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NAIROBI. — A senior Kenyan official on Tuesday called upon African governments to curb the number of doctors moving to work abroad that has cost sub-Saharan Africa up to $2 billion invested in training the clinicians. The Cabinet Secretary for Education Dr Fred Matiangi said the medical experts are emigrating to the West due to poor pay and low level of scientific research.“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 2 billion dollars as the clinicians seek work in more prosperous nations,” Matiangi said during the occasion of the opening of the 6th Annual Medical Education Partnership (MEPI) Symposium in Nairobi.
He said 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 have benefited the most from recruiting doctors trained in Africa.
“The migration of trained health workers from poorer countries to richer ones exacerbates the problem of already weak health systems in low-income countries battling epidemics of infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB) and malaria and lately, Ebola,” Matiangi said.
The three-day forum brought together local and international players in medical education and includes representatives from MEPI Schools across Africa, representatives from the funding institutions, and other partners who support medical health training and research development in sub-Saharan Africa.
Matiangi said there is a strong relationship between education and development, with studies having shown that increases in educational attainment precede improvements in health status. — Xinhua.
Online Reporter