UNFPA sounds brain drain alarm

[Tuff Gong]

[i]Wed Sep 20, 2006[/b]
UNFPA sounds brain drain alarm

Jamaican nurses continue to migrate despite the severe shortage in the local health sector.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has sounded alarm bells about the migration of trained professionals from developing countries.

The brain drain has long been a concern of the UNFPA but the impact that it is having on critical sectors such as the health systems in developing countries is highlighted in this year's State of the World Population report.

The whole scale movement of trained professionals from developing countries such as Jamaica to developed countries in Europe and North America remains a major concern for the UNFPA.

The international agency notes that the fragile health sector in developing countries is losing its best and brightest.

The report notes that recent surveys show that the intention to migrate is especially high among health workers living in regions hardest hit by HIV/AIDS.

In a warning that should resonate with local health professionals the UNFPA warns that when doctors and nurses migrate because of low wages and bad working conditions patients suffer and health care systems could crumble.

Pointing to Ghana the report notes that in 2000 twice as many nurses left that country as the number which graduated from its nursing schools.

The report further notes that in 2003 several nurses migrated from Jamaica despite a 58 per cent shortage of nurses in the public health sector.

It warns that developed countries including the United States and Great Britain will continue to demand experienced nurses from countries such as Jamaica.

Responding at Wednesday morning's launch of the UNFPA report, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Senator Anthony Hylton, admitted that the migration of skilled workers is a major challenge for Jamaica.

However he argued that this is being fuelled by the actions of the developing countries

He called on the international community to take steps to rein in developed countries which prey on the trained professionals of smaller states.

http://www.radiojamaica.com/news/story.php?category=2&story=28411

[Blackstar*]

Re: UNFPA sounds brain drain alarm

According to Minister Franklin, this is a good thing and is to be encouraged, so they can send more remittance. As for Mr. Hylton, he is basically admitting that the government is ineffectual.

[Blackstar*]

Re: UNFPA sounds brain drain alarm

Different titles - same story? [img]/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]
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Brain drain concerns Foreign Affairs Ministry
published: Thursday | September 21, 2006

Andrea Downer, Gleaner Writer


The Foreign Affairs Ministry has raised concerns about the large number of skilled professionals from developing countries who are being recruited by wealthier nations.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Senator Anthony Hylton, who was speaking at the launch of the State of World Population 2006 Report yesterday, said if the current migratory trend continues, it would have devastating effects on poor countries.

Senator Hylton said trained workers from developing countries like Jamaica are being specifically targeted by developed countries for reasons other than their expertise in their career field.

"By recruiting (skilled workers) from developing countries, developing countries avoid the significant costs of training (these personnel), Senator Hylton declared. "Their first choice will not be the newly trained, but the more experienced professional," he continued.

Good for developed countries

According to Hylton, while this strategy might be good for the developed countries, it will worsen the already "devastating" situation in some impoverished countries. He proposed that major developed countries should put in place more sensitive, balanced and equitable international and national policies in order to avoid increasing the factor which stimulate migration.

"Policies that enrich already wealthy countries and (make) impoverished countries even poorer, are a recipe for disaster," he warned.

Senator Hylton rejected claims made in the UNFPA report that Canada and the United Kingdom are supporting source countries for trained professionals from Jamaica and Africa to train more teachers and nurses to help offset the negative impact of the brain drain.

"We are unaware of this support," Senator Hylton stated. "As important as remittances are to Jamaica's (economy), that does not represent compensation for the loss of our trained personnel," he continued.

In 2003 the Ministry of Health estimated that 58 per cent of nursing positions in the island were vacant.

The UNFPA report pointed to World Bank estimates that in 2005, US$167 billion in remittances was sent to developing countries by migrants.
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J'cans enjoy improved standards of living, says junior minister
Tuesday, September 19, 2006

NEW YORK, USA - Jamaicans are better off than they were 15 years ago, with poverty having declined over the period, which has helped to improve living standards, the country's deputy foreign minister Delano Franklyn told the United nations last week.

Senator Franklyn, in his address to the High Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development at the United Nations (UN) headquarters, cited statistics to show that poverty in Jamaica had declined from 28.4 per cent in 1990 to 14.8 per cent in 2005.
He said that in addition to policies instituted by the government to reduce poverty, the improved living standards could be credited to increased inflows of remittances from nationals living in the Diaspora.
Remittances, he said, accounted for approximately 16 per cent of the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

"One of the positive spin-offs of migration is the increase in receipts from remittances, moving from under US$100 million in 1990 to US$1.65 billion in 2005," Senator Franklyn said.
He said, however, that even with the increased inflows to the country, which have helped to reduce poverty, "remittances should in no way be seen as a reward for the migration of trained professionals" from Jamaica.

"Remittances, as significant as it is, cannot adequately replace the loss of skilled human resources," said the junior foreign minister.
He called on member countries of the UN to pay more attention to mitigation and development and to formulate and implement appropriate action to address the issue.

He said, too, that they should "avoid the growing tendency to focus only on security and border control issues", and instead approach migration policies in a comprehensive manner, while recognising its multi-dimensional nature.

"Other important concerns, such as the human rights of migrants, identifying solutions to the negative impact of the 'brain drain' and enhancing cooperation on issues related to migration and mobility, are among those that should also be given equal treatment," Senator Franklyn said.

He told the meeting that the Jamaican Diaspora continued to play a significant role in national development and it was for this reason that the government was in the process of creating structured linkages at the legislative level, to better harness the potential of the Diaspora.
The two-day meeting was part of the 61st session of the United Nations General Assembly, which opened on September 12 and continues to the end of the month.