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Alliance News Digest

Week of 3 June 2011

NEWS FROM WHO AND PARTNERS

• HRH Global Resource Center, CapacityPlus - Capacity Plus – (6/02)
  The HRH Global Resource launches its eLearning program: free courses developed by technical experts in the fields of HRH
• UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé gives guest lecture at Vatican International Study Meeting on HIV – UNAIDS – (5/30)
  The meeting was hosted by the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers and Good Samaritan Foundation in Rome
• Global Health Council urges G8 Leaders to live up to their Global Health Commitments - Global Health Council – (5/27)
  The GHC urges G8 leaders to live up to the promises of the declaration and to track their implementation in “a fully transparent manner.”
• US and UK join up on global development - DFID, UK – (5/25)
  Among commitments to save the lives of at least 50,000 women in pregnancy and childbirth, by training more midwives in developing countries
• The current shortage and future surplus of doctors: a projection of the future growth of the Japanese medical workforce – HRH Journal – (5/27)
  The plan to increase the medical student quota will bring about a serious doctor surplus in the long run.

AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST

• Africa Advised to Invest in Health - The New Times, Rwanda – (5/26)
  With African political commitment and hard work by health sectors, maternal, new born and child mortality would be history, expert says
• Exodus of workers cripples Kenyan hospitals - Daily Nation, Kenya – (5/29)
  Most medical staff was leaving for better pay and studies abroad.
• Making Health Bill Work for All - Leadership, Nigeria – (5/30)
  Health workers associations against the recently passed National Health Bill by the National Assembly in Nigeria
• NRH in crisis as more health workers are dismissed - Mmegi, Botswana – (5/27)
  Employees fired after ignoring a court order to return to work and continued with the strike at Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital
• Government reaffirms qualified health workers recruitment - Lusaka Times, Zambia – (5/30)
  The Ministry is working towards ensuring that the country has enough medical doctors, nurses and other health practitioners
• Doctors in Egypt threaten to go back on strike - Ahram, Egypt – (5/30)
  Promises made by the Ministry have not been fulfilled.
• Les médecins résidents poursuivent leur grève illimitée - La Tribune, Algeria – (5/31)
  La grève continue après le rejet officiel de leur demande d’abrogation du service civil par le gouvernement
• Unregistered ‘doctor’ allowed to practise - The Namibian – (6/01)
  Lives of Namibians who rely on State hospitals may be at the mercy of doctors with questionable qualifications.
• Abu Dhabi in need of intensive-care doctors - The National, AE – (6/02)
  A reduction in the number of clinicians licensed is the reason for the gap, new report says

ASIA AND PACIFIC

• Challenges before the health sector - The Financial Express, Bangladesh – (6/02)
  The quality of care is one of the biggest challenges in the health sector of Bangladesh now.
• Surgery patients suffer at govt hospitals - The Daily Star, Bangladesh – (5/28)
  Shortage of anesthesiologists delaying operations.
• 'Foreign faculty in med colleges soon' - Hindustan Times – (5/25)
  The post-graduate medical degrees of five countries have been recognized by the ministry to recruit senior doctors as faculty.
• City doctors help improve rural healthcare - Viet Nam News – (5/31)
  Nearly 9,000 medical staff nationwide had worked at local healthcare centres since the ministry's rotation programme was launched.
• Docs duck rural-service bait - The Telegraph, India – (5/25)
  Despite incentives promised by the government, medical graduates are still keeping away from rural service.
• 61 more doctors sacked for not ending strike - The Express Tribune, Pakistan – (6/01)
  According to Health Secretary, the sacked doctors were asked to resume their duties but they ignored the warnings
• Encouraging Australian-trained doctors to rural and remote areas - FarmWeekly, AU – (5/30)
  The National Rural Health Alliance suggested plan to reduce the serious shortage of GPs in rural and remote areas.
• Alarm raised over dearth of specialists in NSW hospitals - The Sydney Morning Herald – (5/31)
  Parents of children who need specialist healthcare have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for full-time hospital staff.
• Pay disparity 'results in loss of senior doctors' - Radio New Zealand – (5/31)
  Disparity in salaries between New Zealand and Australia results in a steady loss of experienced senior doctors.

