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Alliance News Digest

Week of 4 March 2011

News related to/from the Global Health Workforce Alliance

• The plight of Ugandan health workers – Daily Monitor, Uganda – (3/3)
  The blame for poor delivery of health services and the current state of the health care system in Uganda has been put on the health workers

NEWS FROM WHO AND PARTNERS

• Incorporating Health Workforce Issues into Reproductive Health Advocacy - Capacity Plus – (2/28)
  Patrick Mugirwa, a program officer with PPD, spent a week at CapacityPlus’s Washington, DC office to plan jointly for upcoming activities.
• First Virtual International Congress of Midwives - HRH Resource Center – (February 2011)
  Conference, which opens on June 1, 2011, will provide an open forum to improve the professional development of Spanish-speaking midwives.
• Medical Peace Work Launches Online Courses for Health Professionals - HRH Resource Center – (February 2011)
  The courses provide the participants with new insights about the special role and responsibility of healthcare professionals in peace work.
• UNHCR: Countering stigma and silence about HIV among refugees and host communities in northern Ecuador – UNAIDS – (3/4)
  A special UNHCR programme to prevent HIV has been implemented by community health workers in isolated areas surrounding Lago Agrio

AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST

• Médecine traditionnelle au Niger: Une science au service de la population - Media Niger – (2/24)
  La sollicitation de plus en plus pressante de la médecine traditionnelle au Niger, touche toutes les classes sociales du pays.
• B/A Declares War on Maternal Mortality - Modern Ghana – (3/01)
  Brong Ahafo region saw a decline in maternal mortality last year of more than a 72 per cent..
• Doctors strike: We are losing lives – Prof. Oke, LASUTH CMD - Vanguard, Nigeria – (3/02)
  There is no way to quantify the human cost, it is enormous.
• Health Worker Faces Threats From Soweis - Concord Times, Sierra Leone– (2/28)
  A dedicated health care worker in the Moyamba District has come under severe threats due to his advocacy against Female Genital Mutilation.
• Central African Republic: Struggling for Healthcare – UN IRIN – (3/01)
  After decades of political violence, displacement and insecurity, thousands of people in CAR are vulnerable to disease and have little access to health services, aid agencies say.
• People Turn to Indigenous Medicine – IPS – (2/28)
  Due to drug shortages in Zimbabwe, urban residents are now also turning to traditional healers.
• US gives Uganda sh700b for AIDS fight - New Vision, Uganda – (2/28)
  The funding intends to strengthen health systems by increasing the number of health workers, fighting HIV/AIDS and improving service delivery.
• MIDDLE EAST: Egyptian volunteers among first humanitarian responders – IRIN – (3/01)
  Egyptian charities and international organizations have stepped up efforts to deliver aid to people affected by the growing humanitarian crisis in Libya.
• MK calls plan to improve health system ‘recycled Bibibluff' - The Jerusalem Post – (2/28)
  Plan has very little that’s new and is far from adequate, opposition claims

ASIA AND PACIFIC

• Healthcare sector set to overcome manpower crunch - Times of India – (2/26)
  The latest Economic Survey suggested that the human resource crunch in India could well be a thing of the past.
• ARMM gets P36-M gov’t subsidy to deploy midwives to poor areas - Manila Bulletin – (2/26)
  The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is beset with high infant and maternal mortality incidents at almost double the national rate.
• The B-Town Doctors: Big Hospitals In Small Towns - Business, India – (2/24)
  Hospitals are creating segments in tier II cities for patients and profits.
• Overworked doctors seek cure for ills - The Standard, Hong Kong – (3/02)
  About 200 public doctors have called on the Hospital Authority to introduce standard working hours and improve promotion mechanisms.
• Young doctors` strike puts patients in distress - Dawn, Pakistan – (3/01)
  Most of the patients reporting to the three public hospitals during the strike failed to receive proper treatment.
• Nurses and “culture of care”–laudable - LankaWeb, Sri Lanka – (3/02)
  The term nurse practitioner is now becoming commonly used, being able to diagnose and do the initial work when admitting patients.
• Christchurch earthquake: Midwives sought as quake brings births on - New Zealand Herald – (2/26)
  The number of premature births have rosen in the wake of Tuesday's earthquake. .

