UK helping to slow down “brain drain” that costs African lives
 DFID
is committed to helping poor countries train more doctors and nurses and retain
those they already have, because without them the fight against killer diseases
such as AIDS, Tuberculosis and malaria cannot be won.
It is estimated that a country needs at least 2.5 health workers for every
1000 people to provide basic healthcare. Sub-Saharan Africa has less than 1
health worker per 1000 compared to over 10 per 1000 in Europe. This means
mothers going into labour without midwives to help them, AIDS patients not being
able to see a doctor and children having to live with a curable disease like
malaria until it’s too late.
Health staff decide to leave poorer countries for a number of reasons and
that is why DFID is working closely with African countries and the  Department
of Health to tackle this serious problem.
Preventing poaching brings health benefits
The UK is the only rich country to have a policy of not actively looking for
healthcare workers in deprived countries to staff the National Health Service (NHS).
A list of countries, including all those in sub-Saharan African, has been drawn
up by DFID and the Department of Health, to ensure the NHS does not “poach”
doctors and nurses that are needed elsewhere. In addition, the Department of
Health has secured a groundbreaking agreement for this code to apply to many
private healthcare providers so they too do not recruit staff from the world’s
poorest countries.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Development Gareth
Thomas said:
"A shortage of workers is a symptom of an ailing health service. Poor pay
and working conditions combine to drive trained staff away.
"DFID is working with African governments, helping to invest in the
future, getting more doctors and nurses into training and to keep skilled
staff in their jobs by offering better pay and job opportunities. This is
already boosting numbers.
"Other rich countries need to stop actively recruiting health workers
from poor countries to staff their health systems. We are pressing our
European Union allies to agree a tougher approach to this issue."
Nurses might
leave their jobs because of poor pay and working conditions which do not let
them do the job for which they were trained. Healthcare workers may also be
among the many people in Africa living with HIV and AIDS, caring for someone
with the disease or even in need of medical care themselves.
Evidence from Swaziland shows that of those health workers who left their
profession, half of them did so as a result of living with HIV. In 1998 one
third of all the nurses being trained in Malawi died from an AIDS related
illness.
Malawi
Due to a shortage of doctors and nurses, mothers in Malawi are at a higher
risk of dying during childbirth and AIDS patients do not receive the care they
need. Malawi has less than 2 doctors and 29 nurses per 100,000 people, which is
very low even by African standards.
DFID is helping to turn back the tide by providing £100 million of support
for the health service of which £55 million is for the Emergency Human Resources
programme. This programme aims to increase the number of health workers hired
and retained by raising salaries, doubling the number of nurses and tripling the
number of doctors in training and using international volunteer health workers
to temporarily fill gaps while Malawian professionals are trained.
It is still early days, but the impact of salary top-ups seems to be having a
positive impact on staff numbers:
- 450 new health workers had joined in the first nine months;
- Reports from districts suggest the top-ups have helped slow the
exodus of nurses;
- The Ministry of Health has recruited over 570 new staff, and aims to
fill a further 600 posts by July 2006;
- Recruitment of 61 international volunteers has and beaten the target
set for the first year;
- New laboratories are being built at the College of Medicine,
allowing the start of new degree courses on pharmacy and other
professions. More medical schools are planned.
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