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Alliance News Digest

Week of 12 April 2010

AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST

• 1) Museveni’s unfulfilled health promises – Sunday Monitor, Uganda. (2/7).
  There is an acute shortage of health workers in the country
• 2 INTERVIEW: Nursing empty wallets – Sunday Monitor, Uganda. (2/7).
  Interview with Ms Janet Obuni, president of the Uganda National Association of Nurses and Midwives
• 3 In Sierra Leone, Health Workers Appeal to President – Awareness Times, Sierra Leone. (2/3)
  Health Workers’ Union has appealed to President Koroma to double up efforts in improving the deplorable working conditions of health workers in the country
• 4) KWSG recruits 700 health workers, doctors inclusive – Daily Triumph, Nigeria. (2/5)
  KWARA state government is to recruit about 700 health workers ranging from doctors to attendants in order to strengthen health sector in the state
• GHS to sanction doctors who refuse postings to rural areas – Ghana News Agency. (2/7)
  Doctors refusing posting in rural areas is seriously affecting health delivery in the deprived areas
• Health professionals should commit themselves to economic growth – Ghana News Agency. (2/4)
  Conference served as a platform to evaluate the performance of health workers in the district
• Country Needs Improved Post-Abortion Care Services – New Vision, Uganda. (2/3)
  The main reason behind the complications is lack of access to post-abortion care services and accurate family planning information
• Health sector plans for 2010 – New Era, Namibia. (2/9)
  Namibia needs to ensure appropriate task shifting and to reduce the imbalance in the distribution of health workers in the rural-urban and public-private divides
• Most Maternal Deaths Occur on Fridays – Daily News, Tanzania. (2/9)
  There is a critical shortage of skilled health providers
• UN village project provides model for ending poverty – The National, UAE. (2/6)
  Health workers in the villages are given mobile phones and sent out to treat patients

ASIA AND PACIFIC

• Abduction' of health workers in Rizal assailed – ABS-CBN News, Philippines. (2/6)
  HEAD condemned what they called “the illegal raid and abduction” of 42 community health workers and doctors in Morong
• Mega health projects planned for provinces – The News, Pakistan. (2/7)
  Ministry of Health has planned mega health projects for all provinces to ensure better medical facilities to the people
• KATRIBU Appeals to Nursing Board Passers to Serve the People – Bulatlat.com, Philippines. (2/6)
  Katribu appeals to our nursing graduates to stay and work with the people especially in the interior barrios
• Region HQ sans public health post – Himalayan Times, Nepal. (2/8)
  The headquarters-based government hospital lacks health workers.
• Deputy health minister: Level of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Afghanistan in health can improve (INTERVIEW) – Trend News, Azerbaijan. (2/5)
  In Afghanistan, there is a lack of health workers, especially in far regions
• Millions at risk if AIDS focus fades, says expert – China Daily. (2/6)
  Whiteside said health ministries needed to use aid funds now to equip and train health workers
• CHD to AFP PNP -Release Abducted Doctors, Nurses, and Community Health Workers in Tanay, Rizal – Bulatlat, Philippines. (2/8)
  As thousands of Filipino health professionals are driven away from the country because of lack of enough opportunities, the government terrorizes those who stay and serve their fellow citizens.
• More overseas doctors may head to bush – Sydney Morning Herald. (2/8)
  Hundreds more overseas-trained doctors could be heading to rural Victoria under new registration rules.
• A massive shortfall looms – ABC News, Australia. (2/8)
  Under the changes, State and Territory Governments will be able to hand pick permanent migrants to cover a shortfall in qualified mining and health workers
• States push back against national hospital takeover – Sydney Morning Herald. (2/8)
  planning for the expanded health workforce needed to handle increasing disease in an ageing population

