Ethics and policy of medical brain drain: A review

Swiss Medical Weekly

Volumn 143, Issue , 2013, Pages

  Kollar, Eszter ^a   Buyx, Alena ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MÜNSTER   (Germany)

Author keywords

Ethics; Health worker migration; Human resources for health; Medical brain drain; Policy

Indexed keywords

COMPENSATION; HEALTH CARE COST; HEALTH CARE MANAGEMENT; HEALTH CARE PERSONNEL; HEALTH CARE POLICY; HEALTH CARE SYSTEM; HEALTH EDUCATION; HEALTH PRACTITIONER; HUMAN; HUMAN NEEDS; HUMAN RIGHTS; MEDICAL EDUCATION; MEDICAL ETHICS; MEDICAL SOCIETY; MEDICAL STAFF; MIGRATION; OUTCOME ASSESSMENT; POVERTY; PRIMARY MEDICAL CARE; PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP; QUALITY OF LIFE; REVIEW; SCALE UP; SOCIAL BEHAVIOR; STRATEGIC PLANNING; WELLBEING; WORK ENVIRONMENT; WORKLOAD; AFRICA SOUTH OF THE SAHARA; ETHICS; HEALTH CARE MANPOWER; HEALTH CARE PLANNING; MIDWIFE; NURSE; PHYSICIAN; POLICY; SWITZERLAND;

AFRICA SOUTH OF THE SAHARA; EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION; ETHICS; HEALTH MANPOWER; HEALTH PERSONNEL; HUMANS; MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED AREA; MIDWIFERY; NURSES; PHYSICIANS; PUBLIC POLICY; SWITZERLAND;

EID: 84887880830     PISSN: 14247860     EISSN: 14243997     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.4414/smw.2013.13845     Document Type: Review

References (67)

