Practitioner Perspective Section Managing Human Resources in Public Health Care System in South Asia: Case Study of Pakistan Aneeqa Suhail 1 Aisha Azhar 2 Abstract Health care is considered as one of the fundamental rights of every individual. At the same time, efficient and effective delivery of health care service requires pro-active management of health care professionals. The purpose of this article is to highlight human resource issues and challenges faced by health care profes- sionals in South Asia and identify suitable strategies for better management of health care professionals. By using data from a pilot study in Pakistan’s public health sector in the province of Punjab, the article explores ways of implementing productive reforms to upgrade human resource management system in the public health care sector in South Asian countries. Keywords Public health care, health care workforce, South Asia, human resource management Introduction Internationally, there has been a growing focus on health care workforce for improved health outcomes (Drafke, 2002). The quality of health workforce plays a vital role in the performance of health care systems but very little attention has been given to its composition, training and performance in both developed and developing countries (Beaglehole & Dal Poz, 2003). Hence, serious efforts from national and international agencies are required to rebuild the public health work- force. Human capital is the backbone of every organization and public health 1 Lecturer, UCP Business school, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. 2 UCP Business school, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. Corresponding author: Aneeqa Suhail, Lecturer, UCP Business school, University of Central Punjab, 1 Khayaban e Jinnah, Johar Town Lahore, Pakistan. E-mail: aniqa.suhail@ucp.edu.pk South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management 3(1) 75–83 2016 SAGE Publications India Private Limited SAGE Publications sagepub.in/home.nav DOI: 10.1177/2322093716640024 http://hrm.sagepub.com