Uganda medical brain-drain worrying â€" WHO
Apr 07, 2006
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said Uganda and 56 other countries are facing a critical shortage of health workers.
By Henry Mukasa
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said Uganda and 56 other countries are facing a critical shortage of health workers.
WHO warned that the shortage had a “deadly†impact on the countries’ ability to fight disease and improve health.
The UN agency in a World Health Report to be launched today to coincide with the World Health Day celebrations, said there is urgent need for more investment in health workforce.
The report states that an imperfect labour market has affected the recruitment and performance of health workers. It says in low income countries where trained health service providers are scarce, the public sector competes with the private sector, international NGOs and other donors offering attractive employment packages.
It quotes Dr. Elizabeth Madraa, manager of Uganda’s AIDS Control Programme, saying, “We keep training them and they go to NGOs or abroad, where they can get better money, then we have to train again.â€
The report said while 1,918 trained doctors were available in Uganda, 316 were working in Europe and that 17, 472 trained nurses and midwives are working locally, while 21 are working in Europe.
A survey by WHO gave some reasons for health workers’ migration as better pay, lack of facilities and heavy workload.
The report paints a gruesome picture of the time spent by health workers on actual medication and other related duties. A survey showed that in Tanzania, 40-50% of a district medical officer’s time was spent on report writing and 20% on hosting missions while in Uganda, district managers spend 70-80% of their time on planning, reporting and training workshops.
“This leaves little time for implementation of activities,†the report said.
The report also pointed out “anecdotal†evidence of absenteeism among health workers. It said a recent study of primary health facilities in Uganda and five other countries, Bangladesh, Ecuador, India, Indonesia and Peru, found medical personnel absenteeism rates from 23% to 40%.
The report saluted Uganda for increasing the health workers’ salaries, so the salaries of the lowest level nurse almost doubled and became equivalent to that of a new university graduate.
Ends
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said Uganda and 56 other countries are facing a critical shortage of health workers.
WHO warned that the shortage had a “deadly†impact on the countries’ ability to fight disease and improve health.
The UN agency in a World Health Report to be launched today to coincide with the World Health Day celebrations, said there is urgent need for more investment in health workforce.
The report states that an imperfect labour market has affected the recruitment and performance of health workers. It says in low income countries where trained health service providers are scarce, the public sector competes with the private sector, international NGOs and other donors offering attractive employment packages.
It quotes Dr. Elizabeth Madraa, manager of Uganda’s AIDS Control Programme, saying, “We keep training them and they go to NGOs or abroad, where they can get better money, then we have to train again.â€
The report said while 1,918 trained doctors were available in Uganda, 316 were working in Europe and that 17, 472 trained nurses and midwives are working locally, while 21 are working in Europe.
A survey by WHO gave some reasons for health workers’ migration as better pay, lack of facilities and heavy workload.
The report paints a gruesome picture of the time spent by health workers on actual medication and other related duties. A survey showed that in Tanzania, 40-50% of a district medical officer’s time was spent on report writing and 20% on hosting missions while in Uganda, district managers spend 70-80% of their time on planning, reporting and training workshops.
“This leaves little time for implementation of activities,†the report said.
The report also pointed out “anecdotal†evidence of absenteeism among health workers. It said a recent study of primary health facilities in Uganda and five other countries, Bangladesh, Ecuador, India, Indonesia and Peru, found medical personnel absenteeism rates from 23% to 40%.
The report saluted Uganda for increasing the health workers’ salaries, so the salaries of the lowest level nurse almost doubled and became equivalent to that of a new university graduate.
Ends