7/4/2006
Commissioner Michel Warns of Shortage of Doctors and Nurses in Africa

Deterioration of health services and critical shortage of health workers in poor countries were at the heart of this week’s World Health Day in Lusaka and London.

Louis Michel, the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, expressed concern about the critical shortage of doctors and nurses in Africa.  He especially criticised the negative impact that the increasing dependence of wealthy countries on international recruitment of health workers is having on healthcare in developing countries.

Commissioner Michel called for international collaboration to support the worst affected countries “There is less than 1 doctor per 1000 people in Africa, compared to over 10 per 1000 in Europe, ” he said. “Investing in training, supporting and retaining sufficient numbers to meet needs is critical. Whilst legal migration and mobility can be positive for development, health worker migration needs to be better planned and managed to overcome the current crisis.”

He pointed out that as a result of the AIDS pandemic, tuberculosis and malaria and lack of access to health care, life expectancy had actually declined in 17 African countries during the last 25 years.

The EU is committed to supporting better human resource planning and management in the hardest hit countries. The lack of doctors and nurses in many countries in Africa has become a significant barrier to progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, slowing efforts to reduce maternal, infant and child mortality and tackle diseases like HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. 

The World Health Report for 2006, which focuses on the critical shortage of health workers in many parts of the World, was launched this week in Lusaka and London.

The European Commission adopted a strategy to combat the shortage of doctors and nurses in December 2005 and is due to be endorsed the EU Council of Ministers on Tuesday 11 April. The Member States have asked the Commission to convene a working group to consider a European Code of Conduct for Ethical recruitment.

This issue will be discussed in more detail over the next couple of months.
The European Commission and the Member States have agreed on a “Consensus Statement” to strengthen financing to enhance health worker salaries, improve terms and conditions of service and provide incentive mechanisms to encourage health workers to stay. This Statement calls for long term and predictable financing mechanisms to sustain human resources capacity building.

The Commission believes that budget support and new forms of financing (such as the funds released by debt relief) can be useful to support actions on human resources for healthcare.

 The reasons for the human resource crisis in the health systems in many developing countries are complex: Years of chronic under-investment in health services and training of personnel and the lack of even basic equipment and drugs have lead to a deterioration of health services. In addition, many health workers have left rural and remote areas and moved to urban centres or abroad where conditions are better.