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Alliance News Digest

Information

WEEK OF 28 august 2009

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News from the Global Health Workforce Alliance

• Call for Input: Alliance Online Survey on Proposed Thematic Focus of the 2nd Global Forum on Human Resources for Health - The Alliance
  The Global Health Workforce Alliance (the Alliance) is pleased to announce the launch of its survey on the Thematic Focus of the 2nd Global Forum on Human Resources for Health
  
  

AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST

• Rioters attack Mityana hospital - New Vision, Uganda
  The demonstration caused all medical personnel to either flee or go into hiding inside the hospital, leaving dozens of patients unattended to.
  

• MOH to establish more health training institutions - Ghana Home Page, Ghana
  This year we had to admit only 6,000 out of 30,000 qualified applicants who applied for admission in Health training Institutions throughout the country, which is not adequate to meet our staffing demands.
  

• More cholera cases as Zimbabwe sacks doctors - The Daily Nation, Zimbabwe
  Zimbabwe has recorded dozens of fresh cholera cases in outlying areas areas after the government started firing dozens of striking junior doctors
  

• Health workers dissatisfied - The Daily Times, Malawi
  Most health workers in government and CHAM hospitals are dissatisfied because of a number of demotivating factors they face.
  

• Finding Solutions - Health-e, SA
  Five of the eight goals are health-related, and include the eradication of hunger and extreme poverty; gender equality; reduced maternal and child mortality and combat HIV/AIDS and malaria.
  

• Administradora do Chitato apela ao respeito a ética e deontologia profissional - Angola Press, Angola
  A administradora municipal do, apelou hoje aos técnicos de saúde pública local no sentido de implementarem a ética e deontologia profissional, de forma a garantirem o atendimento personalizado dos pacientes.
  

• The Abandoned Force: The Community Health Officer In Sierra Leone - Standard Times, Sierra Leone
  A force pivotal to the success of the primary health care delivery services in Sierra Leone. A force that can actualise the health-related MDG goals in Sierra Leone.
  

• Zimbabwe State Doctors Call Off Strike - Radio VOP, Zimbabwe
  Striking Zimbabwe doctors on Wednesday called off their job action but warned of a much more serious strike if government does not attend to their grievances within a month.
  
  

ASIA AND PACIFIC

• Maori working party vetoed - Stuff.co, New Zealand
  Government refusing to set up a working party to explore why Maori health workers get paid so much less than those at district health boards and in GP practices
  

• Unions demand meeting with Fayyad after firing of labor leader - Maân News Agency, Palestine
  Tensions have been rising between Health Minister Fathi Abu Moghli and the Health Professions Union over what labor activists say are violations of workers’ rights
  

• Communication 'the key' - Fiji Times, Fiji
  BEING an effective communicator is one of the skill training introduced to public health care workers as they try and change people's behaviour to live a healthy lifestyle.
  

• Kevin Rudd fails to plug medico gap - The Australian, Australia
  KEVIN Rudd's answer to the nation's chronic shortage of doctors and nurses -- his $125 million Health Workforce Australia -- is still not up and running, nine months after he jointly signed off on the agency.
  

• Union says 106 nurses face the sack - The Australian, Australia
  MORE than 100 nurses face the sack across southern NSW and will be replaced by 52 less qualified nursing assistants, according to the NSW Nurses Association .
  

• Health workers stage protest - Republicia, Nepal
  The union has been demanding amendment to the Health Act and rectification of irregularities in the purchase of medicines for free distribution.
  

• Wellbeing of children of adults with mental illness the focus of new program - StreetCorner, Australia
  Up to 4500 mental health staff across NSW will undergo training to learn how to better care for the children of adults who have a mental illness.
  

• Internships edge foreign doctors out - The Australian, Australia
  PUBLIC hospitals across the country will be forced to close their internships to hundreds of overseas-born, locally trained medical graduates in three years, despite the nation's desperate need for doctors.
  

• Food safety offices often understaffed or even shut - Vietnam News
  According to deputy head of the Food Safety and Hygiene Administration Nguyen Thi Khanh Tram, as many as 20 out of 50 food safety and hygiene branches were not even open due to a shortage of qualified staff.
  
  

NORTH AMERICA

• Domino Effect Keeps Minorities Out of Health Care Professions - News American Media
  Review of CST Scores of Seven California School Districts", high school seniors scored below the national average level in math and science proficiency, subjects that are the core curriculum in training for careers in health.
  

• Canada's latest flu challenge: distribution - Globe & Mail, Canada
  At least two provinces, British Columbia and Alberta, are considering enlisting pharmacists to administer injections, but questions remain as to whether this would be sufficient – and whether the lag in delivering vaccine betrays a shortfall in government planning.
  

• Primary physician shortage spurs search for alternatives - Examiner.com
  U.S. Medical schools abruptly stopped expanding after reaching a high water mark in 1985.
  

• Parents, health workers hesitant to get vaccine shots, study finds - Globe & Mail, Canada
  Parents and health-care workers are reluctant to be immunized or vaccinate their children against a pandemic virus for fear that a drug would be brought to market with insufficient testing.
  

• Safer Blood Collection For Africa - Voice of America
  Health care workers who perform those vital tests in Sub-Saharan countries will be better protected thanks to a new initiative by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, and a leading global medical technology company, Becton, Dickinson and Company.
  

• Swine flu could hospitalize 2 million in U.S. this winter - The Los Angeles Times
  Nearly 2 million Americans could be hospitalized during this winter's novel H1N1 influenza pandemic, with as many as 300,000 clogging intensive care units in heavily affected regions.
  

