This paper looks at different possible policy responses to the emigration of highly skilled persons from developing countries (the brain drain) with the goal of minimising its adverse effects and promoting the sharing of gains between source and host countries. It focuses on three policy approaches: retention, return and circulation of skills. It argues that the best strategy to deal with the problem of loss of skilled labour is one based on the concept of circulation of skills, which yields mutual benefits for both sending and host countries.
Human Resources
Policy responses to skilled migration: Retention, return and circulation
Zambian nurses exodus condemned
Norwegian Nurses Association International (NNAI) Secretary Per Godtland Kristensen has described as unethical the practice whereby rich countries rob poor nations of nurses through mass recruitment. Speaking at a joint Press briefing for NNAI, Zambia Nurses Association (ZNA) and International Council of Nurses (ICN) in Lusaka, Mr Kristensen said rich nations must not be allowed to recruit nurses from developing countries en-masse.
110 Cuban doctors expected in Zimbabwe
At least 110 Cuban doctors are expected to arrive in the country at the end of this month under the Zimbabwe-Cuba Joint Commission. Head of the Cuban Medical Brigade in Zimbabwe Dr Felipe Delgado Bustillo said the doctors would serve in the country for two years. "The doctors will be working under the comprehensive health programme launched by President Fidel Castro in 1998, which is aimed at providing something like a donation to other people specially those in Africa in solving various health related problems," said Dr Bustillo.
New wave of mass global migration expected
Immigration is an issue that elicits heated views from all sides of the political and economic spectrum. In the 21st century, how might we expect our lives and societies to be affected by changes in immigration? In Part One of a two-part series, economist Lant Pritchett argues that there are five irresistible forces setting the world up for a new wave of mass migration. Topping the list are the huge cross-national inequalities in wages and standards of living. Differences in labour demand across countries comprise another pressure promoting migration. Population growth imbalances also contribute to the trend, with aging populations of wealthy countries needing younger workers to help support national pension plans.
Nurses strike impacts on healthcare in Swaziland
A nurses' strike has shut down most of Swaziland's health care system, drawing attention to financial and technical shortcomings, and the problems besetting the nursing profession. "While we continue our strike action, doctors and orderlies will have to take care of patients," said the president of the Swaziland Nurses Association, Masitsela Mhlanga, at a press conference. Nurses are striking over the government's inability to pay salaries on time, back pay and salary increases.
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Special allowances for SA health sector welcomed
The SA Medical Association (Sama) has joined political parties in extending praise and support for government's introduction of the special allowances for some health professionals in a bid to stem the brain drain. This follows a decision reached between unions and the government to allocate R500-million towards providing incentives to 33,000 full-time rural healthcare workers. Sama chairman Dr Kgosi Letlape said: "This is a step in the right direction in addressing the concerns that Sama has raised regarding the remuneration of doctors in the public sector, on numerous occasions."
Strategy to tax Zambian nurses abroad
Government is considering engaging countries where nurses have migrated to enter into a formal memorandum of understanding for fixed contracts. Health minister Brian Chituwo says government is working out modalities on how to retain and motivate nurses and other medical personnel that have left the country. The countries in question would be required to pay the Zambian government a certain amount of money which will be re - invested in training.
Brain drain now a gush in South Africa
A study by South Africa's Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) has confirmed earlier findings regarding the under reporting of emigration by highly skilled South Africans to major consuming countries such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, with the flow up to four times higher than the official figures of Statistics South Africa. Releasing the study, entitled "Flight of the Flamingos, the Study on Mobility of Research and Development (R&D) workers" in Cape Town, the HSRC said a key finding was that, although emigration figures of highly skilled researchers remain high, the greatest mobility of high-level skills is now within the country.
HIV/AIDS, Equity and health sector personnel in southern Africa
In the health sector, HIV/AIDS increases the demand for care, the level and complexity of work and the risk of infection, whilst also placing a strain on resources. These burdens exacerbate problems of sickness, absenteeism and workload, increasing losses of health workers. The stress and fear lowers health worker morale and adds to factors pushing them out of low-income countries and into the international labour market. This paper, produced by EQUINET, discusses the implications for health personnel of the HIV epidemic, and health sector responses to it, in southern Africa, using Malawi as a case study. The paper first covers the context of health sector organisations in southern Africa, and then in Malawi.
Impact of HIV on the health workforce
The devastating impact of HIV/AIDS on the general population in Africa is now well recognised but the extent to which it affects the health workforce is less understood and appreciated. Recently two researchers from the Support for Analysis and Research in Africa (SARA) project, under the oversight of the Academy for Educational Development (AED), looked at the dual impact of HIV/AIDS on the health workforce and on health care systems. The result is a streaming video, produced by the World Bank, which records a discussion of the findings of this research with the SARA researchers, Dr. Stephen Kinoti, a former professor of paediatrics at the University of Nairobi, and Oscar Picazo, a senior health economist on leave from the World Bank's Africa region. The video includes a discussion of the real and perceived risks health care workers face with the pandemic and human resource factors that influence the supply of services, costs and data.