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<DIV><B>From:</B> <A title=RKoppenleitner@t-online.de
href="mailto:RKoppenleitner@t-online.de">RKoppenleitner</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> SOUTHERN AFRICA: Band aid for medical brain
drain</SPAN></FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">JOHANNESBURG , 16 August (IRIN) - New laws introduced by
the British government this week are unwittingly giving the southern African
region a temporary reprieve from the brain drain of medical
staff.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">The new laws stipulate that employers in Britain will
only be granted work permits for foreign nurses if they can prove that no
suitable British or European Union candidate can be found. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Regional nursing associations in southern Africa said
the new legislation, which tightened employment regulations in the United
Kingdom (UK) for nursing staff from 150 countries would not address the "push
factor" that was the underlying cause of the malaise.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">The British government said the law would safeguard jobs
for its local nursing staff. Reports said 80 percent of Britain's qualified
local nurses were unable to find work in their profession, which coincides with
employment data showing that unemployment levels are flirting with the
politically sensitive one million mark. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">English language skills in many southern African
countries, combined with nursing skills, make the region a major recruitment
ground. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">The exodus of medical staff from Zimbabwe has been
particularly severe. The country is in the grip of an economic meltdown, with
unemployment at more than 70 percent and inflation hovering at about 1,000
percent.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Zimbabwe's community development minister, Eunice
Chitambira, said between 70 percent and 90 percent of university graduates,
mostly in the fields of medicine, education and engineering, had left the
country.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">A representative of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors
Association, who declined to be named, said the primary cause of medical staff
migration were the "push factors" of low salaries and poor working conditions -
the cure for the brain drain was in the hands of the region's governments and
not Britain's new laws.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">"There may be a slowdown in the rate of migration
because most people prefer the UK, but this will be short-lived because very
soon people will be looking for other destinations," . </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">"Those who want to leave the less-paying and more
stressful jobs in Africa can still go to Canada, Australia and New Zealand,
where the demand for health staff is equally high and better packages are still
on offer. What the UK did is like closing one hole and leaving a maze of others
wide open." </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">The problem is that beyond talking, our government is
doing nothing to improve salaries and working conditions. People will move as
long as grievances are ignored.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Although South Africa draws healthcare staff from the
region, more than 10,000 South African nurses are working in the UK, with many
others in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the United States. The ratio of
nurses to patients is about 577 in South Africa's richest province,
Gauteng.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">In terms of the new legislation nurses have to re-apply
for their positions once their work permits expire, and preference will be given
to British and EU nurses.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">The nursing shortfall in the remote regions is in some
places being filled through the use of volunteer nurses from the United States,
Austria and Cuba.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P></DIV></BODY></HTML>