Several Southeast Asian countries faced challenges in developing, managing, and sustaining their health workforce. Among others, the Philippines faced significant human resources for health (HRH) gaps in meeting the country's healthcare demand, ongoing issues related to health worker competencies, migration and retention, and financing hurdles, particularly faced by local government units trying to address their HRH gaps and sustain HRH initiatives.

These Southeast Asian Developing Member Countries (DMCs) implemented various interventions and reforms to address overarching HRH challenges. The Philippines responded by enacting the Universal Health Care law, which included reforms to address HRH challenges. Notable strides and advancements to move the HRH agenda forward included the establishment of a national health workforce support system, the formulation of a comprehensive National HRH masterplan with accompanying implementation strategies and plans, substantial support for professional education through initiatives like scholarship programs and digital learning interventions facilitated by the DOH Academy, and policy reforms in collaboration with the education sector and academic institutions, emphasizing curriculum realignment towards primary health care. In 2022, Indonesia launched the Health System Transformation Agenda (HSTA), which aimed to increase the supply of HRH. Thailand has also made strides by improving healthcare education through the plan "Transformative Health Professional Education in Response to Population Health Needs under the Thai Context," which was approved by the National Health Assembly. This initiative established the Thai Foundation of National Health Professional Education Reform.

Other general strategies across countries included the development of comprehensive national HRH development strategies and plans, innovative HRH management policies like dual practice and financial incentives, collaborative multilateral migration policies, free tuition fees or scholarship programs for medical education, and private-sector collaboration to bridge HRH gaps.

This session offered a platform to glean insights from the experiences of Thailand, specifically focusing on the critical elements of planning and budgeting for Human Resources for Health (HRH) at the subnational level, with a primary emphasis on primary care. The discussion hoped to cover the key areas critical for the effective management of the health workforce, including HRH Planning, meeting HRH Supply and Demand, Budgeting for HRH, and incentivizing health workers. By examining these dimensions, the session aimed to contribute to the ongoing discourse on enhancing HRH planning and budgeting, fostering an exchange of best practices and innovative strategies.