Board moots measures to curb health workers’ drain
THE Health Service Board is pushing for the adoption of a strategy that will see developed countries recruiting health professionals from Zimbabwe doing so on a mutually beneficial arrangement.
The country has lost thousands of trained health workers moving to other countries each year, in search of better employment opportunities.
This has, however, left the healthcare system on its knees as there is a shortage of skilled workers across the board.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Health Labour Market Analysis validation workshop which ended in Victoria Falls yesterday, HSB executive chairman Dr Paulinus Sikosana said the issue of staff attrition was a serious challenge which needed great strategies to address.
“We have approached the Ministry of Foreign Affairs so that they can engage some of those countries that are attracting our health workers. There is an international agreement whereby developed countries should not just recruit from certain countries that are hard hit in terms of shortages of health workers. Unfortunately, at the moment Zimbabwe is not included in that list and we are working towards being included so that there is ethical recruitment,” said Dr Sikosana.
The WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel is a key global governance instrument in this area.
It was adopted by the World Health Assembly in 2010 as a voluntary instrument to assist in addressing the challenges of health worker migration and health workforce development worldwide.
The WHO Code urges both source and destination countries to promote ethical principles and measures to maximise gains and mitigate adverse effects of the international migration of health workers.
Specifically, the WHO Code suggests several actions, including exchange of information, cooperative arrangements, and joint efforts by source and destination countries to ensure health workforce sustainability and observe the rights and interests of individual health workers.
WHO estimates a projected shortfall of 15 million health workers by 2030, mostly in low- and lower-middle income countries.
According to preliminary results of the Health Labour Market Analysis completed recently, Zimbabwe’s brain drain has continued to rise over the past decade and was recently accentuated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Statistics show that Zimbabwe, Nigeria and South Africa are the leading foreign suppliers of nurses from Africa to the UK alone.
Zimbabwe has 2 575 nurses who have been officially registered to practice in the UK after Nigeria which has 4 576 registered nurses with South Africa coming in third at 2 552 nurses.
The study showed that intention to migrate has continued to increase over time with 3,6 percent (about 1 079) of nurses each year actively requesting for letters of good standing.
If doctors and other health professionals are added to the mix, the figure for all workers in this sector who have migrated to other developed countries is likely to more than double.
“We are not saying that we will block our health workers from seeking employment either in the local private sector or internationally but the process needs to be mutually beneficial,” said Dr Sikosana.
He said the country would appreciate a scenario where countries can invest in the training of more health workers in the country after they have recruited or at least recruit on a rotational basis. This will ensure that Zimbabwe’s health sector continues to thrive and universal access to healthcare is achieved.
Besides these international efforts, Dr Sikosana said Government was keen on improving the welfare of health workers as a way of addressing some of the causes of staff attrition.
“The Vice President and Minister of Health has been very clear on the focus of the Ministry and in particular the HSB, in terms of putting in place retention measures for our workers who we train and are being extracted by developed countries.
“The first strategy is to improve the conditions of service and the work environment. The Vice President has emphasised the need and the effort that Government is putting in place to retool the health sector into a world class health service. This entails buying new equipment, rehabilitating our infrastructure and offering non-monetary benefits for our health workers,” said Dr Sikosana.
To this end, Government has begun the process of securing accommodation for health workers near their place of work, among other measures.
Government has purchased a block of flats for health workers in Harare and completed the refurbishment of flats for doctors at Mpilo Hospital in Bulawayo.