tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33498042468603617002010-03-12T14:43:22.526ZInformation about health workers from around the globehwfnoreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-7420784957851946192007-08-30T01:04:00.000+01:002007-08-30T01:07:19.900+01:00

From African Press Agency2007-08-18European countries set up nurse migration programme for COMESAPort Louis (Mauritius) Mauritius is amongst four African countries chosen for a 'Temporary Nurse Migration Programme' (TNMP) which entails sending each year a group of forty qualified male and female nurses to work in four European countries for a determined set of time, a release of the Health

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-86409076666216005882007-08-25T14:56:00.000+01:002007-08-25T15:06:49.376+01:00

The Medical News Today reported that on August 24 John Edwards, a Democrat Senator, talked during his campaign trail in New Hampshire about his commitment to add 100,000 nurses in the US health workforce within five years. Read from his campaign website.Below is the excerpt.According to John Edwards:-- Nursing shortage growing: One estimate says New Hampshire needs 672 new nurses annually until

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-62211467753172647102007-08-03T16:45:00.000+01:002007-08-03T16:55:16.398+01:00

In his speech to the UN, Gordon Brown the new UK Prime Minister addressed the issue of health crisis and the shortages of health workforce. The corresponding news article by Emma Heard from Sky News, "one doctor for every 50,000 people", quotes Brown as saying: a radical overhaul of health care in Africa's poorest nations is part of the "emergency action" needed to "eradicate the great evils of

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-55031236789732366462007-08-03T16:30:00.000+01:002008-11-13T19:25:20.257Z

David Goodman of Darthmouth Medical School in New Hampshire, USA wrote an editorial piece criticizing the current plan in the US to expand medical training. He argues that "expanding the medical workforce is unlikely to be cost effective or produce better outcomes for patients". He cites Jonathan Weiner of Johns Hopkins University that the cross country analysis that the current level may not be

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-3931885239116001532007-07-22T16:55:00.001+01:002008-11-13T19:25:20.331Z

The Associate Press reports on the situation of physician shortages in many rural areas in the US . Several factors were raised including working conditions and post 9-11 visa situation. No discussion on the implications on brain drain from other countries though.Excerpt:"The government estimates that more than 35 million Americans live in underserved areas, and it would take 16,000 doctors to

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-42303345032020254692007-07-22T16:47:00.001+01:002008-11-13T19:25:20.617Z

Another piece on physician shortage from the Associated Press.Excerpt from http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/20/america/NA-GEN-US-Doctor-Drain.php"Dr. Fitzhugh Mullan of George Washington University believes the U.S. — which is facing a shortage of doctors — must stop looking elsewhere to fix its problems. He compares the practice to "poaching" and said it amounts to poor citizenship in the

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-2502186580746362042007-07-22T16:17:00.001+01:002007-07-22T16:42:37.498+01:00

The UN Conference on Trade And Development (UNCTAD) Secretariat released the "Least Developed Countries Report 2007" highlighting the role of knowledge and technology in trade and development. The report also addresses the issue of braindrain and proposes a number of policy actions for destination and home countries and donors.For destination countries:• Favouring temporary entrance rather than

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-43696447962493508602007-07-14T02:04:00.000+01:002007-07-14T02:14:22.857+01:00

A news article in the BMJ this week (14 Jully) reports on the comments from Gareth Thomas, UK International Development Minister, to the UK parliamentary meeting on AIDS, TB, Malaria that donor countries should invest on HRH.The article also cites recently released report from AMREF entitled People first: African solutions to the health worker crisis. The report proposes how UK and other donor

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-78687851541128914352007-06-07T11:07:00.000+01:002007-06-07T11:22:34.009+01:00

Facing with enormous lost of health workers from external migration, the Government of Guyana resorted to a punitive measure to prevent graduating nurses from moving out of the country. Travel ban has been issued so that they "cannot leave the country without permission for the next three years."The Guyana Human Rights Association came out against this measure. They argue for a more constructive

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-71122224713612725652007-06-07T11:01:00.000+01:002008-11-13T19:25:20.711Z

The New York Times has an article by Sharon LaFraniere entitled "New AIDS Cases in Africa Outpace Gains". Using example from Mozambique, the article presents one key message that the lack of health worker is a major obstacle to effective program to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission. See excerpt below . . .####In the Mozambican province that includes Beira, the new focus on

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-63119568027513006572007-05-28T17:05:00.001+01:002008-11-13T19:25:20.813Z

Doctors without border (MSF) issued a new report to warn the public of severe health workforce shortages in southern Africa and its impacts on the effectiveness of HIV/AIDS treatment programs. The situations in 4 countries - Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa - were described. The report emphasizes the importance of more investment in health workforce. The Global Health Workforce

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-30150288548889221622007-05-14T05:42:00.000+01:002007-05-14T05:44:35.841+01:00

Media Statement: Issued May 13th 2007“World Health Assembly Must Draw Up Emergency Plans to Bridge HealthFinancing and Health Worker Gaps in Africa” Says Africa Public Health RightsAlliance – “15% Now!” CampaignThe sixtieth World Health Assembly (WHA) taking place from 14-23 May 2007 inGeneva, Switzerland must draw up emergency plans to bridge health financingand health worker gaps in Africa.In a

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-46306538917574335622007-04-18T14:15:00.000+01:002008-11-13T19:25:20.988Z

