, with an integrated approach that emphasises the growth of the organisation so as to operate more effectively. Their help has been significant, covering all aspects of our work. They have been prominent in helping to build our infrastructure, create a monitoring and evaluation function, IT systems, etc. They also facilitated the merger that served to create AHP (from the Rural Health Initiative) in 2007, and regularly advise on strategic decisions.

Anglo American
www.angloamerican.co.uk

Anglo American has been an AHP partner since 2006. This particular working partnership focuses on the company's mining interests, in order to ensure that properly staffed health facilities are available to their staff, as well as their families and communities. The organisation thus funds the recruitment of doctors to in the rural North-West Province. The majority of the doctors that are recruited are foreign nationals, but we also work to attract as many local doctors as we can.

De Beers
http://www.debeersgroup.com

De Beers has been working with AHP since 2006. The emphasis of this partnership is on rural recruitment for the Limpopo Province, allowing De Beers to ensure that their staff, families and communities have access to proper healthcare. De Beers funds recruitment in this area, with particular emphasis on the Venetia mines near Musina. To date, we have recruited mostly foreign doctors, although a few local health workers have been recruited too. De Beers has also been an essential partner, in that they have facilitated AHP's networking ability with important organisations such as the Global Health Council (the largest affiliation group of healthcare organisations in the world), thus allowing us to grow our stategic profile and scope of work.

Discovery
http://www.discovery.co.za

Discovery has been working with AHP since our inception in 2005. This is a multifaceted relationship. The primary focus is on recruiting foreign doctors into rural hospitals, but we have also completed a number of other initiatives with Discovery's help. These include: research conducted in order to create a relevant and useful orientation programme for arriving doctors, growth in our general infrastructure and development of a website

West Pharmaceuticals
http://www.westpharma.com

Several years ago, West Pharmaceuticals conducted a global corporate drive among its employees on our behalf. A substantial amount of money was raised through individual fundraising held around the world, after which the company matched the total amount brought in by the employees. All of the funds were used to recruit foreign doctors.

SIDA (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency)
http://www.sida.se/English/

SIDA started working with AHP in the second half of 2010. The areas targeted through their funding are AHP's orientation and ongoing support programme that supports all healthcare workers placed by AHP into rural facilities as well as a highly focused recruitment drive to source and place foreign qualified healthcare professionals. The latter is currently being implemented through an online health facility guide, doctor extranet and newsletter service permanently established on AHP’s website.

Health Professions Council of South Africa
http://www.hpcsa.org.za

The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) is a statuatory body that regulates the health professions in South Africa, in terms of registration, education and training, professional conduct and ethical behaviour. This also includes issues regarding the recruitment of foreign professionals. AHP abides by the requirements set by the HPCSA and has a good working relationship with its senior leadership, and provides them with the strategic information needed  to make effective decisions. We support the staff capacity at their offices, and in turn, the HPCSA works with us to provide a more efficient service.

The Foreign Workforce Management Programme of South Africa
http://www.doh.org.za

AHP is committed to working with, and supporting the South African Department of Health in its endeavours to properly equip our public hospitals and facilities with the human resources needed to deliver equitable access to healthcare. We are in communication with its senior management around human resources in health issues, and consult at provincial level to identify special needs and process job offers. In order to facilitate the processing of endorsements for foreign doctors who are entitled to work in South Africa, we partner with the department's Foreign Workforce Management Programme in order to assist them with staff capacity.

Swaziland Ministry of Health and Social Welfare
http://www.gov.sz/home.asp?pid=61

We are presently working with the Swaziland Minstry of Health and Social Welfare in order to identify human resources in health needs in the country, and to source health workers. We will also be consulting the department in order to help streamline processes, so as to become more competitive in the quest for scarce and mobile resources, and to be more effective in processing applications.

Lesotho Department of Health and Social Welfare
http://www.lesotho.gov.ls/health/

The mission of the Lesotho Department of Health and Social Welfare is to provide an efficient and compassionate healthcare and social welfare system. AHP is working to assist them in this regard by helping to identify human resources in health requirements for the country, and to fill health worker positions with appropriate candidates. We are also asisting the department in the streamlining of processes, so as to become more attractive to potential applicants.