ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a different viewpoint, which is that a big part of the problem stems from the underutilisation and poor organisation of the most valuable medical resource in any country – human capital – and that while additional funding can help, it cannot automatically or mechanistically fix this problem. It focuses on why these programs matter and what they could look like. In developed countries, resources are relatively abundant and institutions are strong, with streamlined bureaucracy and relatively transparent rules and chains of command. Financial and quasi-financial assistance certainly alleviate short-term supply problems but cannot, on their own, address long-term problems. The nature of the learning process implies that, in fields for which problems are highly complex, ill-structured, and context specific, a lot of hands-on experience is necessary, and simply transferring equipment and information is not enough for building local expertise. Surgical intervention is a prime example of a problem that is highly complex, ill-structured, and context specific.
