The quality of health care is hugely dependent on the skills of health professionals. Clinical skills centres are neutral and protected settings in which a variety of skills and techniques can be taught. In developing countries, resource constraints and pressure to direct skilled staff away from teaching to working in health service facilities can limit the opportunities for developing and implementing an effective training curriculum.
Human Resources
International recruitment of health workers to the UK
The UK is currently prominent as an active recruiter of health workers, most notably doctors and nurses. This is unlikely to change in the short term. The demographics in many developed countries such as the UK- a growing, ageing population and an ageing nursing workforce- make it likely that many of these countries will be actively encouraging inflow of health workers. Stopping migration is unlikely to be a viable option -which essentially leaves two other policy stances - non intervention, or some level of intervention to attempt to manage the migration process so that it is nearer “win –win”, or at least is not exclusively “win- lose”, with the countries that can least afford to lose being the biggest losers.
Thousands quit SA health service jobs
The provincial health department [Western Cape] has lost nearly 4 000 staff in the past six years - and there are no plans to replace them. But the department does not intend to let the numbers drop further. In his budget speech in the provincial legislature, Health MEC Pierre Uys said the department was losing staff at the rate of 1 000 a year.
Using mid-level cadres as substitutes for internationally mobile health professionals in Africa
Substitute health workers are cadres who take on some of the functions and roles normally reserved for internationally recognized health professionals such as doctors, pharmacists and nurses but who usually receive shorter pre-service training and possess lower qualifications. The findings raise interest in expanding the use of substitute cadres, as the demands of expanding access to services such as antiretroviral treatment requires substantial human resources capacity.
** Confronting challenges in health personnel
Abstract of paper presented at the Equinet conference, Durban, 8-9 June 2004, by Antoinette Ntuli, Health Systems Trust, EQUINET theme co-ordinator
The biggest and most important component of any health system is its human resources (HR). The effective, equitable and appropriate production, training and deployment of health workers has been associated with periods of high health gain in southern Africa. Despite this, many health systems in southern Africa now face a variety of HR problems and personnel scarcities have become a critical limiting factor in health interventions. Health worker migration is further compounding inequities and stresses. Responding to economic and social triggers, personnel flow from rural to urban areas, from public to private sectors, from lower to higher income countries within southern Africa and from African countries to industrialized countries, exacerbating inequities and providing a reverse (poor to rich) subsidy. However a new policy momentum exists in relation to human resources for health.
Further details: /newsletter/id/30455
African Nations To Be Compensated For Health Care Brain Drain
Members of the African Union struck a deal with wealthy members of the World Health Organisation to be compensated for the loss of their health care workers to richer countries, the Nairobi Daily Nation reports. The negotiations were held during the 57th World Health Assembly in Geneva May 17-22. "The African Union pushed the agenda of compensation as one voice and we will jointly negotiate the terms like the European Union does," said Gideon Konchella, Kenya's assistant minister for health.
Community involvement in medical practitioner recruitment and retention
The provision of health services to rural and remote communities has been the source of much concern and debate in recent times. One aspect of this is the universal problem of insufficient medical practitioners in rural areas and the associated issues of recruitment and retention. Rural communities can play an important role in the recruitment and retention of health professionals, particularly in terms of aiding the integration of health professionals and their families into the community.
Health Personnel in Southern Africa: Confronting Maldistribution and Brain Drain
Equinet, Health Systems Trust and Medact 2003
This report describes the exodus of healthcare workers from areas of poverty and low socio-economic development, to more highly developed areas. The flows follow a hierarchy of ‘wealth’ and result in a global conveyor belt of health personnel moving from the bottom to the top, increasing inequity. The report describes personnel flows and migration from rural to urban areas, from public to private sectors, from lower to higher income countries within southern Africa and from African countries to industrialized countries. The report describes a variety of push and pull factors that impact on the movement of healthcare professionals.
Trends In International Nurse Migration
Predicted shortages and recruitment targets for nurses in developed countries threaten to deplete nurse supply and undermine global health initiatives in developing countries. A twofold approach is required, involving greater diligence by developing countries in creating a largely sustainable domestic nurse workforce and their greater investment through international aid in building nursing education capacity in the less developed countries that supply them with nurses.
Africa needs 100,000 health workers to distribute AIDS drugs
At least 100,000 health workers are needed to distribute anti-AIDS drugs in Africa, where 70 percent of the world's HIV/AIDS sufferers live, the head of the World Health OrganiSation said Wednesday. "It's difficult to grasp the magnitude of the problem," Dr. Lee Jong-Wook said while visiting Singapore. "The 8,000 people dying every day from AIDS is equivalent to 30 jumbo jets crashing every day." The WHO's aim to provide 3 million HIV-infected people in Africa with the latest available drugs by the end of 2005 was achievable if workers are found to deliver the drugs, Lee said.