Subnavigation

• Global Health Workforce Alliance
• About the Alliance
• Members & partners
• Country responses
• Knowledge centre
• Media centre
• Forums

Alliance News Digest

Week of 23 May 2010

NEWS FROM WHO AND PARTNERS

• WHO announces new approaches to HIV prevention and treatment among children - WHO. (7/20)
  Children's lives can be saved if HIV treatment starts earlier
• UNFPA Welcomes Microbicide Study Results – UNFPA. (7/20)
  The study found that the gel, containing the antiretroviral drug tenofovir, reduced a woman’s risk of HIV infection by 39 per cent
• World organizations team with UN Secretary General in new effort to save lives of millions of women and children – UNAIDS. (7/19)
  The Joint Action Plan is a historic opportunity led by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to improve the health of women and children
• Terms of Reference: Base-Line Survey for Putting African Mothers, New Born and Children First Project – AMREF. (7/23)
  AMREF’s “Putting African Mothers, New Born and Children First Project” aims to reduce maternal, new born and child mortality in Tanzania, Kenya and Southern Sudan

AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST

• Over 8,700 Health Workers Get Mobile Phones – New Times, Rwanda. (7/16)
  Mobile phones are part of efforts to enhance healthcare in rural areas
• Zain Donates K90 Million to Measles Fight – Times of Zambia. (7/19)
  Health workers and volunteers taking part in the Child Health Week are at a higher risk of contracting measles.
• Taiwanese Medical Team Commended – Daily Observer, Gambia. (7/19)
  The Serrekunda hospital needs more doctors in order to meet the high medical care demand
• Health Professionals Back to Govt Salaries – The Herald, Zimbabwe. (7/19)
  Lucrative employment contracts for many health professionals who were manning the Global Fund to Fight HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria health sites have ended
• Pregnant with hope and possibility – The Citizen, Tanzania. (7/23)
  The African Union Summit this week, set to focus on the health of mothers and children
• Government to maintain political momentum towards MDG Goals – GhanaWeb. (7/16)
  Reintroduction of midwifery training for Community Health Nurses would help avert the shortage of midwives.
• Men in Testing New Role as Midwives – Inter Press Service. (7/14)
  Liberia has male doctors, male nurses, so, midwifery should not be limited to only women
• Central Secretary Throws Gauntle – Times of Zambia. (7/21)
  Province Permanent Secretary noted that health workers have continued with excellent display of professionalism and proficiency."
• Edo health workers’ strike claims 10 lives - The Guardian, Nigeria. (7/23)
  Strike claims the lives of over ten persons including one nurse.
• Lebanon lags behind in terms of gender parity in workplace – Daily Star, Lebanon. (7/16)
  Discrimination results also in a shortage of nurses due to ‘brain drain.’”

ASIA AND PACIFIC

• The life of a midwife: A calling of humanity – Jakarta Post. (7/21)
  Jakarta faces a shortage of around 3,500 midwives.
• Noble initiative for a healthy India but needs help to fly high – TwoCircles.Net, India. (7/16)
  All the health worker trainees so far have gone back to their respective villages and started work on primary health care
• Modi to copy Mao's healthcare system – Times of India. (7/22)
  The health ministry has decided to compensate for sharp shortage of allopathic doctors in the state by making large-scale appointment of barefoot doctors
• HIV health workers in short supply - Viet Nam News. (7/23)
  Health officials in HCM City have complained about the shortage of health and social workers to provide care to people with HIV
• Pregnant women to get identity cards – Times of India. (7/23)
  Pregnant women in the state capital will be soon issued identity cards for ensuring proper pre and post natal care
• Oz offering NZ doctors $6000 a weekend – New Zealand Herald. (7/16)
  25% of junior doctors leave NZ within five years of qualifying
• Health staff unable to work as agency overloaded – Sydney Morning Herald. (7/17)
  More than 70 overseas-trained doctors recruited through his agency had been told they might not have their applications for registration approved for months
• Mobile health workers in the Torres Strait cross the border – The Australian. (7/17)
  HEALTH workers in the Torres Strait will be able to travel more freely to combat diseases and treat medical conditions
• Health workers not prepared for mass casualties – New Zealand Herald. (7/19)
  44 per cent of nurses think the healthcare system is not prepared for Rugby World Cup 2011.

