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Alliance News Digest

Week of 17 December 2010

NEWS FROM WHO AND PARTNERS

• Reviewing the benefits of health workforce stability – HRH Journal – (12/14)
  This paper examines the issue of workforce stability and turnover in the context of policy attempts to improve retention of health workers
• Reforming the education of physicians, nurses, and midwives – WHO – (12/14)
  Opening remarks at the WHO/PEPFAR consultation on transformative scale up of medical, nursing and midwifery education by Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO.
• UNFPA’s Work to Save Mothers’ Lives Featured in New Series on Global Health – UNFPA. (12/16)
  UNFPA will promote maternal health in humanitarian emergencies in a new ABC News series
• UK announces emergency humanitarian assistance for Somalia – DFID, UK (12/14)
  UK government will provide access to basic healthcare for more than 120,000 people

AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST

• Government recalls retired medical personnel - Daily Monitor, Uganda – (12/09)
  The goal is to arrest the staffing crisis in rural areas
• New UN Partnership seeks to promote reproductive health in Africa - Ghana News Agency – (12/14)
  The UNFPA-MVP partnership would help local governments to provide supplies to clinics and hospitals, and also identify trainers for health personnel
• The plan is to revamp the health sector - Daily Monitor, Uganda – (12/13)
  Health sector losses at Shs36.7 billion annually due to waste through staff absenteeism, expired drugs and poor payroll management
• South Africa: Nurses step into ART breach - IRIN PlusNews – (12/15)
  Nurses in South Africa have to be adequately prepared and supported to take on the additional responsibility of managing ARV patients
• Funding Could Weaken Campaign Against Maternal Mortality – Inter Press Service – (12/08)
  Potential weakness in the Senegal government's plan to field thousands of trained community health workers, due to lack of funding
• Nigeria has highest infant mortality rate in Africa - NEXT, Nigeria – (12/16)
  Many rural clinics lack structure, medical equipment, drugs and qualified staff to provide quality health services
• New degree programme will attract local talent in Qatar - Gulf News – (12/14)
  Masters degree programme in nursing to open doors for Qataris

ASIA AND PACIFIC

• Forensic doctors up in arms against new law – Daily News & Analysis, India– (12/15)
  The recent Medical Council of India amendment wants to reduce the “required” strength of forensic doctors
• Angara seeks end to nursing woes - Philippines Information Agency – (12/13)
  Main problems are the lack of job opportunities for nurses within the country, as well as the deteriorating quality of nursing education
• Nursing profession needs more social recognition - The Daily Star, Bangladesh – (12/16)
  Nursing, as a profession, should receive more recognition socially and financially in the country for its development
• Healthcare Infrastructure in India - Express Healthcare, India – (12/14)
  In order to meet manpower shortages and reach world standards, India would require investments of up to $20 billion over the next five years
• Experts look carefully into medical hub - Bangkok Post – (12/15)
  NHA plans to discuss the impact on the poor
• Chinese doctors will be barred: official - Taipei Times – (12/16)
  Medical personnel from China will not be allowed to obtain professional certificates in Taiwan, nor will they be allowed to practice medicine
• A doctor 'in your pocket' - The Sydney Morning Herald – (12/15)
  Finding a doctor will soon become easier for iPhone users

