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Alliance News Digest

Week of 21 January 2010

News related to/from the Global Health Workforce Alliance

• Health worker shortage is a truly global crisis - The Guardian, UK – (1/18)
  The global health worker crisis is at its worst in sub-Saharan Africa but, says Sarah Boseley, it has an impact on us all
• Assessing the cause and effect of health worker migration - The Guardian, UK – (1/18)
  Many health workers leave their area of origin, but why? And what is the actual scale of this migration? By Sue George
• Health Care Worker Shortage Affects Every Country in the World – Seer Press News. – (1/18)
  Of all the continents of the world Asia and Africa are desperately short of health care workers

Second Global Forum on Human Resources for Health

• Global Forum on health workforce: Time to act - The Guardian, UK – (1/18)
  Since the first Global Forum on health workforce in 2008, how far have countries come in addressing health workforce challenges? Angela Robson reports
• Stemming migration of medical specialists in Sri Lanka - The Guardian, UK – (1/18)
  When healthcare professionals move abroad, domestic health services often suffer. Case study is part of a selection of entries for the first ever GHWA awards to commend health workers.
• Zambia's data-driven healthcare initiative - The Guardian, UK – (1/18)
  Zambian government undertook an ambitious survey to ensure resources were properly targeted. Case study is part of a selection of entries for the first ever GHWA awards to commend health workers
• An award-winning midwife achieves 'No Maternal Mortality' - The Guardian, UK – (1/18)
  From treating TB and malaria to educating people about Aids, one midwife on the Thailand/Burma border is taking care of more than just maternal healthcare. Case study is part of a selection of entries for the first ever GHWA awards to commend health workers.
• Malian doctor dedicated to serving rural communities - The Guardian, UK – (1/18)
  Malian doctor returned to his roots to build a clinic that now provides affordable, high-quality healthcare to thousands of villagers. Case study is part of a selection of entries for the first ever GHWA awards to commend health workers.
• Democratic Republic of the Congo midwife delivering outstanding care - The Guardian, UK – (1/18)
  Midwife in DRC has dedicated her life to caring for the women and children in her community. Case study is part of a selection of entries for the first ever GHWA awards to commend health workers
• Bringing healthcare to the community in southern Sudan - The Guardian, UK – (1/18)
  In isolated areas having a trained drug distributor in the community can make the difference between life and death. Case study is part of a selection of entries for the first ever GHWA awards to commend health workers

AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST

• Rate doctors and health workers equally, Omokhuale tasks FG - Vanguard, Nigeria – (1/17)
  The unequal rating between the Bachelor Degree in clinical science and the Bachelor Degrees in other medical sciences is unfear, expert says
• Govt. to send jobless nurses abroad - New Zimbabwe – (1/18)
  The government is may have to send hundreds of qualified but jobless nurses to work in neighbouring countries because it cannot afford to employ them
• Back to Basics for Health Professionals - BuaNews, SA – (1/19)
  Health MEC, Dr Magome Masike, challenged workers to restore the dignity and respect of their profession.
• Medical Body to Focus On Skills Development - The New Times, Rwanda – (1/15)
  Rwanda Medical Council plans to enforce compulsory skills development training in order to improve the efficiency of medical practitioners in the country, a top official has said.
• Civil service freeze to continue - The Zimbabwean – (1/12)
  Some clinics and hospitals have a shortage of nurses
• MK: Sack official discouraging doctors' immigration to Israel - Haaretz, Israel – (1/14)
  Senior official accused of standing in the way of immigrant doctors and physicians wanting to come to Israel by creating impossible bureaucracy
• Residents playing doctor in the house - The National, AE – (1/17)
  An increasing number of people are shunning their family doctor and treating themselves with home remedies, a new survey has found.
• Gaza doctor: Medical sector on verge of collapse - Ma'an News Agency, Palestine – (1/16)
  Gaza medical director said hundreds of patients were at risk due to the shortage of medicines, particularly those needing cancer treatment, dialysis and insulin.

ASIA AND PACIFIC

• Experts want more doctors for the mentally sick - The Hindu – (1/14)
  There are only 4000 psychiatrists in the country whereas the number of mentally ill people is about 15 crore, expert says
• Nursing staff shortage hits LRH - The News, Pakistan – (1/14)
  According to sources, presently one nurse was tending to 70 patients at the LRH, though under the national standard rules one nurse is required to care for 10 patients
• The doctor is in ... to social media - The Star, Malaysia – (1/16)
  Some doctors use Facebook, Twitter to raise profile, the Singapore Medical Association is looking into issue.
• Reduced medicine prices to ease life for low income households – Fijivillage – (1/15)
  The prices of 75 basic essential pharmaceutical products will be reduced by an average of thirty percent, the Commerce Commission decided.
• Modern docs - The Star, Malaysia – (1/16)
  Changing trends of medical practice in Malaysia.
• Patients suffer sans doctors - República, Nepal – (1/16)
  Assistant health workers and health assistants have been treating patients there due to lack of doctors.
• ER doctors call for reform - Focus Taiwan – (1/19)
  At present, there are only 1,200 registered ER doctors nationwide, of which 800 work full-time, serving 6.4 million emergency medical cases per year.

