14th July, 2008
In Southern Sudan, there are only 100 doctors and less than 600 nurses for a population of over eight million people; in Europe there are approximately 19 health workers for every 1000 people. To equate Southern Sudan would need to train over 150,00o more health workers. AMREF (the African Medical and Research Foundation) has started this process by working with the government of Southern Sudan to set up three hospital training centres to train a wide range of health professionals including midwives.
AMREF– which started as the Flying Doctors Service of East Africa fifty years ago – trains health workers in the poorest and remote communities in Africa to prevent and treat diseases such as malaria, HIV and TB. But with a shortage of over one and a half million health workers in Africa – most notably in rural areas where 80% of Africa’s population lives – there are many areas that will have no access to health workers and services to provide life saving education or medical support.
To meet the Millennium Development Goals related to health, the G8 must invest in an African health workforce and keep the commitments made at Gleneagles to help Africa to train and retain essential health workers. It is estimated that an additional $2.6 billion a year is required to educate and train the required 1.5 million health workers, over a 10 year period, in Africa alone[1].
The G8 should work with African nations to draw up health workforce plans which are costed and funded to ensure the investment addresses the specific health needs in each country, including the correct levels of doctors, nurses, midwives and other workers. They should focus on training, management, motivation and retention of staff to maintain a permanent workforce. They should take account of disadvantaged and vulnerable community needs and, in the interim, consider training community health workers who are members of the communities they serve. These will educate others on disease and act as a link to the formal health system.
Health agencies such as AMREF will continue to pass on their health and development expertise but they need the G8 to support Africa in educating, training and managing a health workforce that can be motivated for the long-term.
[1] Report of the Global Health Workforce Alliance Task Force for scaling up Education and Training for Health Workers, Scaling Up, Saving Lives (2008)
For further information please contact: Betty Muriuki – AMREF Writing Manager, on +254 20 6993327, Cell: +254 726 261495, email: betty.muriuki@amref.org Bob Kioko – AMREF Corporate Communications Manager, on +254 20 6993111 or Cell: +254 735 546440, email: bob.kioko@amref.org |