NORTH AMERICA

• Killings of Afghan Relief Workers Stir Debate - New York Times – (12/14)
  At least 100 relief workers in Afghanistan have been killed so far this year, far more than in any previous year
• Following the Money, Doctors Ration Care - The New York Times – (12/11)
  The underlying problem is that doctors are reimbursed at different rates, depending on whether they see a patient with private insurance, Medicare or Medicaid
• CDC: Half of Doctors Are Using Electronic Medical Records to Some Extent - Wall Street Journal – (12/10)
  The survey — reflecting the responses of about 7,000 doctors — show that 51% report using electronic medical records to some degree
• The Workforce Challenge - Information Week, US – (12/11)
  Finding the qualified people to build and deploy health information exchanges is one of the biggest problems the healthcare industry faces
• Va. health panel urges state to create insurance exchange, attract more doctors - The Washington Post – (12/15)
  The report recommends finding ways to increase medical residency slots in the state, considering loan forgiveness programs and other efforts to retain doctors
• UN Says Nearly One-Third Of Somalia's Population Needs Aid - Voice of America News – (12/10)
  Somalia has a very weak health workforce, result of a severe brain drain of skilled health workers, UN report says
• Relax doctors' requirements - Minden Times, CA – (12/15)
  It is too difficult for doctors trained in other countries to practise in Ontario
• Manitoba government offers doctors up to $61,000 to work in under-served areas - Winnipeg Free Press, CA – (12/09)
  The program will ensure there are more family doctors and other physicians in communities where there are currently shortages
• Number of nurses in Canada grows; RN per capita still below peak in '90s - The Vancouver Sun – (12/09)
  However, Canada does face a shortage of 60,000 nurses by 2022 if key issues aren't addressed.
• Participatory Epidemiology: Use of Mobile Phones for Community-Based Health Reporting - PLoS Medicine– (12/07)
  Brief summary of some promising mobile applications for health monitoring and information sharing

EUROPE

• Health inequalities in the UK - The Lancet, UK – (12/11)
  The Quality and Outcomes Framework (a key component of the new GP contract) was always intended to have a positive effect on public health over the long-term
• The UK Public Health White Paper: “just words” - The Lancet, UK – (12/11)
  After 6 months in power, the government's plans are long on rhetoric but disappointingly short on detail
• Doctors offer ideas to save NHS cash - The Guardian, UK – (12/14)
  Patients should pay for minor cosmetic surgery, they suggest, and neurosurgical instruments could be sterilised then reused
• Our cloud’s silver lining - Irish Medical Times – (12/10)
  There is one nugget of good news for the Irish health system: the commitment to deregulate GMS entry for GPs
• Labour: Planned cut in student nurse numbers will put more strain on NHS - Daily Record, UK – (12/11)
  The number of student nurses will be reduced from 3060 this year to 2700 next year.
• Homecare provision must be vetted and regulated - Irish Times – (12/15)
  Older people can be put in danger when carers, untrained and unvetted, go into their homes
• Novos médicos obrigados a pagar se saírem do SNS - Publico, Portugal – (12/16)
  Os internos que vêem a sua formação paga pelo Estado terão que assumir um compromisso de fidelização ao SNS
• La médecine générale est à bout de souffle - Le Monde – (12/09)
  Dans le rapport sur la médecine de proximité en France, Mme Hubert part d'un constat, isole des causes, avant d'avancer des solutions
• Las ONG piden el 15% de las ayudas para la salud por la falta de personal sanitario - El Mundo, Spain – (12/15)
  Hacen falta más de 2,4 millones de profesionales sanitarios en el mundo

LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN

• MSP busca reducir la brecha salarial entre los médicos - El País, Uruguay – (12/14)
  Informe. "La inequidad repercute en la calidad" de ASSE
• La rebelión de los médicos - El Nuevo Día, Colombia – (12/12)
  Las organizaciones médicas, académicas y gremiales, están solicitando al Gobierno claridad sobre el deterioro progresivo del sistema de salud
• Mujica declaró la "emergencia sanitaria" - La República, Uruguay – (12/14)
  Miles aguardan por intervenciones quirúrgicas a raíz del conflicto de anestesistas
• Siguen los secuestros de médicos en Chihuahua - Infonorte, Mexico – (12/15)
  Durante los últimos 15 días han secuestrado a cinco médicos, dos de ellos en Ciudad Juárez y tres en Chihuahua capital
• Cerca de 1.700 médicos rinden hoy examen único nacional de conocimientos - Noticias 123, Chile – (12/15)
  Este año rendirán el examen 374 médicos titulados en el extranjero, provenientes de 22 países
• Médicos são livres para fixar seus honorários, confirma acordão do STJ - Direitoce, Brazil – (12/13)
  Importante vitória conseguiu em Brasília a oftalmologia cearense e, por extensão, toda a classe médica do Estado