Migration of Doctors and Nurses from Developing to Developed ...

Migration of Doctors and Nurses from Developing to Developed Countries

Is the "brain drain" of doctors and nurses from poor to rich countries hurting health care in those developing lands? Is the massive inflow of donor dollars to pay for HIV/AIDS treatment in poor countries diverting resources away from other health concerns in those already underserved places?

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Kicking off the symposium, Lincoln Chen, president of the China Medical Board and founder of the Global Equity Initiative at Harvard University's Asia Center, cautioned the audience about simplistic conclusions based on incomplete data and insufficient analyses. Statistics do not tell the whole story, he argued, noting that the migration of doctors can be a serious problem.

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Economist Michael Clemens from the Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C., suggested that fixes, such as forcing Western nations to stop recruiting or hiring these health professionals, would be unwise.

There is no evidence that the international movement of health professionals, in and of itself, causes substantial degradation of health systems in Africa, said Clemens. That movement, and weak health systems, are caused by much deeper problems that are not solved by stopping movement alone

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Economist Michael Clemens from the Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C., suggested that fixes, such as forcing Western nations to stop recruiting or hiring these health professionals, would be unwise

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On the issue of HIV/AIDS funding, Mead Over from the Center for Global Development said that there are no data available to prove whether the immense focus on one syndrome is interfering with the capacity of health care systems to cope with other illnesses. "We're trying to collect data right now," he said. "But it is obvious that the roll out of AIDS treatment has been a big shock to the system."

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