• Obama Administration Must Make Disciplinary Records of Nurses, Health Workers Available to Hospitals, Nursing Homes - Common Dreams
  Public Citizen Urges Secretary Sebelius to Protect Patients from Unsafe and Unscrupulous Health Care Workers.
  

• Health workers asked to retire Patient care will suffer, say critics of voluntary plan - Calgary Herald, Canada
  Nurses, laboratory technicians and other health professionals will be asked to take voluntary early retirement as part of an aggressive cost-savings plan being developed by Alberta Health Services.
  

• Turnover, aging population contribute to critical shortage of registered nurses - The Seattle Times
  Nearly one in five of current job vacancies statewide is in health care, according to the department’s most recent employment report.
  
  

EUROPE

• Los enfermeros denuncian la escasez de personal ante una vacunación masiva - ABC.es, Spain
  El sindicato de Enfermería Satse denunció hoy la falta de personal existente para hacer frente al periodo de vacunas que se vivirá en España el próximo otoño, tanto para la gripe estacional como para la gripe A.
  

• 85 enfermeros valencianos ya han pedido una plaza en el Reino Unido - LasProvincias.es
  Cerca de 900 solicitudes para cubrir puestos de enfermería y 300 de farmacia se registrarán en toda España antes de que termine el año.
  

• Mental health support for workers - BBC, UK
  People with mental health problems will get extra support to help manage their condition so they can remain in the workplace, the government has said.
  

• Saving the lives of South Africa's mothers, babies, and children: can the health system deliver? - The Lancet, UK
  Saving the lives of South Africa's mothers, babies, and children: can the health system deliver?
  

• Chronic shortage of NHS health visitors raises safety fears - The Guardian, UK
  Managers resign in protest because babies are not being seen at home until they are almost four months old.
  

• Vers une pénurie d'infirmières en 2030 - Le Matin, Switzerland
  "La Suisse doit recruter jusqu'à 190'000 nouveaux collaborateurs dans le secteur des soins durant les 20 prochaines années" apprend-on dans une étude de La Fondation Careum.
  

• El descenso turístico evita el colapso sanitario - ABC.es, Spain
  La avalancha de turistas pone cada verano al límite al sistema de salud catalán.
  

• Effect of timing of first postnatal care home visit on neonatal mortality in Bangladesh: a observational cohort study - British Medical Journal, UK
  Results 9211 live births were included. Among infants who survived the first day of life, neonatal mortality was 67% lower in those who received a visit on day one than in those who received no visit.
  
  

LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN

• Pacto contra a Mortalidade Infantil será discutido em Manaus - Redenoticia, Brazil
  O objetivo é sensibilizar os profissionais a melhorarem a qualidade do atendimento prestado na atenção ao pré-natal, ao parto e ao recém-nascido.
  

• Ambulatorio de El Manteco en críticas condiciones - Nueva Prensa Guyana
  Luego de luchar por diez meses la necesidad de médicos, insumos, ambulancia, los residentes de esta población decidieron buscar una solución a su problemática.
  

• La falta de profesionales excede al servicio de anestesiología - El Diario de Madryn, Argentina
  Ee crìtica la situation en las especialidades de Pediatrìa y Neonatologìa.
  

• 227 médicos y enfermeras reforzarán lucha contra AH1N1 - La Nacion, Costa Rica
  Médicos, enfermeras y terapistas del sistema respiratorio son parte de los 227 funcionarios que la CCSS contratará para reforzar la lucha contra la gripe AH1N1.
  

• La comunidad es la que puede salvar a la Maternidad - Entorno inteligente, Venezuela
  Que los médicos de la Maternidad Concepción Palacios denuncien públicamente el estado "crítico" en el que se encuentra esta institución, ya no es nada nuevo. Justamente, por considerar que sus reclamos y declaraciones sobre las carencias que existen puertas adentro no han sido tomados en cuenta.
  

• Denuncian graves irregularidades en hospital de Peñablanca - Radio Universidad de Chile
  El Colegio Médico Regional de Valparaíso alertó sobre la crisis que vive el hospital de Peñablanca, donde hay carencia de personal e implementación técnica para ejercer los cuidados básicos a los pacientes.
  

• HIV education training valuable for health workers - Netherlands Antilles Daily Herald
  Valuable information that can be used in the fight against HIV/AIDS will be shared with the 22 participants of the HIV [e] education training programme, which kicked off last Saturday in St. Maarten.
  

• Salud Pública revoca cancelación de tres médicos y dos enfermeras, mantienen la de Senén Caba y Juan Suero - Lintin Diario, Dominican Republic
  La Secretaría de Salud Pública revocó la cancelación de tres médicos residentes y dos enfermeras que habían sido cancelados a raíz del incidente generado en el hospital durante una huelga médica, pero mantuvo firme la separación de sus puestos del dirigente gremial y del doctor .
  
  

News from WHO and partners

• Training needs assessment for clinicians at antiretroviral therapy clinics: evidence from a national survey in Uganda - AAAH
  To increase access to antiretroviral therapy in resource-limited settings, several experts recommend "task shifting" from doctors to clinical officers, nurses and midwives.
  

• Putting the Needs of Young People into Action Plans: Technical Workshop Opens in Rwanda - UNFPA
  Experts in adolescent reproductive health from ten African countries converged here today to share information and harmonize programming that can improve the lives of young people.
  

• Recommended use of antivirals - WHO
  WHO is today issuing guidelines for the use of antivirals in the management of patients infected with the H1N1 pandemic virus.
  

• Mideast: Critical Healthcare Fails To Recover - Terraviva, Europe
  The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that unless the siege of Gaza is lifted and a political solution implemented, Gaza's badly damaged health system will go from very bad to worse.