Clinical brain drain paralysing Africa

Lazarus Sauti

Africa is being drained of its human resources by the rest of the world, says a study by Curtis Research.

The research, titled “Honest Accounts? The true story of Africa’s billion dollar losses”, argues that the continent is losing US$6 billion as a result of the migration of skilled professionals including doctors, nurses, surgeons, teachers, academics, Information Technology (IT) experts and inventors.

“The global emigration rate of high-skilled persons from Africa, estimated at 10.6 percent, is almost double the world average of 5.4 percent,” notes the study, adding that the health sector is badly affected.

“The world is facing a global health worker crisis, with 83 countries having less than 22.8 health workers per 10 000 people. 70 percent of these are in Africa,” the report says.

Skilled migration is causing a loss to source countries as most of these professionals are trained at public expense, said Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Education Dr Fred Matiangi recently during the occasion of the opening of the 6^th Annual Medical Education Partnership (MEPI) Symposium in Nairobi.

He added that the number of doctors moving to work in the West has cost Africa up to US$2 billion invested in training the clinicians.

As this is not enough, African governments suffer a further financial loss in employing health experts from countries in the global North to fill their own skills gaps.

The continent is spending close to US$4 billion in each year in employing these experts.

“The number of qualified doctors moving abroad to work in the West has been high over the years, where nine sub-Saharan African countries have ended up losing US$2 billion as the clinicians seek work in more prosperous nations,” said Matiangi.

He added, “Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe have suffered the worst economic losses due to the clinical brain drain while Australia, Canada, Britain and the United States of America have benefited the most from recruiting doctors trained in Africa.”

The scarcity of health workers in Africa, noted Matiangi, constitutes a major barrier to the provision of essential health services such as safe delivery and childhood immunisation and worsens the problem of already weak health systems battling epidemics of infectious diseases like HIV/Aids, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria.

Poverty, a lack of economic growth, poor pay, low level of scientific research in Africa, discrimination, political repression, and a lack of freedom motivate medical practitioners to flee their country.

Further, some countries, particularly those in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have exploited their position by pursuing policies of unethical recruitment, actively employing workers from African countries to fill their own skills gaps; a cheaper alternative to investing in training and retaining their own workers.

As such, Matiangi urged African governments to curb the number of doctors moving to work in the West.

He believed policy makers should gauge the costs and benefits of the brain drain in order to design appropriate policy responses.

Physician Dr Joseph Kamugisha adds that medical expertise and technology advancements are key issues to address if countries within and across Africa are to retain their skilled health workers.

African governments should follow the Rwandan initiative of increasing the wages of health workers and continuously improving in the infrastructure as well as accessibility of modern medical equipments, he says.

Another panacea is compensation based on the principle that destination countries should provide compensation for source countries. Compensation is complex; therefore, more research is needed into its practical applications.

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC), a Canadian federal corporation that invests in knowledge, innovation and solutions to improve lives in the developing world, believes virtual participation is a potential solution.

“Virtual participation is partaking in nation-building without physical relocation. It also shows promise as a means to engage the African Diaspora in development efforts,” says IDRC, adding that virtual participation sees the brain drain not as a loss, but a potential gain.

However, Former journalist Ainalem Tebeje asks, “Will virtual participation work in a continent where government–Diaspora relations are adversarial, and Information Technology (IT) almost nonexistent, and where development needs are complex and require a sustained commitment?”