Ooms, van Damme, and Tammerman argued in their article this week in the PLOS Medicine journal that the Global Fund needs to continue to fund health system strengthening and to pay forhealth workers' salary. They use the examples of Mozambique and Malawi to underline the crucial role of Global Fund support for health workforce. The authors argue that current comments at the Global Fund board to

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-40699560146676874792007-04-02T11:19:00.000+01:002007-04-02T11:27:25.580+01:00

The Kenya Broadcasting Corporation reports on the plan of the Minister of Health, Charity Ngilu, to initiate a health sector reform project to address health workforce shortage in the country. Four and a half billion shillings in grant are expected from the US for this.Meanwhile, the training facilities in the country are also facing crisis from shortage of teaching staff. The Kenya Medical

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-92041167620683027762007-04-02T11:04:00.000+01:002007-04-02T11:17:49.873+01:00

"We will need at least 100,000 new workers in the public health sector in the next decades. I see no way that we will find these among the people already in the country""This would be a win-win situation for both Norway and the foreign worker"Eric Solheim, Minister for International DevelopmentThe Norway Post reports on the plan to handle shortage of health workforce in the country. It is

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-43195451540784002342007-04-02T10:17:00.000+01:002007-04-02T11:13:51.521+01:00

The Voice of America yesterday reported on the expansion of the "Phones for Health" program in Africa. Phones for Health is a public-private partnership announced at the GSM World Congress in Spain in February. It aims to assist health workers in HIV/AIDS health care services management. Rwanda is the first country under the program that has a national-scale, real-time information system. Workers

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-76924697826568166612007-03-29T14:55:00.000+01:002007-03-29T15:06:05.478+01:00

Rachel Cohen of the Lesotho MSF wrote in the Mail & Guardian, Africa online newspaper, urging the Global Fund to keep their support for health systems strengthening esp. in the case of health workforce costs. Using the case of Lesotho, the World third highest in HIV positive prevalence, she demonstrates how important it is to invest in health workers in order to achieve the three diseases'

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-37136671076512307342007-03-29T11:49:00.000+01:002007-03-29T11:55:37.813+01:00

Health Affairs releases six developing country studies on quality of care in its March 27 issue. Jishnu Das and Paul Gertler, in its overview piece, argues that it is now necessary to look beyond health care access into health service quality. The journal presents quality of health care in five developing countries: India, Indonesia, Mexico, Paraguay, and Tanzania. Two papers are specifically

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-44934022424107480142007-03-29T09:55:00.000+01:002007-03-29T11:56:26.410+01:00

WHO and UNAIDS announced yesterday their recommendations on male circumcision for HIV prevention. These recommendations are based on expert consultation and recent study results that show significant reduction in HIV transmission among heterosexual male.In their recommendations, health systems strengthening and health workforce development are considered crucial for the success of male

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-51431253321915340492007-03-28T12:41:00.000+01:002007-03-28T16:21:00.380+01:00

Steven Edwards of the Canadian National Post wrote on its March 24 issue how Bill Gates, the global leader in philanthropy, strongly believe in freedom of migration. According to Edwards, "Gates himself rejects the notion that this brain drain impedes development in those countries. When the bright sparks get jobs in the West, he says, the money they send home directly helps people who need it."

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-4338287636958768462007-03-27T17:35:00.000+01:002007-03-27T17:46:09.665+01:00

NY Times Magazine on March 25th, 2007 features an article by Tina Rosenberg. She describes how poor countries are now subsidizing rich countries in what she calls a "Reverse Foreign Aid". Among all the mechanisms, the health worker brain drain was used as a prominent example of how poor countries are suffering from professional migration. See excerpt below..."Human nature, not smart lobbying, is

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-32102495423253687622007-03-22T01:37:00.000Z2007-03-28T16:22:33.745+01:00

The Ethiomedia reported on March 19th that surgical services in four hospitals have been cancelled due to the lack of physicians. Over the last year and a half, over 157 health professionals have left their jobs. The Government, however, tends to see no problem in the situation and expressed no interest in changing it.Full article is available at http://www.ethiomedia.com/articles/

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-30522957336343249452007-03-19T16:07:00.000Z2007-03-28T16:24:29.522+01:00

In its March 14th online issue, the Nature's editorial argues that there is benefit to sending countries from migrating health professionals. It cites recent study by an economist, Michael Clemens, of the Center for Global Development who claims that there is a "clear correlation between emigration and the state of the public healthcare system." Countries with more health professional emigrants

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-36770967630871212272007-03-14T10:14:00.000Z2007-03-28T16:26:28.763+01:00

New Task Force on HRH education and training led by Lord Crisp (UK) was launched at WHO by the Global Health Workforce Alliance on March 13, 2007. The Task Force aims to "champion the need for significantly increased investment in the education and training of health workers in developing countries, and will build international commitment to practical action". More details in the press release

hwfnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3349804246860361700.post-46813346008741666762007-03-11T16:03:00.000Z2007-03-11T16:04:10.914Z

The Global Health Workforce Alliance and the Alliance for Health Policy and System Research call for proposals to conduct research on health workforce compensation and benefit in low and middle income countries.This call for proposals is aimed at generating rapid research to feed into the next forum of the Global Health Workforce Alliance, planned for November 2007 in Sub-Saharan Africa, at which

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