PHA-Exchange> Fw: [afro-nets] UK 'crippling Africa healthcare'

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From: "Sanjoy K. Nayak" <sanjoy_k_nayak at yahoo.co.uk>
UK 'crippling Africa healthcare'
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4582283.stm

The UK is crippling sub-Saharan Africa's healthcare system by
poaching its staff, UK doctors have warned. With the UK taking
over the chair of the G8 in July, there is an ideal opportunity
to stop the brain drain from poor to rich countries, they said.

The UK should encourage more home-grown doctors and limit the
time period that overseas recruits can train and work in the
country, they told the Lancet.

Financially compensating nations for lost staff will not work,
they warned.

Brain drain

Nor will strategies that split the training of healthcare staff
between developed and developing countries, according to Dr John
Eastwood and his colleagues from St George's Medical School in
London.

"Industrialised countries like America and Britain must recog-
nise that they have some responsibility for this crisis" Dr
Edwin Borman of the British Medical Association

He said: "One basic measure would be an agreement in consulta-
tion, with the World Health Organization, to establish a basis
in developed countries for minimum annual numbers of health pro-
fessionals in training.

"This would help to reduce developed country reliance on the in-
vestment in training made by developing countries."

Ethics

The UK does have an ethical code which means it will not ac-
tively recruit from certain developing countries, which includes
sub-Saharan Africa.

However, healthcare professionals from these countries are free
to apply for jobs in the UK.

In 2003, 5,880 UK work permits were approved for health and
medical personnel from South Africa, 2,825 from Zimbabwe, 1,510
from Nigeria and 850 from Ghana.

Push and pull factors

PUSH
Lack of postgraduate training opportunities
Poorly funded work facilities
Lack of work posts
Low pay
Civil unrest

PULL
Training and career opportunities
Attraction of centres of medical excellence
Better pay and working conditions
Availability of posts
Nearly a third of the doctors practising in the UK were trained
overseas.

In comparison, only 5% of doctors in Germany and France are not
home grown.

Dr Edwin Borman, chairman of the BMA's International Committee,
said: "Shortages of doctors and nurses are having a devastating
effect in the developing world."

"Sub-Saharan Africa alone needs around a million more healthcare
workers, and unless the situation improves drastically rates of
HIV will spiral, disability from childhood disease will rise,
and thousands more lives will be lost."

"Industrialised countries like America and Britain must recog-
nise that they have some responsibility for this crisis."

"At least the UK now has an ethical recruitment code, and we
hope other countries will follow suit - but we also need to re-
move the financial barriers we have imposed on developing coun-
tries which are preventing them from investing in basic health-
care and training."

Progress

A spokeswoman from the Department of Health said: "The NHS leads
the way in the ethical recruitment of healthcare professionals."

"The Department of Health has brokered a groundbreaking volun-
tary ethical recruitment agreement with the major players in in-
dependent sector healthcare."

"However, if healthcare professionals are determined to come
here to work we cannot legally deny them that opportunity."

She said the government had provided £560 million over the last
five years to support health and health systems development in
Africa, including the training of nurses and doctors.

She said they were also putting huge investment into the expan-
sion of UK medical schools.

Published: 2005/05/26 23:42:44 GMT © BBC MMV