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Alliance News Digest

Week of 18 June 2010

NEWS FROM WHO AND PARTNERS

• Defying odds, a female doctor tackles maternal health in Afghanistan – UNICEF. (6/8)
  Malalai Hospital is too frequently the last hope for women who live in regions even more poorly served by trained medical staff
• Women Deliver conference focuses on MDG 5 – UNAIDS. (6/8)
  The Lancet projects that globally HIV has increased maternal mortality by 20%
• In India, pregnancy comes with a high price – UNICEF. (6/11)
  'Healthy Women, Better World' – Tracking maternal, newborn and child survival
• New website for the global health workforce challenge – HIFA2015. (6/12)
  CapacityPlus: Serving health workers, saving lives
• Global Health Certificate Programs – HIFA2015. (6/15)
  Global Health University provides online enrollment in courses as well as an opportunity for an immersive global health experience

AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST

• Promise of an Optimal Future for Women and Girls – The Mail, Ghana. (6/12)
  G8-G20 nations to work with developing countries to implement and fund a plan that strengthens access to primary health care services
• World parliamentarians pledge action on women/girl's rights – Ghana News Agency. (6/11)
  World Parliamentarians have pledged to mobilize support for legislative actions to ensure the health, dignity and rights of women and girls
• Absence de médecins spécialistes, difficultés d'accès au traitement - Les personnes vivant avec le Vih interpellent l'Oms et l'Onusida – Walf Fadjri, Senegal. (6/12)
  Gambie ne compte que trois médecins spécialistes pour la prise en charge du Vih/Sida
• Kenya allows medics to seek greener pastures– AllVoices.com. (6/14)
  Kenyan government has allowed health workers to seek greener pastures abroad due to lacks funds to recruit.
• MIDWIVES’ AIDS ROLE CRITICAL – Swazi Observer. (6/16)
  There is a link between maternal deaths and not enough midwives
• Uganda lacks half of required health workers – New Vision, Uganda. (6/15)
  The country needs about 46,977 health workers in public service

ASIA AND PACIFIC

• More RP nurses going to Britain - Philippine Daily Inquirer. (6/14)
  UK Borders and Immigration Agency statistics showed that annual average number of Filipino nurses who went to the UK reached 7,000 from 2007 to 2009
• Thousands turn up for basic health workers' entrance exam - Times of India. (6/12)
  According to the CMO office, as many as 36,514 candidates had applied for the entrance tests.
• MORE PINOY NURSES CHOOSE U.K. OVER U.S. / BRITISH QUEEN, OBAMA GREET RP – The Star, Philippines. (6/14)
  Health care reforms in the US make health and medical care more affordable among Americans, which would result to a higher demand in nurses and doctors.
• Public Health posts $18 million deficit – Saipan Tribune, CNMI. (6/16)
  Department remains in a state of emergency due to its limited workforce as a result of the lack of funding
• Fear factor drives latest skills shortage as job vacancies left unfilled – Herald Sun , Australia. (6/14)
  Stonemasons, locksmiths, signwriters and midwives are among occupations awash with vacancies no one wants to fill.

NORTH AMERICA

• Uneven Progress in Reducing Global Maternal, Child Deaths – Voice of America News. (6/10)
  Shortage of skilled health workers, cost of health care to blame
• The SEIU-UHW Labor Agreement - Laying the Groundwork for Healthcare Reform NOW! – Huffingto Post. (6/10)
  The agreement shows how focusing on patients and treating employees fairly translates into the best care for the general public
• Skills training helps newcomers, care shortage – Des Moines Register. (6/14)
  $3.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to offer an expanded program known as Pathways to Health Care Careers Iowa
• Invest in Women and Maternal Health – IDN InDepth News. (6/12)
  Address health system strengthening, particularly the training and retention of human resources
• Women Deliver 2010 - A Call To Action (video) – UN Dispatch. (6/10)
  Need to push politicians, because the time to deliver for women is now
• Retirements by baby-boomer doctors, nurses could strain overhaul – Washington Post. (6/14)
  The law does not go far enough to address the health workforce shortages projected for the coming decade.
• HHS to spend $250 million to increase number of primary-care providers – Washington Post. (6/17)
  As the health law inches toward full implementation in 2014, the nation faces a major shortage of primary-care doctors and nurses
• A Dirt-Poor Nation, With a Health Plan – New York Times. (6/14)
  Occasionally, the Health Ministry will pay for a patient to go to Kenya, South Africa or even India for treatment.
• Doctors face 21 percent cut in Medicare payments – Washington Post. (6/14)
  Physicians are forced to make practice changes to keep their practice doors open.
• Report Calls for Hundreds of Thousands New Midwives, Other Health Professionals – Voice of America News. (6/15)
  The goal is to hire and train at least 300,000 more midwives by the year 2015.

