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Alliance News Digest

Information

WEEK OF 16 October 2009

News related to/from the Global Health Workforce Alliance

• Building national alliances for HRH: Good Practices For Country Coordination And Facilitation (CCF) - The Alliance (10/16)
  A draft mechanism to ensure greater collaboration on addressing the health workforce crisis at the country level – including the formation of ‘national alliances’ on HRH - has been developed by the Alliance for consultation.
  
  

• A glimmer of hope in Senegal and Burkina Faso - WebRelief.ch
  The Alliance has participated in emergency operations for these countries and the sub-region through the IFRC.
  

AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST

• The Nation Second to South Africa in Spread of HIV/Aids - Minister - Vanguard, Nigeria. (10/10)
  In 2007, two million people died of AIDS and it is estimated that 7,500 people are infected daily.
  

• Health Workers Suspend Strike - This Day, Nigeria (10/7)
  Quick action from federal government avoided health workers strike due to disparity in increment of salaries for health and medical workers.
  

• Tutume Sub-district faces shortage of nurses - Daily News, Botswana. (10/8)
  Nurses from Tutume away for training can not be replace, therefore adding to shortage.
  

• Karamoja's Health Demand Strains Matany Hospital - New Vision, Uganda. (10/11)
  Shortage of qualified staff hinders the hospital's ability to efectively respond to patient's needs.
  

• Mental Illness - a Condition, Not a Curse - The Herald, Zimbabwe. (10/9)
  With many psychiatrists and psychologists having left the country, there is inadequate mental health care of patients.
  

• Fundo Global reforça combate à tuberulose - Agência Angola Press. (10/12)
  Insuficentes medicos para la populacão de São Tomé e Príncipe.
  

• Good health is a right, not a privilege - New Vision, Uganda. (10/11)
  Health workers can only be effective if they have manageable workloads.
  

• IMF censured for stifling fight against Aids - Daily Nation, Kenya. (10/13)
  Report reveals that IMF requests low ceiling in government allocations to health, while there is a need of 24,000 nurses due to shortage of staff in public health facilities.
  
  

• 6,000 health workers recruited by MOH - Arab News. (10/12)
  The Kingdom has been hiring health professionals from different countries to fulfil vacant posts in hospital and clinics.
  

ASIA AND PACIFIC

• May 12 declared national Nurses Day - MY sinchew.com, Malaysia. (19/12)
  In acknowledgement for the nurses contribution to the country’s health care area.
  

• AFGHANISTAN: Analysis: Afghan health NGOs - a mixed blessing? - UN IRIN-Asia. (10/12)
  Government hires NGOs to provide basic health care because of the lack of trained professionals in rural areas.
  

• CAMBODIA: Alarming Maternal Deaths Require a Mix of Solutions - IPS-Asia. (10/12)
  Financial compensation is offered to midwives for live born babies.
  
  

• Feature: 2nd NHRAP Cebu consultation ends with substantive human rights issues - Philippine Information Service. (10/12)
  Prioritization of health concerns and to manage health workers' out-migration as part of human rights issues.
  

• Speech: Ryall - The Government’s Health Agenda - Scoop Independent News, N. Zealand. (10/15)
  Opportunity for AUT staff and students to build connections with the worlds of health, community services, government and business.
  

NORTH AMERICA

• Zimbabwe: Report Shows Health Care System Declining Over Years of Authoritarian Rule - New York Times. (10/12)
  Earlier in the year, hospitals were hardly operational and medical school in Harare closed for six months.
  

• Health plan’s effect on costs may be slight - Boston Globe. (10/12)
  President Obama’s health care plan is now before congress.
  

• State universities turning away qualified student nursing applicants - Tallahassee Democrat, FL (10/7)
  Nursing school applicants turned away because of too few faculty, teaching sites adding to shortage
  

• Tenn., Ind. health workers get early swine flu vaccine - Philadelphia Inquirer. (10/6)
  A large national immunization effort has begun.
  

• Nurses to sue over H1N1 shots - Timesunion.com, NY. (10/13)
  Nurses object that State mandate health workers to be vaccinated saying it is a violation of their civil rights.
  

• State asks for $5M to add nurses - New Haven Register, CT. (10/13)
  Funds would be used to provide scholarships and training for nurses and other health workers much needed in the State.
  

• University-private ventures can address nurse shortage - Detroit News. (10/13)
  A factor influencing the shortage of health workers is aging population living longer and requiring especial care.
  

• Shortage leads to redefining of nurses' roles - Vancouver Sun. (10/11)
  If nothing is done to reserve the trend, a shortage of around 22,000 nurses is expected in the country by 2022.
  

• Worker shortage means longer wait times for breast cancer screening, treatment - Vancouver Sun. (10/6)
  Health care professionals are in high demand, especially those working in the cancer field.
  
  

EUROPE

• Swine flu: former nurses urged to re-register - Health Service Journal, UK. (10/6)
  Scottish government offers to pay former nurses to re-register.
  