1. World Health Organization. The World Health Report 2006 - Working Together for Health. Geneva: WHO Press; 2006.
2. World Health Organization [Internet]. Geneva: Global Atlas of the Health Workforce [accessed 2013 May 1]. Available from http://apps.who.int/globalatlas/ default.asp.
3. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). International Health-worker Migration. Policy Brief [Internet]; 2010 [accessed 2013 May 1]. Available from http://www.oecd.org/migration/mig/44783473.pdf.
4. Dumont JC, Zurn P. Immigrant Health workers in OECD Countries in the Broader Context of Highly-skilled Migration. In: International Migration Outlook, Part III. Paris, OECD; 2007. p. 162-228.
5. Mills EJ, Kanters S, Hagopian A, Bansback N, Nachega J, Alberton M, et al. The financial cost of doctors emigrating from sub-Saharan Africa: human capital analysis. Br Med J. 2011;343:d7031.
6. Kirigia J, Akpa Gbary LM, Nyoni J, Seddoh A. 2006. The cost of health professionals' brain drain in Kenya. BMC Health Serv Res. 2006;6(1):89.
7. Awases M, Gbary A, Nyoni J. Migration of health professionals in six countries: a synthesis report. Brazzaville, World Health Organization 2004.
8. Sheikh A, Naqvi SH, Sheikh K, Naqvi SH, Bandukda MY. Physician migration at its roots: a study on the factors contributing towards a career choice abroad among students at a medical school in Pakistan. J Glob Health. 2012;8:43.
9. Vujicic M, Zurn P, Diallo K, Adams O, Dal Poz M. The role of wages in the migration of health care professionals from developing countries. Hum Resour Health [Internet]. 2004 [accessed 2013 May 1];2(3):[14 p]. Available from: http://www.human-resources-health.com/content/2/1/3.
10. Hagander L, Hughes CD, Nash K, Ganjawalla K, Linden A, Martins Y, et al. Surgeon Migration Between Developing Countries and the United States: Train, Retain, and Gain from Brain Drain. World J Surg. 2013;37:14-23.
11. O'Brien P, Gostin LO. Health worker Shortages and Global Justice. New York: Milbank Memorial Fund; 2009.
12. Bhargava A, Docquier F. HIV pandemic, medical brain drain, and economic development. World Bank Econ Rev 2008;22:345-66.
13. Physicians for Human Rights. An Action Plan to Prevent Brain Drain: Building Equitable Health Systems in Africa. Physicians for Human Rights, Boston, MA. 2004.
14. Clemens MA. Do visas kill? Health effects of African health professional emigration. Washington: Center for Global Development; 2007.
15. Médicins Sans Frontières. Help Wanted: Confronting the Health Care Worker Crisis to Expand Access to HIV/AIDS Treatment: MSF Experience in Southern Africa. Johannesburg: Médicins Sans Frontières 2007.
16. Wolff J. The Human Right to Health, London: WW Norton & Company; 2012.
17. Mullan F, Frehywot S, Jolley L. Aging, primary care, and self-sufficiency: Health care workforce challenges ahead. J Law Med Ethics. 2008;36:703-8.
18. Association of American Medical Colleges. Graduation Statistics [Internet]. 2012 [accessed 2013 May 1]. Available from https://www.aamc.org/ download/321532/data/2012factstable27-2.pdf.
19. National Resident Matching Program, Results and Data: 2012 Main Residency Match [Internet]. Washington: National Resident Matching Program; 2012 [accessed 2013 May 1]. Available from http://www.nrmp.org/data/ resultsanddata2012.pdf.
20. Mullan F. The Metrics of the Physician Brain Drain. N Engl J Med. 2005;353:1810-8. (Pubitemid 41549893)
21. Runnels V, Labonté R, Packer C. Reflections on the ethics of recruiting foreign trained human resources for health. Hum Resour Health. 2011;9:2.
22. Scheffler, RM, Liu JX, Kinfu Y, Dal Poz MR. Forecasting the global shortage of physicians: an economic- and needs-based approach. Bull World Health Organ. 2008;86(7):516-23. (Pubitemid 351931211)
23. Dreesch N, Carmen D, Dal Poz MR, Goubarev A, Adams O, Aregawi M, et al. An approach to estimating human resource requirements to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Health Policy Plan. 2005;20(5):267-76. (Pubitemid 41219869)
24. Gupta N, Maliqi B, Fraça A, Nyonator F, Pate MA, Sanders D, et al. Human resources for maternal, newborn and child health: from measurement and planning to performance for improved health outcomes. Hum Resour Health. 2011;9:16.
25. Dal Poz MR, Gupa N, Quain E, Soucat ALB, editors. Handbook on monitoring and evaluation of human resources for health: with special applications for low- and middle-income countries. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2009.
26. Hildago J. The active recruitment of health-workers: A defence. J Med Ethics [Internet], 2012 [accessed 2013 May 1]. Available from http://jme.bmj.com/content/early/2012/10/29/medeth-ics-2012-100927.full.
27. Brock G. Is active recruitment of health workers really not guilty of enabling harm or facilitating wrongdoing? J Med Ethics [Internet], 2012 [accessed 2013 May 1]. Available from http://jme.bmj.com/content/early/2012/11/ 22/medethics-2012-101136.short.
28. Aluwihare, APR. Physician migration: Donor Country impact. J Contin Educ Health Prof. 2005;25:15-21.
29. Kapur D, McHale J. Give us your best and brightest: The global hunt for talent and its impact on the developing world. Washington: Center for Global Development; 2005.
30. Packer C, Runnels V, Labonté R. Does the Migration of Health workers Bring Benefit to the Countries they Leave Behind? In: Shah, RS, editor. The International Migration of Health workers: Ethics, Right and Justice. New York: Palgrave Macmillan; 2010. p. 44-61.
31. Kalipeni E, Semu LL, Mbilizi MA. The brain drain of health care professionals from sub-Saharan Africa: A geographic perspective. Prog Dev Stud. 2012;12(2-3):153-71.
32. American Medical Association. International medical graduates in American medicine: Contemporary challenges and opportunities [Internet], AMA-IMG Section Governing Council 2010 [accessed 2013 May 1]. Available from http://www.ama-assn.org/resources/doc/img/img-workforce-paper.pdf.