NORTH AMERICA

• UN Code to Halt Indiscriminate Drain of Health Workers – IDN InDepthNews. (7/19)
  Demand for health workers has increased in high-income countries where not enough required personnel is being trained locally
• Cash payments cut maternal mortality in India – Boston Globe. (7/18)
  A recent survey found that nearly 150,000 rural health centers do not have a doctor
• AIDS Activist "Die-In" Delays International AIDS Conference Opening Ceremony – The Body.com. (7/18)
  There remains a huge funding gap for Round 10, such as hiring desperately needed health workers or enrolling new patients in treatment."
• Model-Turned-Advocate Draws Attention to Maternal Health – IPS Terra Viva. (7/12)
  For a Tanzania pregnant woman, the nearest clinic is a five-mile walk from her home, and it is direly short on beds, doctors, and other necessary resources
• New Guidelines to Shield Babies From AIDS – Wall Street Journal. (7/20)
  New guidelines would require additional training of medical staff in developing countries to administer them properly
• School of Nursing Receives Training Grant from Public Health Services – PR Newswire. (7/15)
  Training grant awarded to Loyola University of New Orleans aimed at increasing health care workforce while reducing costs for students pursuing nursing degrees
• Recognizing and Supporting Home-Based Care "Part and Parcel" of Universal Access – TheBody.com. (7/22)
  In the build up towards universal access, the recognition of home-based care and support to care providers must be increased
• Focus on primary health care is needed to fight AIDS – Montreal Gazette. (7/21)
  What good are ARVs if there isn't a health-care worker to test the patient, dispense the medications, and follow up with them?
• Portuguese-speaking African countries face shortages of doctors – CMAJ, Canada. (7/9)
  It’s often problematic enough to train doctors to practise in the developing world.

EUROPE

• Clinton: it's the 'end of the beginning' of the AIDS epidemic – AidsMap News, UK. (7/19)
  He praised ‘task shifting’ programmes, in which nurses were trained to do tasks formerly performed by doctors and community health workers the tasks of nurses
• Midwife-led unit to close over staff shortage – BBC News, UK. (7/21)
  A hospital in Buckinghamshire will close its midwife-led unit (MLU) for three months over concerns about staff shortages.
• Haiti's sick 'must not be forgotten – BBC News, UK. (7/18)
  Merlin is training local community health workers
• SWAZILAND: HIV - Long Distances Place Expectant Mothers at Risk – IPS Terra Viva-Europe. (7/21)
  The Kingdom has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world at 589 out of 100,000 live births
• GPs will see little disruption in forthcoming NHS reforms, health secretary says – BMJ, UK. (7/21)
  GPs will have management support."
• Ugandan hospitals ration AIDS treatment as antiretrovirals start to run out – BMJ, UK. (7/20)
  Doctors in Uganda have warned that the country is facing an acute shortage of antiretroviral drugs
• Will the NHS survive the squeeze? – The Guardian, UK. (7/21)
  If senior leaders facing huge changes and challenges decide to leave, it will cost the health service dear
• Bill Clinton and Bill Gates urge more efficient use of funds to fight Aids – The Guardian, UK. (7/19
  Bill Clinton and Bill Gates called for better use of the money donated to fight Aids as the world economic crisis makes an increase in funding unlikely
• Obama accused over Aids funding – The Guardian, UK. (7/22)
  Oxfam strongly supports the Obama administration's Global Health Initiative
• Early, rural-based HIV care offers hope in Africa – Reuters. (7/22)
  Treating HIV patients in remote areas of Africa soon after they are infected and using community care teams instead of doctors can cut costs

LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN

• Pésimo servicio presta Centro de Salud de Altamira – Metro Notícias, Mexico. (7/21)
  Por la escasez de medicamentos y la falta de atención por parte del personal del centro de salud de Altamira
• PSF em Natal enfrenta falta de médicos em 41 equipes – Tribuna do Norte, Brazil. (7/21)
  Programa está vivenciando uma crise em todo o país, passando pela ausência de profissionais e a falta de estrutura na Saúde Pública
• El frío desborda los Centros de Salud en los barrios – Los Andes, Argentina. (7/22)
  Los pacientes reclaman la atención de clínicos y pediatras

Information