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Alliance News Digest

Week of 26 Novembre 2010

News related to/from the Global Health Workforce Alliance

• Biomed Analysis: What about the health workers? - SciDev.Net, UK – (11/19)
  Health workers must be heard in high-level health system improvement meetings, says Priya Shetty.

NEWS FROM WHO AND PARTNERS

• WHO urges all countries to strengthen health financing so more people can use services – WHO – (11/22)
  In some countries the proportion of births attended by a skilled worker can be as low as 10%.
• International guidelines launched to protect health workers against HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis – UNAIDS – (11/19)
  Healthworkers at risk of occupational exposure to HIV and TB often lack adequate access to protection and treatment
• Merlin: Inside the campaign trail – Merlin, UK – (11/18)
  Merlin's campaign celebrates its two year anniversary
• Ghana's Health Schools Assessed for Preservice Education Improvements - Capacity Plus – (11/11)
  Preservice education programs are now enrolling the highest number of students in history
• Faith-Based Organizations: Serving and Uniting the Health Sector - Capacity Plus – (November 2010)
  For countries in sub-Saharan Africa, mission and faith-based health facilities provide approximately 40-70% of health care.
• Studies from Uganda Highlight Factors in Retaining Health Workers - Capacity Plus – (11/24)
  Report concludes that policy-makers should consider interventions to remedy Uganda’s severe shortage of health workers
• CapacityPlus Article on Innovative Retention Tool Published in International Hospital Federation Journal - Capacity Plus – (11/22)
  The article describes CapacityPlus’s work on an innovative retention survey tool that can be used to help health workers

AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST

• At Last, Lagos Doctors Suspend 14-Week Strike- This Day, Nigeria – (11/21)
  Doctors reached agreement with government with effect from January 2011
• Chinese Specialist Doctors Arrive – The Herald, Zimbabwe – (11/20)
  Visit is expected to see restoration of eyesight for at least 300 Zimbabweans.
• There are enough doctors in Zambia-Simbao - Zambian Watchdog – (11/19)
  Minister of Health said that there were about 150 doctors on internship and 47 doctors doing masters programme in high learning institutions across the country and abroad respectively.
• Saudi Arabia lures Nigerian doctors - Africa News – (11/19)
  Doctors who have been on strike might not resume at the hospitals because of better work offers from Saudi Arabia
• Government to employ 1,000 doctors - New Vision, Uganda – (11/22)
  The recruitment of health workers will be a continuous and consistent process every year.
• Renew focus on mother-to-child HIV transmission - Daily Monitor, Uganda – (11/19)
  Over 27,000 Uganda children continue to acquire HIV from their mothers, which is found unacceptable by the national paediatric conference in Kampala
• Sur les 14 mille villages et hameaux du Sénégal : Plus de 75 % ne disposent d’aucune infrastructure de santé - Walf Fadjri, Senegal – (11/23)
  Existe encore des populations qui parcourent plusieurs kilomètres et mettent des heures avant d’atteindre la structure sanitaire la plus proche
• Employment Minister Blames Globalisation And Capitalism For Shortages Of Nurses In Ghana - Ghana Government – (11/23)
  Nurses and other health professionals live their country of origin to destination countries, especially the western world
• Heads must roll for absentee health workers - New Vision, Uganda – (11/22)
  The country could be losing as much as sh26b through absenteeism of health workers
• More Doctors Specializing in Surgery And Pediatrics – Shabait.com, Eritrea – (11/24)
  They would work in tackling shortage of specialists, playing vital role in promoting development of the health sector

ASIA AND PACIFIC

• Retirement age of medical teachers increased to 70 - Bharat Chronicle, India – (11/19)
  However, the government is yet to take a call on the proposal to increase the retirement age of medical practitioners
• Govt studies flying doctors - The Jakarta Post – (11/20)
  To improve health services in remote areas, the Health Ministry is considering to implement a flying doctors program.
• Allow for-profit hospitals - The Dong-a Ilbo, Korea – (11/22)
  China is building the world’s largest medical complex with private capital, hiring doctors from Seoul.
• Medical hub plan sparks new fears - Bangkok Post – (11/20)
  Opponents point to the 'brain drain' of doctors to private hospitals.
• Shortage of doctors hits patients - Times of India – (11/23)
  Severe crisis of doctors in villages and taluks.
• Australians Suffer as Access Block Resulting in Increased Deaths - Top News, New Zealand – (11/23)
  The number of people dying from overcrowding was estimated to be at 1500, statistics revealed
• Minister should look at any conflict of interest - The Sidney Morning Herald – (11/21)
  The Health Minister should now consider requiring certain doctors to register any share-holdings in health care companies.

