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Alliance News Digest

Information

WEEK OF 10 JULY 2009

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News from the Global Health Workforce Alliance

• Launch of the Alliance Resource Requirements Tool (RRT) at the UN ECOSOC, Geneva, 6-9 July - The Alliance
  The Global Health Workforce Alliance (the Alliance) will host a special session at the UN ECOSOC Innovation Fair to launch the Resource Requirements Tool (RRT) on 8 July 2009.
  

• New financing tool to help reverse global health workforce shortage - The Alliance
  Countries will now be better able to identify the financing required to reverse the global health workforce crisis, with the help of a new costing tool launched by the Global Health Workforce Alliance today.
  
  

AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST

• PS Says 1,500 Nurses to Be Hired Every Year - Daily Nation, Kenya
  The government will hire 1,500 nurses annually to address the countrywide shortage of medical personnel.
  

• Telethinking and the Nigerian health sector - The Guardian, Nigeria
  Over the past decade medicine has witnessed a substantial change in technological complexity and the reduction in cost of information communications technology (ICT) has resulted in a symbiotic relationship between the healthcare and ICT sector.
  

• HEALTH-SENEGAL: Fistula Sufferers Left To Their Fate - IPS News-Africa
  In Senegal’s southern region, 58 percent of deliveries take place at home without any medical assistance, according to state reproductive health officials in Kolda.
  

• 300 Health Workers Charged - Times of Zambia
  More than 300 health workers in Ndola have been asked to exculpate themselves or face disciplinary charges for allegedly going on an illegal strike.
  

• Now Academics Back Doctors - Cape Argus, SA
  Academics have thrown their weight behind the cause of striking doctors, raising concerns about the deteriorating conditions in state hospitals.
  

• Health workers serve strike notice - The Guardian, Nigeria
  President, MHWUN, Ayuba Wabba, told The Guardian in Abuja at the weekend, that "it lies outside of the jurisdiction of the Health Ministry to interfere in the grading and placement of workers.".
  

• African Countries Convene to Take Action on Behalf of Women and Children Worldwide - African Press Organization
  The Call to Action decried the chronic shortage in the number of skilled health workers in Africa who can deliver life-saving interventions.
  

• Health Workers Must End Strike (Editorial) - Times of Zambia
  THE stance taken by the Government to withhold salaries for health workers who went on strike last month should serve as a warning to employees
  

• What the G8 Leaders Say On Africa - allAfrica.com
  We reaffirm our commitment to address the scarcity of health workers in developing countries, especially in Africa.
  
  

ASIA AND PACIFIC

• Thousands of jobs await health workers in Guam - Philippine Star
  Employment opportunities are getting brighter for jobless Filipinos and other health workers.
  

• ‘Pakistan the worst-hit country by brain drain’ - Daily Times, Pakistan
  Hardly any country has suffered more from the ‘brain drain’ than has Pakistan. Nearly 3,500 (annual) graduates of Pakistan’s medical colleges are jobless; most go abroad.
  

• Keeping our fingers crossed - Manila Bulletin
  Good news refers to the new legislation introduced in the US Congress aimed precisely to end the visa retrogression for registered nurses coming from foreign countries including the Philippines.
  

• Economic Survey 2008-09: Lack of doctors, shoddy infrastructure hampering health sector - Times of India
  Acute shortage of trained medical personnel and adequate health centres is hindering a steady improvement of India's health sector.
  

• AFGHANISTAN: Fighting a stubborn poliovirus - IRIN-Asia
  Access to children in insecure areas has long been a major obstacle for polio immunization drives. Health workers have often been attacked, harassed and kidnapped by insurgents or criminals, according to media reports.
  

• 100,000 skilled workers needed - Jakarta Post
  Riau Islands Manpower Agency head, Azman Taufik, said the industrial sector needed workers who had special expertise in welding, manufacturing and health care.
  

• Senior doctors low paid, undervalued and dissatisfied - National Business Review, N. Zealand
  New Zealand is disadvantaged in the international market for senior doctors because of geographical isolation, low remuneration and smaller scale hospitals and communities, the report said.
  
