Medicus Mundi Switzerland Worldwide as well as in Switzerland we are facing a shortage of trained healthcare professionals. Low-income countries, where healthcare provision is already weak, are being particularly affected. However, the staff shortage threatens healthcare for all across the world.
According to estimates by the International Council of Nurses (ICN), there was a shortage of 30.9 million nurses worldwide in 2019. This is presenting one of the main obstacles to the provision of effective healthcare services – especially for those who need them the most. For a country’s population, it creates a lack of access to basic health services including: prevention, information, drug distribution, emergency treatment, clinical care and life-saving interventions such as immunisation for children, safe pregnancy and maternity services, and access to treatment for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. For health workers, the shortages mean an overwhelming workload and stress, which can lead to a lack of motivation, fatigue, absenteeism, illness, migration or the change to a career outside of the health sector.
The global shortage of healthcare staff means that countries are both actively and passively poaching doctors and nurses from each other. The losers in this situation are especially countries with weaker healthcare systems. Such countries are not only losing staff but also the investment made in training them. Until now, the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel has been applied on a voluntary basis. This Code urgently needs to be tightened up and binding regulations introduced at an international level.
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