NORTH AMERICA

• Why Medical School Should Be Free - The New York Times – (5/28)
  Free medical school would relieve doctors of the burden of student debt and gradually shift the work force toward primary care.
• What if America runs out of primary-care doctors? - The Washington Post – (5/31)
  How will the Affordable Care Act fare if there aren’t enough doctors to treat all the newly insured Americans?
• The Doctor Will See You in 174 Days - The Huffington Post – (5/27)
  Romneycare in Massachusetts continues to provide a real-life test case for universal healthcare.
• Doctors struggle with transition, but e-records appear superior - CNET News – (5/26)
  Prescription errors dropped by two-thirds one year after physicians switched to electronic record-keeping systems, study found
• Time to pull the plug on 12-hour nursing shifts - The Boston Globe – (5/27)
  New study finds people who do not sleep sufficiently suffer from greater brain aging.
• Cell Phone Text Technology Helps Promote Health in Senegal - Voice of America News – (5/31)
  A pilot project in rural Senegal uses text messaging to remind women of upcoming doctor’s appointments and local health meetings.
• 209,000 Doctors At Risk For E-Prescribing Penalties – BusinessWeek – (6/01)
  Healthcare providers who don't write prescriptions electronically may be subject to a 1% Medicare payment reduction in 2012.
• UN Chief & UNFPA Executive Director Promote Women’s & Children’s Health - IPS Terra Viva – (5/30)
  They visited Nigeria to promote ‘Every Woman, Every Child’ campaign launched last September during the MDGs summit in NY
• Working while sleep-deprived: not just a problem for residents (Editorial) - Canadian Medical Association Journal – (5/24)
  Doctors in practice, being older, may be more susceptible than trainees to the effects of sleep deprivation.

EUROPE

• The making of a modern medic (Editorial) - The Lancet, UK – (5/28)
  Medical students are increasingly selected on the basis of possession of good social skills.
• The Brazilian health system: history, advances, and challenges - The Lancet, UK – (5/21)
  Study about reform process of the Brazilian health system during the past 40 years, including the creation of the Unified Health System.
• Hundreds of babies dying unnecessarily because hospital staff aren't trained to use equipment - Daily Mail, UK – (5/29)
  Deaths due to errors in reading CTG traces form one of the largest groups of avoidable maternity deaths.
• NHS reforms: hospital doctors want a place on GP boards - The Guardian, UK – (5/27)
  Andrew Lansley to be told 'major changes' are needed to NHS reform bill to give more power to hospital doctors
• Medicine 'not a closed shop' - Irish Times – (5/30)
  Senator denied restrictive practices operated by the medical profession in Ireland.
• Developing Turkey achieves quantum leap in health care - Today’s Zaman, Turkey – (5/29)
  Over the past decade, Turkey has moved beyond many Western countries in terms of effectiveness and quality of its health care.
• Expectant mothers face midwife shortage - The Local, Germany – (5/31)
  About 25 percent of Germany’s midwives are no longer working in maternity care, moving into less risky and more lucrative fields.
• Why western aid workers are coming under threat - The Guardian, UK – (5/27)
  Many recipient countries find western aid looking increasingly like the colonial exploitation it was intended to make amends for.
• Belgique: la France veut lutter contre l'exode de ses étudiants en médecine - Romandie News – (5/31)
  La réforme en cours de l'enseignement supérieur en France devrait aider à régler le problème.
• Families sue Ugandan government over women's deaths in childbirth - The Guardian, UK – (5/27)
  Historic legal action to force the government to tackle the shortages of doctors and midwives, drug stock-outs and absence of emergency transport.

LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN

• Emigran cada semana diez médicos zulianos- La Verdad.com, Venezuela – (5/29)
  El fenómeno es atribuido a las pocas oportunidades de trabajo y bajo salario que perciben los médicos en Venezuela.
• Médicos prefieren no viajar a municipios alejados, por su propia seguridad: Diez - El Sol de Durango, Mexico – (5/30)
  En estos momentos de inseguridad, los profesionistas no se arriesgan a perder la vida.
• Escasez de médicos en hospitales comunitarios - El Heraldo de Tabasco, Mexico – (5/27)
  La mayoría de los galenos con especialidades rechazan trabajar en las unidades hospitalarias de comunidades
• El 70% de centros médicos del Paraguay trabaja de forma irregular - ABC, Paraguay – (5/27)
  ¿En manos de quién está nuestra salud?
• Directores de hospitales reconocen crisis - La República, Costa Rica – (5/30)
  Falta de personal, de equipos y quirófanos incide en largas listas de espera y mala atención a pacientes
• Enfermeras denuncian casos de explotación en sanatorios - Última Hora, Paraguay – (5/31)
  Denuncian violaciones reiteradas de la Ley de Enfermería en establecimientos médicos privados.
• Las mujeres en México no deben morir por el hecho de dar vida: activistas - Vanguardia, Mexico – (5/27)
  Denuncian las “deudas” que el Estado mexicano tiene con la salud de las mujeres
• Médicos, entre aumento de sueldo y desabastecimiento - El Periódico, Guatemala – (5/27)
  Galenos, descontentos por falta de aprobación del estatuto médico, amenazan con declaratoria de huelga.