  

NORTH AMERICA

• Physician Shortage Could Hinder Health Reform - Kaiser Health News
  The number of new primary care doctors each year has fallen nearly 50 percent since 1997, leaving a shortage that could hinder Congress's ambition to reform health care and cover millions of uninsured Americans.
  

• FrontlineSMS:Medic is a great new initiative aimed to improve health care in the developing world via SMS - IntoMobile, CA
  This is yet another example how mobile technology is helping improve people’s lives. FrontlineSMS:Medic aims to improve health care in poor, rural villages in the developing world.
  

• UR professor helps train mental-health workers in Iraq - Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA
  Lindgren, an assistant professor of psychology at UR for the past year, recently spent eight intensive days training mental-health workers in the Kurdish region of Iraq.
  

• Sen. Murray discusses health care reform in Gig Harbor - Peninsula Gateway, WA
  Strong workforce needed to counter rising costs, she says.
  

• How to logically find doctors, medical schools, & associations that research healing with foods - The Examiner.com. USA
  A recent report of the Institute of Medicine indicated an urgent need for an effective public health system that can respond to the public health threats that range from bioterrorism and AIDS to an epidemic of obesity.
  

• Hospital Workers Go Back to School—At Work - Chicago Public Radio
  We hear a lot about jobs lost in this economy. But in the health care field, there’s a shortage of workers who directly care for patients. And it’s expected to grow worse.
  

• Leaders Headed To Capitol To Stress Importance Of NKU Health Innovations Center - Kentucky Post
  Northern Kentucky University President James Votruba and a dozen business and community leaders will travel to Frankfort to make the case to fund a Health Innovations Center at NKU.
  

• Mandatory overtime for nurses now banned in Pa - Philadelphia Inquirer
  For much of the decade, nurses and the Service Employees International Union have been lobbying for a change in state law that would restrict hospitals' ability to force nurses and support staff to work overtime hours.
  
  

EUROPE

• Venice statement: global health initiatives and health systems - The Lancet, UK
  On June 20, The Lancet published the first results of the Maximising Positive Synergies Collaborative Group, which assessed the interactions between Global Health Initiatives and country health systems.
  

• Alistair Darling signals pay squeeze for public sector workers - The Guardian, UK
  The chancellor's remarks indicate the government may be willing to take the controversial step of reopening multi-year deals with teachers and health workers.
  

• Indigenous health part 2: the underlying causes of the health gap - The Lancet, UK
  In this Review we delve into the underlying causes of health disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and provide an Indigenous perspective to understanding these inequalities.
  

• Doctors in favour of greater mobility - EurActiv, Belgium
  Interview with Lisette Tiddens who is secretary-general of the Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME).
  

• India seeks to pay extra to attract doctors into villages, but health workers are sceptical - British Medical Journal, UK
  The Indian government plans to increase its budget for rural healthcare services by 16% this year and has promised doctors extra pay to work in remote rural areas.
  

• Health care in poor countries must be defended against privatisation, Oxfam says - British Medical Journal, UK
  The UK charity Oxfam has joined with the public services union UNISON to demand that free public health care in poor countries must not become a "casualty of privatisation."
  

• Claves para curar a África - El Mundo, Spain
  La carencia de recursos humanos tampoco facilita las cosas. "Es un gran problema [...] Hay que ver cómo compensar la sangría de personal cualificado que se marcha de África.
  

• CSI•F critica que los trabajadores del Salud han dejado de ingresar entre 300 y 2.000 euros de la paga extra - Europa Press, Spain
  CSI•F, criticó que los trabajadores del Salud de Aragón han dejado de percibir entre 300 y 2.000 euros de las pagas extras correspondientes al mes de junio.
  

• Via verde para sépsis tem balanço positivo - Jornal da Madeira, Portugal
  Apelou ao secretário regional dos Assuntos Sociais a contratação de cerca de 200 a 300 enfermeiros que ainda não tiveram o seu primeiro emprego, para colmatar assim as graves carências que existem nos centros de Saúde.
  
