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Alliance News Digest

Week of 29 April 2011

News related to/from the Global Health Workforce Alliance

• Imagine a health worker for everyone, everywhere - The Daily Star, Bangladesh – (4/23)
  It is hard to imagine a billion people without a health worker.

NEWS FROM WHO AND PARTNERS

• New Guidelines Help Stakeholders Work Together on Health Workforce Action - Capacity Plus – (4/25)
  The publication is aim to help countries create effective partnerships to strengthen the health workforce
• Chronic illness is the 'biggest killer', says WHO - BBC News, UK – (4/27)
  The Global Status report said so-called noncommunicable diseases accounted for more than 36m deaths in 2008.

AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST

• How is Ghana Dealing with Maternal Mortality? – Ghanaweb – (4/23)
  Ghana seems to have made some progress in the reduction of maternal mortality: Study
• First Lady appeals to midwives to accept postings to deprived areas - Ghana News Agency – (4/21)
  The First Lady also called on health service providers to re-dedicate themselves to the achievement of the MDGs Four and Five.
• Local Health Posts a Qualified Success - Inter Press Service – (4/26)
  Many Senegalese communities now have staff watching over the health of the village from a community health post
• Robotic doctor to make debut in ME - Khaleej Times, UAE – (4/22)
  An automated human-like doctor, Robodoc, is set to debut in the Middle East and assist doctors in managing patients in critical care settings
• 2,500 doctors protest work conditions by Knesset - The Jerusalem Post – (4/27)
  Medical students physicians demand higher salaries, improved conditions.
• The Mountain Midwives of Vietnam - Aljazeera, Qatar – (4/26)
  Observational film: The maternal mortality rate in rural regions of northern Vietnam is 10 times higher than the national average.
• Israeli Bedouin women lack access to prenatal care - Haaretz, Israel – (4/24)
  The infant mortality rate in Muslim villages, including the Bedouin communities, is 11.2 per 1,000 births, compared to 2.7 per 1,000 births in Jewish communities.

ASIA AND PACIFIC

• National Health Policy to meet MGDs: Gilani - Associated Press of Pakistan – (4/22)
  The effective and sustained implementation of the National Health Policy 2010 would go a long way in meeting the MGDs, PM said..
• Health for all - The Star, Malaysia – (4/24)
  The new financing scheme for primary healthcare should benefit all, especially patients unable to pay for their own needs, and not just benefit a few.
• Overseas jobs for nurses - The Financial Express, Bangladesh – (4/21)
  Numerous reports have been published in recent years identifying a strong sustained demand for registered nurses in the developed world.
• Govt to re-open 97 rural hospitals - Daily News, Sri Lanka – (4/25)
  The hospitals had been closed down for years due to lack of manpower and other resources.
• 700 doctors unable to practise here - Daily Mirror, Sri Lanka – (4/28)
  Some 700 Sri Lankan doctors qualified abroad are unable to practice because foreign medical qualifications are not recognized by the Sri Lanka Medical Council
• Pakistan: Health Workers Without Maternity Leave - Inter Press Service – (4/28)
  Ladies Health Workers programme in Pakistan keeps its employees without medical and other benefits.
• Recruitment of overseas GPs 'threatened' - The Age, AU – (4/27)
  Significant delays in registering health professionals is threatening Australia's ability to attract overseas doctors to work in rural areas, workforce groups say.

NORTH AMERICA

• What can we learn from Switzerland? - The Washington Post – (4/25)
  Why Switzerland’s health costs are higher than a lot of European countries but lower than US costs?
• Practices are better at retaining nurses than hospitals, study says - American Medical News – (4/19)
  Set hours, stability and opportunities to build relationships with physicians and patients create an attractive workplace.
• Elderly face lack of geriatric specialists, new report warns - USA Today – (4/25)
  Doctors who specialize in aging are in short supply and their shortage will grow worse as the population ages in coming decades, a new report concludes.
• Fewer Med Students Training as Primary-Care Doctors: Study - U.S. News & World Report – (4/26)
  Shrinking number of general internists a 'pending crisis,' researcher says.
• Wireless Medicine's Promise: Less Cost, Better Care - California Healthline – (4/21)
  Let's displace the notion that the hospital needs to be the epicenter of care, expert says.
• Independent locum tenens physicians savor life without an agency - American Medical News – (4/25)
  Practicing on their own means more money and freedom -- if they can cope with all the hassles
• A helping hand for doctors - Ottawa Citizen, CA – (4/22)
  The nurses' association complains that the assistants, two-year program graduates, are not adequately trained to replace nurses.

EUROPE

• How did Sierra Leone provide free health care? - The Lancet, UK – (4/23)
  In Sierra Leone, the key factor was the president: he put the health-care directive at the top of his priority list.
• Ending racial and ethnic health disparities in the USA (Editorial) – The Lancet, UK – (4/23)
  The US Government officially acknowledges the existence of health and health-care disparities between the country's ethnic minority populations and white Americans.
• Third of NHS children's units fail to comply with EU working time directive - The Guardian, UK – (4/21)
  Doctors forced to work over 48 hours, trainees left in charge and consultants doing overnight hospital stays to plug gap.
• NHS children's care at risk through lack of well-qualified doctors and nurses - The Guardian, UK – (4/21)
  Paediatricians say 50% increase in consultants and many more children's nurses and GPs with paediatric experience needed.
• Child carers are the unsung heroes of Africa - The Guardian, UK – (4/21)
  African children who care for parents with Aids play a key role in the response to the Aids epidemic.
• 3,000 medics out of work as HSE recruits from abroad – Irish Times – (4/26)
  Large numbers of doctors are being recruited in Pakistan to work in Ireland, when doctors already in Ireland are unemployed.
• Le personnel soignant veut une vraie reconnaissance - Swissinfo.ch – (4/26)
  Le personnel soignant possède une grande responsabilité dans le bien-être des patients, mais il lui manque une reconnaissance légale de celle-ci.
• Young women aid Ethiopia's health system – BBC News, UK – (4/23)
  Health extension workers are part of an ambitious plan by the Ethiopian government to get health care out into every rural area
• Más de cien expertos sanitarios rechazan recurrir al copago - Público, Spain – (4/26)
  Apuestan por fomentar la figura del médico de cabecera, que es quien tiene la llave para que el sistema sanitario no se sature.

LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN

• Alertan en Puebla por falta de médicos y equipo - Terra, Mexico – (4/27)
  Sistema hospitalario con deficiencias generalizadas, como falta de personal y equipo, y una atención deficiente
• Médicos rehuyen zonas de riesgo - El Siglo de Durango, Mexico – (4/26)
  16 Unidades Médicas Rurales carecen de un médico general pese a los buenos sueldos que se ofrecen.
• ¿Un medico cada mil habitantes? - Datachaco, Argentina – (4/27)
  Regular la distribución de los médicos sería algo muy contrario a la libertad de empresa y el espiritu de la profesión.
• Cada vez hay más pacientes que se internan en su propia casa - Quilmes Presente, Argentina – (4/24)
  Desde 2006 las internaciones en el domicilio se duplicaron en nuestro país
• Médicos rejeitam salários de até R$ 11 mil no interior - PB Agora, Brazil – (4/24)
  Prefeituras oferecem salários de até R$ 11 mil e encontram dificuldades para contratarem profissionais habilitados
• Kids in danger - The Jamaica Gleaner – (4/26)
  Jamaica has a shortage of facilities and personnel to care for children with developmental disorders.