33. Eastwood JB, RE Conroy, Naicker S, West P, Tutt RC, Plange-Rhule J. Loss of health professionals from sub-Saharan Africa: The pivotal role of the UK. Lancet. 2005;365:1893-900. (Pubitemid 40744969)
34. Nussbaum M, 2006. Frontiers of Justice: Disability, Nationality, Species Membership. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press; 2006.
35. Pogge T. World Poverty and Human Rights: Cosmopolitan Responsibilities and Reforms. Cambridge, MA: Polity Press; 2002.
36. Moellendorf D. Global Inequality Matters. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan; 2009.
37. Dwyer J. What's wrong with the global migration of health care professionals? Individual rights and international justice. Hastings Cent Rep. 2007;37(5):36-43.
38. Sager A. Brain drain, health and global justice. In: Shah, Rebecca S, editor. The International Migration of Health-workers: Ethics, Right and Justice. New York: Palgrave Macmillan; 2010. p. 103-17.
39. Mesquita B, Gordon J, Gordon M. The International Migration of Health-workers: A Human Rights Analysis. London: Medact; 2005.
40. Venkatapuram S. Health Justice: An Argument from the Capabilities approach. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Polity Press; 2011.
41. Daniels N. Just Health: Meeting Health Needs Fairly. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press; 2007.
42. Straehle C. Health Care Migration, Vulnerability and Individual Autonomy - The case of Malawi. In: Lenard PT and Straehle C, editors. Health Inequalities and Global Justice. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press; 2012.
43. Eyal N, Hurst SA. Coercion in the fight against medical brain drain. In: Shah R, editor. The International Migration of Health-workers: Ethics, Rights and Justice. New York: Palgrave Macmillan; 2010. p. 137-58.
44. Ogilvie L, Mill JE, Astle B, Fanning A, Opare M. The exodus of health professionals from sub-Saharan Africa: balancing human rights and societal needs in the twenty-first century. Nurs Inq. 2007;14(2):114-24.
45. Eyal N, Hurst SA. Physician brain drain: can nothing be done? Public Health Ethics. 2008;1(2):180-92.
46. Brassington I. What's wrong with the brain drain? Dev World Bioeth. 2012;12(3):113-20.
47. Labonté R, Packer C, Klassen N. The perverse subsidy: Canada and the brain drain of health professionals from sub-Saharan Africa. Policy Options. 2006:74-8.
48. Chen, LC, Boufford JI. Fatal Flows - Doctors on the Move. N Engl J Med. 2005;353(17):1850-2. (Pubitemid 41549899)
49. Wasswa, H. Rich states "snatch" trained doctors from poor countries, BMJ. 2008;336:579.
50. Harhay MO and Mesa NMM. The challenge of the health worker migration crisis to health reform in the United States. Am J Bioeth. 2009;9(3):14-6.
51. Kaelin L. Care drain: the political making of health worker migration. J Public Health Policy. 2011;32(4):489-98.
52. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The Looming Crisis In the Health Workforce. How can OECD countries respond? [Internet] OECD Health Policy Stud; 2008 [accessed 2013 May 1]. Available from: http://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/41509461.pdf.
53. Snyder J. Is health worker migration a case of poaching? Am J Bioeth. 2009;9(3):3-7.
54. World Health Organization. WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2010 [accessed 2013 May 1]. Available from http://www.who.int/hrh/ migration/code/WHO-global-code-of-practice-EN.pdf.
55. Snyder J. 2010. Conflicting Obligations in the International Migration of Health workers. In: Shah, R, The International Migration of Health workers: Ethics, Right and Justice. New York: Palgrave Macmillan; 2010. pp. 62-77.
56. UK Department of Health. Code of Practice for NHS Employers Involved in International Recruitment of Healthcare Professionals. London, 2001.
57. Buchan J, McPake B, Mensah K, Rae G. Does a code make a difference - assessing the English code of practice on international recruitment. Hum Resour Health. 2009;7:33.
58. Connell J, Buchan, J. The Impossible Dream? Codes of Practice and the International Migration of Skilled Health Workers; World Med Health Policy. 2011;3(3):1-17.
59. Blacklock C, Heneghan C, Mant D, Ward AM. Effect of UK policy on medical migration: a time series analysis of physician registration data. Hum Resour Health. 2012;10:35.
60. Plotnikova EV. Cross-border mobility of health professionals: Contesting patients' right to health. Soc Sci Med. 2012;74:20-7.
61. Antwi J, Phillips D. Wages and Health Worker Retention in Ghana: Evidence from Public Sector Wage Reforms. Washington: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development; 2011.
62. Republic of South Africa, Department of Health. Human Resources for Health South Africa: HRH Strategy for the Health Sector: 2012/13 -2016/17 [Internet]. 2011 [accessed 2013 May 1]. Available from http://www.doh.gov.za/ docs/stratdocs/2011/hrh-strategy.pdf.
63. Mullan F, Freywot S, Omaswa F, Buch E, Chen C, Greysen SR, et al. Medical schools in sub-Saharan Africa. Lancet. 2011;377(9771):1113-21.
64. World Health Organization. Increasing Access to Health-workers in Remote and Rural Areas through Improved Retention: Global Policy Recommendations [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2010 [accessed 2013 May 1]. Available from http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2010/9789241564014-eng.pdf.
65. Frehywot S, Mullan F, Payne PW, Ross H. Compulsory service programmes for recruiting health workers in remote and rural areas: do they work? Bull World Health Organ. 2010;88:364-70.
66. Mackey TK, Liang BA. Restructuring brain drain: strengthening governance and financing for health worker migration. Glob Health Action [Internet]. 2013 [accessed 2013 May 1]; 6:[7 pages]. Available from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pmc/articles/PMC3547121/.
67. Khardia B. The Future of Health Worker Migration, Background Paper: WMR 2010, Geneva: International Organization for Migration, 2010.