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Managing the migration of health-care workers
Key issues and strategic approaches to managing the international migration of health workers
Authors:
B. Stillwell
Publisher:
Bulletin of the World Health Organization : the International Journal of Public Health, 2004
This article in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization (WHO) examines the key issues related to the international migration of health workers and discusses strategic approaches to managing migration. It argues that, although knowledge about the itineraries of health-care workers who migrate is incomplete, some of the many factors that influence migration are amenable to strategic interventions. Structural causes in particular need to be taken into consideration at national and international levels.
The paper calls for a greater understanding of the qualitative factors that influence health workers in order to assist policy-makers in devising strategies to recruit and retain staff in both source and destination countries. The continuing disparities between rich and poor countries create the significant wage differences that pull health care workers abroad. The authors conclude that overall economic revitalisation is the main factor that can, in the long term, change this picture and this requires multinational cooperation that is supported by international agencies. [adapted from author]