NORTH AMERICA

• Breaking the Cycle of Violence - The New York Times – (1/13)
  Since 1998, Dr. Carnell Cooper has led a hospital-based violence intervention program that has helped more than 1,500 victims of violent crime and their families
• Utah doctors among the most ‘wired’ - The Salt Lake Tribune – (1/13)
  According to a new national poll by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, nearly 74 percent of the state’s health clinics are paperless compared to 51 percent nationally,.
• Nurses' Long Work Hours, Scheduling Can Increase Patient Mortality - University of Maryland, Baltimore – (1/13)
  Patient deaths from pneumonia and acute myocardial infarction were significantly more likely in hospitals where nurses reported schedules with long work hours, new study finds.
• New Prize in Cold War: Cuban Doctors - The Wall Street Journal – (1/15)
  Estimates of what Cuba earns from its medical teams working abroad, vary widely, running to as much as $8 billion a year.
• The Coming Doctor Shortage - The Wall Street Journal – (1/19)
  We can't insure 32 million more people and cut funding to train doctors by $60 billion
• Study: Poor, minority areas lose nursing homes – CNN News – (1/18)
  Nursing homes in the nation's poorest ZIP codes were twice as likely to close as those in the most affluent areas, a study in a leading medical journal has found.
• Survey: Many Doctors Still Concerned About Health-Care Reform - AOL Health – (1/19)
  Physicians have inadequate information and a number of fundamental concerns, not all of which have been addressed by PPACA, study reveals.
• We're locking doctors out - Telegraph Journal, CA – (1/18)
  The Canadian system is inherently hostile to the Canadian student who pursues a foreign medical degree.
• China, in a Shift, Takes On Its Alzheimer’s Problem - The New York Times – (1/12)
  China is beginning to educate the public and the medical community about dementia, and big cities are making plans to build new facilities.

EUROPE

• Indian health: the path from crisis to progress - The Lancet, UK – (1/15)
  The Lancet has covered India's evolving health fortunes in both encouraging and more disturbing domains
• David Cameron to sell NHS reforms with glowing tribute to doctors and GPs - The Guardian, UK – (1/17)
  PM to say 28m patients are now part of pilot scheme. Speech aims to calm jitters over controversial plans
• Rural GPs' practices could be lost, warn doctors - The Telegraph, UK – (1/15)
  Rural GPs' practices could be lost and doctor patient relationships damaged under Government plans to increase choice in the NHS, leading doctors have warned.
• Shortage puts hospitals on critical list - Irish Times – (1/18)
  What’s wrong with our approach in Ireland that we are running out of junior doctors?
• The WHO calls for sustained investment to increase midwife numbers - The Guardian, UK – (1/18)
  A shortage of midwives is causing deaths in childbirth that could otherwise be avoided. Angela Robson reports.
• Health in Pakistan - The Lancet, UK – (1/15)
  Pakistan has a high incidence of communicable diseases, but a dearth of specialists in infectious diseases.
• Which countries are faced with a 'critical' health worker shortage? - The Guardian, UK – (1/18)
  There are 57 countries with fewer than 23 health workers for every 10,000 people, as a result infant and maternal mortality rates far exceed that of developed countries, such as the UK and US.
• Haiti loses doctors and nurses to aid groups – report - Reuters AlertNet, UK – (1/18)
  The aid operation in quake-devastated Haiti has undermined the national health system as medical staff quit to take up better-paid jobs with international agencies, medical charity Merlin says.
• EAST EUROPE: Midwives Struggle to Deliver Home Births - IPS Terra-Viva Europe – (1/19)
  Women’s rights in Eastern Europe have been put into the spotlight as a Hungarian midwife faces five years in prison for assisting with home births.
• 83 médicos sufrieron agresiones físicas en el 2010 y otros 368 verbales - El Periódico de Catalunya, Spain - (1/18)
  Más de la mitad se produjeron en la atención primaria, según los colegios de médicos.

LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN

• Caja de Seguro Social se desmorona - La República, Costa Rica – (1/19)
  Asegurados deben tolerar largas filas, acudir a la medicina privada o en el peor de los casos sufrir la muerte.
• Las razones de la escasez de médicos especialistas - Espectador, Uruguay – (1/17)
  En Uruguay hay escasez de profesionales en determinadas especialidades médicas y esto complica cada vez más al sistema de salud.
• Lamentable precariedad en hospitales del interior - ABC, Paraguay – (1/19)
  A la precariedad de recursos se suma la falta de medicamentos e insumos, constantemente reclamada ante el Ministerio de Salud Pública
• Médicos, en desacuerdo con la ley que reforma la salud - El Tiempo, Colombia – (1/19)
  En una carta enviada al Presidente, las principales asociaciones médicas del país manifiestan que la citada ley no refleja las soluciones de fondo a los graves problemas del sector de la salud
• Cuban nurses arrive – Jamaica Gleaner – (1/14)
  Nurses will be deployed to facilities across all four health regions in the island..