• Lift the horizons of the homeless (Letter) - The Guardian, UK. (10/9)
  …to highlight the continuing lack of adequate and appropriate mental health support services for rough sleepers and homeless people.
  

• All for universal health coverage - The Lancet, UK. (10/10)
  Health for all should be not only an inspirational target but also an essential framework for the UN.
  

• Meet the doula: the new must-have accessory for mums to be - The Telegraph, UK. (10/12)
  Due to the shortage of professional midwives, many women are calling upon unofficial birth assistants.
  

• Terrible conditions in Liberia where witchdoctors rule and two babies die every hour - Scottish Daily Record, UK. (10/4)
  In the health field, the country is in need for basic services as well as trained workers, among the many other needs..
  

• Life expectancy differs by 30 years between richest and poorest countries, report shows - British Medical Journal, UK. (10/7)
  Poor nations still have a long way to go to meet rich nations’ levels of health, education, and personal income.
  

• Un manque cruel d'infirmier(e)s - Nice Matin, France. (10/10)
  L'école de soins infirmiers, qui dépend du centre hospitalier la Palmosa, a accueilli 50 élèves depuis sa création..
  

• Navarra precisa el doble de recursos en cuidados paliativos para pacientes terminales - Noticias de Navarra, Spain. (10/11)
  Navarra requiere una seria de recursos paliativos para enfermos terminales.
  

• 55 médicos candidataram-se a vagas em hospitais ingleses - Diario de Notícias, Portugal. (10/12)
  Empresa britânica precisa de 15 clínicos para trabalhar nos hospitais públicos ingleses, mas foram recebidas mais de 50 candidaturas.
  
  

LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN

• Emigran las enfermeras - La Estrella, Panama. (10/14)
  Enfermeras altamente capacitadas parten a otros países por falta de incentivos en el país.
  

• Justifica el SNTE 27 resultado de ENLACE - Noroeste, Mexico. (10/10)
  En las escuelas públicas tienen falta de recursos humanos, tal como sicólogos y enfermeras.
  

• En Hospital de Maracay faltan 760 enfermeras - El Universal, Venezuela. (10/10)
  El Colegio de Médicos de Aragua reclama, médicos, enfermeras, equipos...
  

• Por falta de médicos, cierran emergencias e internación - ABC Digital, Paraguay. (10/10)
  El hospital regional de Encarnación requiere todo tipo de profesionales de la salud para poder funcionar
  

• IMSS abre bolsa de trabajo para la Carbonífera - Milenio, Mexico (10/9)
  La vacante es para auxiliares y enfermeras; asistente médico, auxiliar administrativo de unidad médica de campo…
  

• Migración deja pueblos fantasma - El Universal, Mexico. (10/13)
  Los indígenas, que viven en comunidades apartados, abandonan sus pueblos en busca de trabajo con muchas implicaciones negativas para los que se quedan
  

• Médicos e operadoras de planos de saúde se reúnem para discutir reajuste de honorários - Correio Braziliense. (10/13)
  encontro para discutir a criação de um novo modelo de pagamento e de organização dos planos.
  

• Firmada Associação dos Hospitais Municipais em Fórum de Gestores da Saúde - Diário de Canoas, Brazil. (10/14)
  Prefeitos assinaram termo de cooperação para prestação de serviços em casas de saúde..
  
  

News from WHO and partners

• Hospitals must be protected during natural disasters - WHO. (10/14)
  International Day for Disaster Reduction 2009: urgent action needed to protect hospitals from natural hazards.
  

• United Nations Marks Fifteenth Anniversary of ICPD - UNFPA. (10/12)
  Fifteen years ago in Cairo, for the first time, governments acknowledged that every person has the right to sexual and reproductive health.
  

• World Bank Reforming to Meet New Challenges, Zoellick Says - World Bank. (10/10)
  Outlines ways to improve legitimacy, efficiency, and effectiveness.
  

• WHO to strengthen health response to Philippines flood victims - ReliefWeb, CH. (10/9)
  ''WHO's 2008-2009 Safe Hospitals Campaign emphasized the need to strengthen the capacity of health facilities to respond to emergencies such as that caused by Ondoy.''
  

• Handbook on monitoring and evaluation of human resources for health - Human Resources for Health Blog. (10/13)
  A new publication available.
  

• Minister Power opens Irish Aid Global Development Conference at the University of Limerick - Irish Aid. (10/13)
  The Sustainable Global Development conference will draw more than 160 academics and practitioners working in international development.
  

• Partnering with faith based organizations for virtual elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV - UNAIDS. (10/14)
  Executive Director of UNAIDS took part in a meeting on prevention and early treatment of HIV and TB in young children.
  

• Telecom: Tools connecting the world and communicating about HIV - UNAIDS. (10/5)
  Health workers in remote areas with no health facilities are now able to diagnose and provide treatment support to people living with HIV.
  

• Employment and job mobility in Tunisia - World Bank. (10/13)
  The worldwide growing importance of the job mobility must be taken into account in the discussions on the interdependencies in human development.