International action on migration of health workers

doi:10.1136/bmj.a2065

Published 21 October 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a2065
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2065

Feature

Medicine in developing countries

International action on migration of health workers

Karen McColl, freelance writer

¹ Savoie, France

karen@karenmccoll.co.uk

Editorial, doi:10.1136/bmj.a1971Feature, doi:10.1136/bmj.a1496

Mary Robinson, co-chair of WHO’s working group on healthworker migration policy, tells Karen McColl about a proposedglobal code of practice on international recruitment of healthworkers

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

The migration of doctors, nurses, and other health service stafffrom developing countries already short of health workers canbe disastrous for health systems that are struggling to cope.A quarter of doctors and one in 20 nurses trained in Africaare working in countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperationand Development.¹ So some of the world’s poorest countries,having educated and trained these health workers, are essentiallysubsidising the world’s richest health systems.

Earlier this month world leaders meeting in New York pledgedto train one million health workers by 2015 and tackle migrationof health workers.² "There needs to be more understanding inthe developed world that if you draw doctors and nurses frompoor countries you are getting a development gain because youhaven’t had to pay for their education," explains theformer Irish president and UN high commissioner Mary Robinson,who co-chairs the World Health . . . [Full text of this article]

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