Uganda losing US$13m in emigrating doctors

A study was conducted in nine sub-Sahara African countries with an HIV prevalence of 5 percent or greater, or with more than one million people living with HIV/AIDS and with at least one medical school. Besides Uganda, the other countries include Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
 

The authors, led by Edward Mills, Chair of Global Health at the University of Ottawa, called on destination countries to invest in training and health systems in the African countries.
 

Uganda is one of the sub-Saharan African countries whose doctors have emigrated to Australia, Canada, UK, and US. The study found that there are over 400 Ugandan doctors working in these countries.
 

According to the study which was published in the British Medical Journal, Uganda and other African countries lose revenue through the cost of educating doctors, the time spent working in destination countries as the interest rates on income earned.
 

Also, the study reveals that on average, for every Ugandan doctor working in these countries, Uganda loses US$32,926 annually.
 

Prof. Samuel Luboga, from the Makerere College of Health Science who was a member on the research team says that poor countries have made a good decision to train their human resources for health in order to avoid dependence on developed countries.
 

However, after training, the countries fail to pay doctors well. For example in the US, doctors will earn 34 times more than what they would earn if they had remained in Uganda or Zambia.

Also, other contributors to the emigration of doctors from Uganda to developed countries include: ill-equipped health facilities in home countries, opportunities for career growth in developed countries, according to Prof. Luboga.
 

“We are not exports in managing our human resource. Most of the leaders are quick to blame doctors for ills in the healthcare system. But there is no recognition for determined effort,” Prof. Luboga says.
 

The expenditure on training in medical schools in Uganda shows that $21,000 is spent on every medical student in Uganda. This far exceeds the total cost of primary and secondary education which is at US$2,170. Uganda has four medical training schools at Makerere University, Gulu University, Kampala International University and Mbarara University of Science and Technology.
 

Uganda has a doctor: population ratio of one doctor for every 10,000 people. This is too low compared to that of South Africa for instance, where there are eight doctors for every 10,000 people.
 

Collectively, all the nine countries have lost more than $2bn from training doctors who then migrated to one of the four developed countries of Australia, Canada, UK, US; with South Africa incurring the highest costs for medical education and the greatest lost returns on investment.
 

According to Mills, developed countries have saved billions of dollars by recruiting ready-trained health professionals without having to bear the training costs.