African Ministers of Health currently attending the World Health Assembly (WHA), have all joined South African health minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang in expressing their concerns about the continued migration and recruitment of health personnel from developing to developed countries.

The resolution also calls upon the Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to ensure that the previous decision of the WHA aimed at addressing this matter is fully implemented. This includes strengthening of the Human Resources for Health division in the WHO by allocating adequate financial and resources to enable the division to effectively execute the necessary actions aimed at addressing this matter.

Spokesperson for Tshabalala-Msimang, Sibane Mngadi said in a statement, the Ministers were concerned that international migration and recruitment of personnel undermined the main investment that most African countries were making in improving their health services and further weakened the health systems in the continent.

Human resources for health is expected to be the main subject for the World Health Report to be released by the WHO early next year and will be the theme for next years’ World Health Day.

‘€œFocus on human resources should create an opportunity for developing countries to put the issues of international migration and recruitment of health personnel high on the world health agenda,’€ Mngadi said.  

Tshabalala-Msimang said ‘€œHuman resource planning is critical in our ability to intervene against diseases and promote good health. We need to ensure that international migration and recruitment of health personnel does not undercut our national plan to improve human resource supply and distribution. This is a critical element of our endeavour to strengthen our health system and provide quality health services.’€

Mngadi pointed out that addressing international migration and recruitment of health personnel was one of several interventions that the Department of Health was making to address the challenges of human resource supply and distribution in South Africa.

He added that other interventions involved improving working conditions for health workers and providing scarce skills and rural allowances to attract and retain health workers in the public health sector in general and rural or underserved areas in particular.

Several articles investigating the state of human resources in the health sector are now available on the website.