Security and skills: the two key issues in health worker migration
Bidwell P., Laxmikanth P., Blacklock C., Hayward G., Willcox M., Peersman W., Moosa S., Mant D.
BACKGROUND: Migration of health workers from Africa continues to undermine the universal provision of quality health care. South Africa is an epicentre for migration--it exports more health workers to high-income countries than any other African country and imports health workers from its lower-income neighbours to fill the gap. Although an inter-governmental agreement in 2003 reduced the very high numbers migrating from South Africa to the United Kingdom, migration continues to other high-income English-speaking countries and few workers seem to return although the financial incentive to work abroad has lessened. A deeper understanding of reasons for migration from South Africa and post-migration experiences is therefore needed to underpin policy which is developed in order to improve retention within source countries and encourage return.