Health workers are indispensable for healthcare. They are the foundation, enablers and drivers of health systems. A severe and growing shortage of health workers has become an international emergency that in recent years has generated considerable international attention and concern (Joint Learning Initiative, 2004; WHO, 2006). The absence of health workers threatens the health of individuals and populations, destabilises health systems, and further deepens existing health inequalities. This serious shortage of healthcare workers in Africa can be identified as one of the most critical constraints to the achievement of health and development goals.
According to the latest available global estimates, the world faces a shortage of 4.2 million
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Outline of Workforce Shortages
The reasons for shortages are multitude and complex including underproduction, maldistribution of health workforce, health workforce exit and increase in demand of health care. (V Bhatt, S Giri, S Koirala,2008). Health workers are inequitably distributed throughout the world, with severe imbalances between developed and developing countries. This global workforce shortage is made even worse by imbalances within countries. (WHO, 2006)
3.1 Brain Drain – Exodus of African Health Care
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The leading causes of disability in the region, such as depression and low back pain, were largely consistent with the leading causes at the global level; however, communicable diseases like HIV/AIDS and malaria accounted for a larger proportion of disability in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The grave burden of disease in Africa stretches the workforce even further and places a huge strain on the health system that in many instances they cannot or barely offer the most essential health interventions. Human resources shortages makes it difficult to plan and implement public health programmes and create new models of care that are required for effectively treating chronic