Doctors warn of 'major emergency' in third world

Wednesday, 11 May 2005 12:00 AM

The migration of health care workers to the developed world has caused a "major emergency" to developing countries according the British Medical Association (BMA).

In a statement supported by the Royal College of Nursing and international partner organisations, the BMA says that billion dollar efforts to tackle global health problems such as HIV/Aids are being undermined by the skills drain from developing countries.

It warns that lives are being lost because of severe healthcare worker shortages in areas such as sub-Saharan Africa and that further losses of staff will cause the death toll to rise even further.

The impact of migration from developing to developed countries is a significant component in the crisis, the paper says, and it calls for countries such as the UK to end their reliance on overseas doctors and nurses.

Although the NHS does not recruit directly from the developing world many nurses and doctors choose to come to the UK to take up unfilled positions.

Dr Edwin Borman, chairman of the BMA international committee, said: "Sub-Saharan Africa needs at least another million healthcare workers, but in many countries the numbers are actually going down. At the moment, richer countries simply aren't doing enough to prevent a complete catastrophe.

"The UK has taken the lead in developing an ethical recruitment policy, but all developed countries must follow suit if this is to be a successful initiative."

The paper outlines four key action points to tackle the crisis.

All countries must strive to become self-sufficient in their healthcare workforce and should sign up to ethical recruitment policies, it states, while developed countries must help the developing world to retain their medical staff.

It also recommends that all countries ensure their healthcare workers are educated and funded to meet the needs of their populations. And finally, action to combat the skills drain must take into account human rights and should not prevent healthcare staff from working overseas if they choose to.

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