NORTH AMERICA

• Health care's dilemma: Competition or collaboration? - The Washington Post – (11/23)
  Health-care industry to move toward accountable care, has already reduced competition and increased market power
• Are online doctors the best medicine? - USA Today – (11/20)
  Skeptics worry assessments of patients sight unseen, or via video cam, could miss signs of underlying conditions..
• As digitized medical records grow, so do privacy concerns - The Tennessean – (11/20)
  Doctors and advocacy groups have raised concerns about the risks of exposing detailed personal health information
• Deficit-Panel Chiefs Draw Resistance to Health-Spending Proposals - The Wall Street Journal – (11/22)
  Deficit-reduction commission have called for broader cuts in medical spending
• More N.J. doctors deliver round-the-clock care, for a price - NJ. com, New Jersey – (11/20)
  More primary-care physicians nationwide practise “concierge medicine”: fewer patients, better treat
• Aging population amplifies health care shortages - Star Advertiser, Hawaii – (11/18)
  Shortage of health care professionals have grave repercussions given the wave of Hawaii residents expected to retire in the next 10 to 20 years
• Le Collège des médecins pointé du doigt - Canoë, CA – (11/24)
  Les poursuites envers les radiologistes se multiplient
• It's hard to get health care after-hours: Survey - Toronto Sun – (11/19)
  Canadians are often forced to turn to emergency departments for care after-hours when their family doctors are unavailable, according to a new survey.
• Clinics run by nurse practitioners to take heat off doctors - Winnipeg Free Press, CA – (11/17)
  The centres will have extended hours, focus on minor health issues, leaving doctors to deal with more complex medical problems.

EUROPE

• Respect and care for the older person (Editorial) - The Lancet, UK – (11/20)
  Older patients who have undergone surgery are all too often left isolated, confused, cold, and in pain, says report
• Doctors and climate change - The Lancet, UK – (11/18)
  Health professionals everywhere have a responsibility, to put health at the heart of climate change negotiations.
• Doctors warned to expect unrest over NHS reforms - The Guardian, UK – (11/19)
  GPs' leader criticises Lansley's reform plans and predicts that doctors will face demonstrations by angry patients
• Stronger national public health institutes for global health - The Lancet, UK – (11/20)
  Strengthening public health systems and institutions could save far more lives at lower cost
• NHS fares best on free access to healthcare - The Guardian, UK – (11/19)
  Britain is the only country in the industrialised world where wealth does not determine access to healthcare, study finds
• Health budget to be cut by €1.4bn - Irish Times – (11/24)
  The health budget will be cut by €1.4 billion between now and 2014 under the national recovery plan
• Student doctors face unemployment with reduction in graduate jobs - Mirror News, UK – (11/24)
  Hundreds of potential doctors have been told there will not be enough jobs for them when they qualify
• Médecine : des praticiens retraités plutôt qu'étrangers - Le Figaro, France – (11/23)
  L'Ordre des médecins recense 5.612 médecins «retraités actifs».
• Bulgaria's Doctors Come out On Fresh Protests - Novinite, Bulgaria – (11/19)
  Medics are requesting a more consistent government policy in the sector.
• Catalunya se encamina a una drástica falta de médicos dentro de 15 años - El Periódico de Catalunya, Spain – (11/21)
  El 58% de colegiados en Barcelona en el 2009 nacieron fuera de España, y de 13.000 facultativos en ejercicio, el 38% se jubilarán entre el 2025 y el 2030

LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN

• Habrá cobertura universal de salud en México - El Financiero, Mexico – (11/23)
  La experiencia mexicana servirá de modelo a otros países, afirma José Ángel Córdova Villalobos.
• Panamá quiere que sus jóvenes estudien y se especialicen en Cuba - La Estrella, Panamá – (11/18)
  El vicepresidente de la República, en visita oficial a Cuba, expresó la posibilidad de que el Gobierno contribuya con la financiación necesaria para este propósito.
• La jubilación no es un despido: Ministerio de Salud - El Ciudadano, Ecuador – (11/22)
  El Ministerio está cumpliendo estrictamente lo que manda la Ley y no significa, bajo ningún concepto, un sistema de despidos.
• Piden especializar a médicos panameños - La Estrella, Panamá – (11/22)
  El Presidente de la República insistió en generar incentivos que permita capacitar a más doctores en áreas concretas de la medicina
• Médicos huyen del peligro - Diario de Yucatán, Mexico – (11/22)
  Ataques del narco los hacen viajar a Estados Unidos
• Cuban MDs Decide to Stay in Chile - Havana Times – (11/20)
  Cuba, like many underdeveloped nations, loses a number of professionals and athletes each year