The provision of health care involves combining a considerable number of resource inputs to deliver a mix of services that will satisfy overall objectives. In theory, this sounds simple. For a number of reasons, however, allocating actual health care resources is challenging and imbalances seem to be the rule rather than the exception. This paper presents a simple framework for comparing resource profiles for a selection of low- and middle-income countries. The main purpose is to illustrate the importance of a multidimensional approach for the measurement and monitoring of health care resources that includes measurement of real resources, e.g. personnel, equipment and facilities, to supplement traditional expenditure figures. Data have been compiled for two groups of countries. Burkina Faso, Malawi, Mali, Niger and Tanzania comprise a set of low-income African countries. The Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala and Peru comprise a set of middle-income Latin American countries. A multidimensional approach for the measurement and monitoring of health care resources may supplement expenditure reviews such as National Health Accounts (NHAs) and thereby highlight important linkages between expenditures and the management of real resources.