NORTH AMERICA

• IntraHealth Marks 30 Years of Saving Lives and Supporting Health Workers around the World – Carolina Newswire. (2/4)
  In its three decades IntraHealth has worked in over 85 countries to help local institutions to better plan for, train, and support health workers
• mHI: mHealth “revolution” is unstoppable – MobiHealth News. (2/3)
  It might take 15 or 20 years but the mHealth revolution will happen
• Democrats Change Health-Care Tack – Wall Street Journal. (2/3)
  With their sweeping health-care bill on hold, House Democrats plan to revive a sliver of the legislation as soon as next week
• Healthy Budget, Healthy Nation President’s Budget Provides Backdrop to Health Care Reform – Centre for American Progress. (2/2)
  Additional funding in the president's budget will help develop the nation's health workforce by enhancing programs to recruit and retain primary care ...
• Area colleges boost nursing programs to offset shortage – Rockford Register-Star. (2/5)
  The nation’s nursing shortage is expected to become more acute once the economy picks up
• Home Health Workers (Letter) – New York Times. (2/7)
  The fastest-growing occupation in the nation, yet these workers are also among the most poorly paid
• PIH: Community Health Workers Can Help Rebuild Haiti - -WBUR.org. (2/4)
  community health workers, or “accompagnateurs,” should play a key role in rebuilding the country:
• Government, health workers sign tentative new contract – Vancouver Sun. (2/9)
  B.C. government and more than 48,000 hospital and long-term care workers have reached a tentative two-year contract agreement
• Les enseignants en Soins manquent autant que les infirmières – Hebdo Rive Nord, Canada. (2/8)
  Le Cégep peine à monter une banque de candidature

EUROPE

• Staffing shortage almost closed Caithness maternity unit – Press and Journal, UK. (2/9)
  NHS Highland acknowledged that it almost had to transfer all far north mothers-to-be to Inverness.
• Legislation on midwives victimises private clinics – Cyprus Mail (2/7)
  State has never once tried to ensure there were adequate numbers of nurses to become midwives.
• Reforming country health systems for women's health – The Lancet, UK. (1/30)
  Re. the Millennium Project report published in 2005 by the Task Force on Child Health and Maternal Health
• NHS: are temporary workers a permanent solution? – IntheNews.co, UK. (2/3)
  Countries like Australia and New Zealand are in a position to offer our nurses, midwives and doctors higher pay and better career prospects
• AAMC Commends The President For Supporting NIH Research And Medicare – Medical News Today, UK. (2/3)
  With a shortage of permanent staff, healthcare contractors and flexible workers make a vital contribution to the delivery of NHS services
• Gestión Sanitaria de Mallorca anuncia reducción de cargos en las direcciones de Sociosanitario y Salud Mental – ADN, Spain. (2/9)
  Satse afirma que el cambio se debe a presiones del IB-Salut y CCOO aplaude la medida y recuerda que falta personal básico

LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN

• Workshop to devise ‘action plan’ to limit nurse loss – Stabroek News, Guyana. (2/3)
  The issue of nurse migration has been one that has been challenging the Caribbean for some time
• Norway and Cuba Cooperate On Emergency Relief to Haiti – El Periódico 26, Cuba. (2/6)
  More than 500 Haitian doctors have been trained in Cuba at no cost.
• Un trabajo arduo, pero poco valorado – El Día, Argentina. (2/7)
  "El problema es que cuando hay pocos enfermeros decae el cien por ciento la atención al paciente"
• Castanhal amarga inchaço no atendimento – Diário do Para, Brazil. (2/7)
  Carência de médicos e uma demanda enorme de pacientes vindos de outras cidades são os principais entraves da saúde
• Enfermeros monotributistas dejaron de trabajar en el Molas – El Diario de la Pampa, Argentina. (2/6)
  Se sacrificaron tres años estudiando y están de changarines
• Problemas de personal en sistema panameño de emergencia médica – Prensa Latina, Cuba. (2/6)
  SUME enfrenta dificultades operativas por la carencia de personal especializado.
• País tem o maior número de dentistas do mundo, mas 13,43% da população entre 15 e 19 anos nunca foi a um especialista – Correio Braziliense. (2/6)
  Apesar de o Brasil concentrar 19% dos dentistas do mundo, cerca de 1/3 da população ainda sofre com a falta de políticas públicas de saúde bucal
• Medidas enérgicas surtem efeito nos postos – Tribuna do Norte, Brazil. (2/6)
  Parece ter chegado ao fim a peregrinação do natalense por atendimento médico

NEWS FROM WHO AND PARTNERS

• 2 Linking sexual and reproductive health and rights and HIV prevention is key says Dutch AIDS Ambassador Marijke Wijnroks – UNAIDS. (2/8)
  Need to invest in health system building, staff, infrastructure, and policy implementation, to have health systems strong enough to deliver AIDS services.
• EU and AMREF Put African Mothers, Newborns and Children First – AMREF. (2/8)
  Progress has been hindered by poor policy implementation and weak health systems
• Afghanistan: Saving mothers in the remotest areas – Merlin, UK. (2/2)
  To survive in the remote areas of Afghanistan is hard. To survive childbirth here is even harder.
• Geneva Health Forum: Globalization, Crisis, and Health Systems - Confronting Regional Perspectives – Global Resource Center. (2/2010)
  The 2010 Geneva Health Forum will be held April 19-21 in Geneva

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