The reciprocal benefits of sustained partnerships between health professionals in developed countries and their counterparts in poorer countries are considerable, a conference in London last week was told. Such partnerships may also help stem the migration of health professionals from poor countries—sub-Saharan Africa in particular, where a shortage of health workers is contributing to the crisis in health.

The conference, which was held at the Royal Society of Medicine and which followed the simultaneous launch in London and Lusaka of the World Health Organization's 2006 report Working Together for Health (BMJ 2006;332:809, 8 Apr), explored these claims and discussed the links fostered by the Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET) International.

THET was set up in 1988 to support the training of health professionals in the poorest African states. As an umbrella organisation it facilitates and guides twinning projects between individual NHS hospitals and primary care trusts and partners overseas.

The organisation's role, said Eldryd Parry, THET's chairman, is to be responsive to needs expressed by overseas partners, not to be prescriptive. “Our aim is to augment …