  

LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN

• Enfermeras de Clínicas son perseguidas, afirmó dirigente - Juku’éke, Paraguay
  Varias autoridades del hospital como las enfermeras estamos en huelga desde el jueves, hemos adoptado una medida firme, por la falta de aplicación de un acuerdo laboral en el que han llegado ya en el año 2003.
  

• Congreso declarará estado de emergencia sanitaria - Portal Paraguayo de Noticias
  Apeló a los parlamentarios a aprobar la Ley de Emergencia Sanitaria como también la ampliación presupuestaria requerida de 97 mil millones de guaraníes de los cuales 27 mil millones para contratar a personal médico y enfermeras.
  

• Políticas para el área de salud (Editorial) - Clarín, Argentina
  La Gripe A plantea un serio desafío para las autoridades que se agrega a los problemas pendientes en el sistema de salud.
  

• Por falta de personal, se retrasa apertura total del Hospital de Especialidades - Hoy Tamaulipas, Mexico
  “Necesitamos técnico radiólogos, radioterapeutas, radiooncólogos y físicos, que aunque ahorita los presta la Secretaría de Salud… estamos buscando jóvenes que estén terminado la especialidad”.
  

• La epidemia desnudó las carencias de los hospitales - Los Andes, Argentina
  Hay déficit de camas, falta de médicos y enfermeros en áreas críticas, un presupuesto que se quedó corto a mitad de año y demoras en el acceso a la atención.
  

• Próximo Director de salud debe asumir cargo previo concurso - El Sol de Cusco, Peru
  los trabajadores están exigiendo que el cargo de titular de esta cartera sea cubierto mediante concurso público.
  

• Centenar de sospechosos con gripe A/H1N1 colapsa Hospital General - FM Bolivia
  EL DIARIO por ese centro público de salud, verificó la carencia de medios (insumos y personal médico) para satisfacer la demanda de la pandemia de la gripe A/H1N1.
  

• Falta de médicos obliga a cerrar sala de emergencia del Japonés - El Mundo, Bolivia
  La mañana de ayer el hospital Japonés amaneció cerrado por falta de personal médico y de apoyo para la atención de emergencia.
  
  

News from WHO and partners

• ICN Elects New President - International Council of Nurses
  Rosemary Bryant, outstanding nursing leader nationally and internationally, has been elected as the 26th President of the International Council of Nurses (ICN).
  

• Stop TB Partnership highlighted at the High-level Segment of the UN Economic and Social Council - Stop TB Partnership
  The High-level Segment of the UN Economic and Social Council, ongoing at United Nations in Geneva this week, is focused on improving global health.
  

• FIP Re-Launches Pharmacy Education, An International Journal for Pharmaceutical Education - International Pharmaceutical Federation
  FIP is pleased to announce the online re-release of Pharmacy Education, an International Journal for Pharmaceutical Education.
  

• Global economic crisis threatens HIV prevention and treatment gains in poor countries - UNAIDS
  In 22 countries in Africa, the Caribbean, Europe and Central Asia, and Asia and Pacific, disruption of HIV prevention and treatment programs is expected over the course of this year as a result of the global economic crisis, according to a new report from UNAIDS and the World Bank, released today.
  

• Fight or Flight: Survey Shows Mounting Workplace Challenges Require Attention to Keep Nurses from Leaving - International Council of Nurses
  South Africa’s nurses are less likely to stay in the profession over the next five years compared to their counterparts in other parts of the world.
  

• World Population Day 2009 - UNFPA
  Statement by Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, UNFPA Executive Director.
  

• Council CEO Sturchio Responds to Accordia Foundation Report on Building Health Care Leadership in Africa - Global Health Council
  Several prominent global health care experts on Thursday, June 18, responded to a new Accordia Global Health Foundation report, titled "Building Healthcare Leadership in Africa: A Call to Action.".