PHA-Exchange> Developing evidence-based ethical policies on the migration of health workers

[Claudio]

From: Ruggiero, Mrs. Ana Lucia (WDC) 


Developing evidence-based ethical policies on the migration of health workers: 
conceptual and practical challenges
 

·          Barbara Stilwell, Scientist, Department of Health Service Provision, World Health Organization

·          Khassoum Diallo, Demographer, Department of Health Service Provision, World Health Organization

·          Pascal Zurn, Health Economist, Department of Health Service Provision, World Health Organization

·          Mario R Dal Poz, Coordinator of Human Resources for Health, Department of Health Service Provision, World Health Organization; Associate Professor and former Deputy Director, Social Medicine Institute, University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

·          Orvill Adams, Director Department of Health Service Provision, World Health Organization

·          James Buchan, Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences and Health Care, Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh, United Kingdom


Human Resources for Health 2003 1:8 (published 28 October 2003)

Available online as PDF file [29p.] at:
http://www.human-resources-health.com/content/pdf/1478-4491-1-8.pdf  



"........It is estimated that in 2000 almost 175 million people, or 2.9% of the world's population, were living outside their country of birth, compared to 100 million, or 1.8% of the total population, in 1995. As the global labour market strengthens, it is increasingly highly skilled professionals who are migrating.

Medical practitioners and nurses represent a small proportion of highly skilled workers who migrate, but the loss of health human resources for developing countries can mean that the capacity of the health system to deliver health care equitably is compromised. However, data to support claims on both the extent and the impact of migration in developing countries is patchy and often anecdotal, based on limited databases with highly inconsistent categories of education and skills.

The aim of this paper is to examine some key issues related to the international migration of health workers in order to better understand its impact and to find entry points to developing policy options with which migration can be managed.The paper is divided into six sections. In the first, the different types of migration are reviewed. Some global trends are depicted in the second section. 

Scarcity of data on health worker migration is one major challenge and this is addressed in section three, which reviews and discusses different data sources. The consequences of health worker migration and the financial flows associated with it are presented in section four and five, respectively. To illustrate the main issues addressed in the previous sections, a case study based mainly on the United Kingdom is presented in section six. This section includes a discussion on policies and ends by addressing the policy options from a 

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