EUROPE

• Beyond the baby factory for women in the developing world – The Guardian, UK. (6/13)
  The burning issue on maternal health in the world's poorest countries is for women to take control of their own bodies
• Health care in the Czech Republic – The Lancet, UK. (6/12)
  The small proportion of gross domestic product spent on health care conceals serious salary and staffing issues
• Politics and corruption mar health care in Nepal – The Lancet, UK. (6/12)
  Nepal's health-care mechanism unfortunately remains very shaky as chronic shortage of health manpower, corruption, politicisation, and inequitable access to health care remain quite prevalent
• A Vision For The Future Of Health Care – The Guardian, UK. (6/14)
  According to AMREF, the average doctor-to-patient ratio across Africa is 1 in 20,000
• The battle for maternal healthcare – The Guardian, UK. (6/14)
  The World Bank says about 20 000 community health workers have been trained and deployed in Afghanistan
• Don’t abandon Labour’s initiative to improve access to health care for world’s poor people, charities urge – BMJ, UK. (6/14)
  Last week the United Kingdom’s new secretary of state for international development, Andrew Mitchell, announced "a fundamental change in direction"
• A moment of truth for global health (Editorial) – BMJ, UK. (6/3)
  A cross cutting approach is needed to meet the challenges of the global financial crisis
• Safer Motherhood, Safer World? – The Guardian, UK. (6/14)
  Maternal deaths could be prevented by ensuring that women have access to essential maternity and basic health-care services
• EAST EUROPE: Healthcare Ails as Doctors, Nurses Emigrate – IPS Terra Viva-Europe. (6/17)
  Region's healthcare sector is both unstable and unsustainable as health workers continue to leave for jobs abroad..
• HIV care shift from doctors to nurses – Nursing Times, UK. (6/16)
  Task-shifting success could ease the critical shortage of health-care workers

LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN

• Crítico el cuadro “clínico” del CDT de Naguabo ante escasez de enfermeras – Primera Hora, Puerto Rico. (6/16)
  En varios municipios se confrontan a problemas debido a la falta de personal de enfermería para cubrir los turnos de servicio.
• Hay un déficit histórico de enfermeras, advirtió Sileoni – La Gaceta, Argentina. (6/14)
  Por falta de personal capacitado mueren por año 2.100 bebés prematuros que están con cuidados intensivos en unidades neonatales
• "Muertes escapan a nuestra responsabilidad" – Correo Tumbes, Peru. (6/13)
  Colegio de Enfermeras de Tumbes, denuncia la falta de buenos profesionales y de medicinas en los hospitales y Centros de Salud.
• Maternidade oferece vagas para médicos com salário de R$ 3,5 mil – Cidadeverde, Brazil. (6/13)
  No total, sete neonatologistas devem ser contratados em menos de 20 dias para assumir cargos
• Especialidades generalistas abrem oportunidade em Medicina – A Tarde, Brazil. (6/14)
  Na área médica em especial, esta carência reflete de forma direta no cotidiano da população
• DH y la SPGJE capacitan a médicos y enfermeras para atender a víctimas de violencia intrafamiliar – Cambio de Michoacán, Mexico. (6/16)
  Sensibilizar al personal médico y de enfermería para que sepan cómo atender de manera adecuada las víctimas de violencia