A new publication produced by the global alliance of health professionals, the World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA), has been launched. A Core Competency Framework for International Health Consultants provides a practical guide for those seeking to engage healthcare consultation services and presents a benchmark against which individuals who wish to offer their services can assess themselves and if necessary seek additional training before taking up assignments.

The guidance was published as a result of the globalisation of healthcare which has generated tremendous expansion in the field of international health consulting, which now includes a large number and variety of specialists.

The publication is available for viewing and downloading via the WHPA website (http://www.whpa.org) at http://www.whpa.org/pub2007_IHC.pdf.