Major global shifts are shaping health priorities in the wake of new challenges and emerging opportunities. While reaffirming a commitment to accelerate progress on the Millennium Development Goals, discussions on the post-2015 agenda have also focused on the importance of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). ¹ Efforts are also under way to enhance countries’ commitment to universal health coverage (UHC) and to overcome the system constraints that are hampering progress towards achieving disease-specific targets. Despite auspicious directions, the journey is fraught with obstacles. A focus on human resources for health (HRH) in the context of NCD control could be a lever for health system change after 2015 by leading to measures designed to improve health systems more broadly.