NORTH AMERICA

• CROI: Nurses Can Manage HIV Therapy - MedPage Today – (2/28)
  In SA over the years therapy has been managed by nurses at regional clinics in an attempt to provide good level of care at lower cost while relieving pressure on the scarcity of doctors available
• Doctor-owned centers spark criticism, scrutiny - The Washington Post – (3/01)
  Alarming trend: doctors in many specialities referring patients to facilities in which they have a financial interest.
• So you want to work in health care? - Dayton Daily News – (2/25)
  Specialization and advanced education provide one way for health care workers to ensure they’ll always be in demand.
• Malpractice system not a cure-all - Los Angeles Times – (2/28)
  Medical mistakes are made, but when it comes to compensating the victim, legal and insurance routes often set up their own obstacles.
• Libyan-American finds ways to give back home - Press Telegram – (2/26)
  From Southern California to Michigan to Washington, D.C., outraged Libyan- Americans doctors are mobilizing to help their countrymen.
• Side effects of the GOP's war on family planning – Washington Post – (2/23)
  Family planning programs also provide cancer screening and HIV counseling to millions of low-income and uninsured people..
• Patients suffer from doctors' poor communication - The Republic, Indiana – (3/02)
  Haphazard communication between ER doctors and primary care physicians can undermine effective care, study says.
• Doctors urge Health Care Action Plan to thwart ‘looming crisis’ - The Globe and Mail, CA – (2/28)
  With the health accord between the provinces and the federal government set to expire in three years, it is time for Ottawa to show leadership once again.
• Demand soars for midwives from different cultures - The Record, CA – (2/28)
  A language barrier can compromise the safety of both the mother and baby, expert says.

EUROPE

• Human resources for health in southeast Asia: shortages, distributional challenges, and international trade in health services - The Lancet, UK – (2/26)
  International trade in health services in southeast Asia has resulted in the so-called brain drain of highly specialised staff.
• Public health: profession, health system, government control - The Lancet, UK – (2/28)
  The impact of public health programmes on the decline of premature mortality is of a magnitude similar to the effect of individual health-care services.
• Reshaping healthcare education can strengthen our workforce - The Guardian, UK – (2/23)
  The Department of Health wants to know how staff education and training can be improved.
• Nursing dream fades for Filipinos as UK jobs dry up - The Guardian, UK – (2/23)
  Many of 50,000 nurses qualified in the Philippines last year hope to work in the NHS, but only 13,000 have found jobs abroad.
• Médicos deixam hospitais públicos mas voltam para prestar serviços mais caros - Jornal das Caldas, Portugal – (2/24)
  A prática está implementada, há falta de médicos e os hospitais não têm outra possibilidade que não esta. .
• Liberia: The toughest place to be a midwife? - BBC News, UK – (2/27)
  One in 25 babies delivered in Liberia, West Africa, is stillborn or dies within 24 hours.
• Health Minister rejects limit to waiting period for appointments - The Local, Germany – (2/28)
  Health Minister rejected conservative plan saying it would not address the real problem – a shortage of doctors.
• Les agressions de médecins en augmentation - Le Figaro, France – (2/26)
  Comment soigner sereinement dans un climat d'insécurité croissante?
• Médicos de familia y psiquiatras, los más afectados por transtornos mentales y consumo de drogas - ABC, Spain – (3/02)
  Son los facultativos que más acuden al Programa de Atención Integral al Médico Enfermo de la Organización Médica Colegial

LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN

• Faltan en el IMSS cinco mil médicos - El Universal, Mexico – (2/23)
  Para revertir esta problemática, se ofrecerá a los médicos junto con el Seguro Popular o el ISSSTE, “paquetes más atractivos” para que laboren en los estados.
• En las casas de salud de Ecuador hay déficit de enfermeras por la crisis económica - Ecuavisa, Ecuador – (3/01)
  Las instituciones prefieren contratar en su lugar a auxiliares de enfermería, que cobran menos, pero que están menos calificadas.
• "Los médicos integrales son un golpe brutal a la medicina venezolana" - Entorno Inteligente, Venezuela – (3/02)
  Científico prominente del país explica que su retiro es una medida de protesta contra la incursión de miles de médicos integrales comunitarios.
• Paraguay: IPS contrata médicos para contingencia del dengue - Publimetro, Paraguay – (3/03)
  Una de las zonas que serán beneficiadas con estas contrataciones es Ciudad del Este que se encuentra con alerta roja por el dengue
• Banco de Tumores al borde del cierre - El País, Uruguay – (3/02)
  Hospital Militar. Autoridades dicen que no hay apoyo oficial y falta presupuesto.
• Technology opportunities: Telemedicine and Telehealth - Jamaica Observer – (2/27)
  Applying ICT to the healthcare industry will benefit locals, and that is why the government must do more than move to electronic records.