Managing medical migration from poor countries

doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7507.43

BMJ 2005;331:43-45 (2 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7507.43

Education and debate

Managing medical migration from poor countries

Omar B Ahmad, head of department¹

¹ Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, PO Box LG13, Legon, Accra, Ghana oahmad@ug.edu.gh

Migration of health workers from poorer to richer nations isunlikely to stop, but we can and must put policies in placeto minimise the damage it causes

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Introduction

In the past, the migration of skilled health professionals frompoorer to richer countries was essentially a passive process.Movement was driven mainly by the political, economic, social,and professional circumstances of the individual migrant. Inrecent years, however, demand for health workers in many countriesin the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Developmenthas been greatly increased by changes in population dynamics.In response, some of these countries are relying increasinglyon imported labour, with potentially damaging consequences forthe healthcare systems in many developing countries, especiallyAfrica. Indiscriminate poaching of health professionals is alsolikely to damage receiving countries in the long term. In thisarticle I explore the policy options likely to minimise theconsequences of migration of health workers.

Why do health workers emigrate?

Studies focusing on why skilled health professionals emigratehave identified two broad categories: the "push" and the "pull"factors.^{1 2} Among the push factors are low wages, poor . . . [Full text of this article]

Winners and losers

What went wrong?

Challenge of ethical recruitment

Strategies and solutions

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