SWITZERLAND — According to a new report by the World Health Organization (WHO), the mass migration of skilled healthcare professionals from low and middle-income countries to developed nations could have adverse effects on the health systems of the source countries.
The report highlighted that approximately 15% of healthcare workers globally are working outside their country of birth, with the proportion of foreign-trained nurses reaching as high as 70% to 80% in some affluent Gulf countries.
According to the report, new report, an additional eight countries in the global south are now facing dangerously low numbers of healthcare workers in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This brings the total number of countries falling below the global median in terms of their doctor, nurse, and midwife density to 55, up from 47 in 2020 prior to the outbreak.
The report examines countries’ rankings based on the number of professionally trained healthcare workers per capita and a Universal Health Service coverage index.
Countries with less than 49 healthcare workers per 10,000 population are considered to have a low health workforce density.
The report indicates that the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the increased demand for healthcare workers in high-income countries, have exacerbated the outward migration of healthcare workers from low-density countries.
This migration aggravates the shortage of health workers in countries with already fragile health systems.
In 2020, the International Council of Nurses estimated that there is a global shortage of six million nurses and the effects of the pandemic will drive health worker migration from low- and middle-income countries.
A WHO report on the State of the World’s Nursing profession, published in that same year, estimated that one in eight nurses globally have migrated from elsewhere.
WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has called on all countries to respect the provisions in the WHO health workforce support and safeguards list and to work with vulnerable countries to strengthen their health workforce.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted the significance of health workers as the backbone of every health system and expressed concern over the loss of health workers due to international migration in countries with low health workforce density.
African countries, including Rwanda, Comoros, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, are among the hardest hit with vulnerable health workforces, according to the WHO’s report.
Of the 55 countries with less than 49 health workers per 10,000 people, 37 are in the African region, eight in the Western Pacific region, six in the Eastern Mediterranean region, and three in the Southeast Asia region.
These countries also rank low on the Universal Health Coverage service coverage index, which tracks access to key health services.
The report highlights the link between healthcare workforce density and health outcomes, as well as UHC coverage rankings.
The 2010 WHA resolution does not forbid international recruitment, but calls on countries to ensure it does not harm source countries’ healthcare systems.
WHO recommendations to mitigate negative impact of health worker migration
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that healthcare worker migration agreements between governments should include measures to ensure that the source country benefits proportionately from such agreements.
This safeguard should apply to all low and middle-income countries.
The scarcity of healthcare workers in low- and middle-income countries has been an ongoing issue, with the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbating the problem.
The International Council of Nurses has estimated a global shortage of six million nurses, with one in eight nurses globally having migrated from their home country.
The WHO has been working with vulnerable countries to strengthen their healthcare systems, and has raised the Universal Health Coverage service coverage index threshold to 55.
The organization calls on all countries to respect the provisions in the WHO health workforce support and safeguards list.
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