– migration of doctors, nurses and teachers
THE DISCLOSURE last week that large batches of foreign doctors and nurses will soon be arriving in Trinidad and Tobago to work in the country’s medical sector underscores the challenge facing most, if not all, countries of the Caribbean Community of a serious shortage of such urgently required professionals.
Ironically, it is small and poor Cuba, still suffering from the enormous consequences of an almost half a century of United States’ punishing economic blockade, that continues to maintain a high profile in assistance with medical personnel and facilities to Caribbean Community states.
It’s not surprising, therefore, to know that the Cuban medical presence will be significant among the announced expected batch of 119 foreign doctors and some 450 nurses coming to work in various hospitals and clinics in Trinidad and Tobago, while the government moves ahead with its training programmes to ease the pressures for improved services.
Interestingly, the recruitment of foreign doctors and nurses and plans to expand training programmes in that twin-island state are taking place amid political claims of discrimination in the employment and promotion of locally qualified doctors.
It is a development said to be among contributing factors to the exodus of skilled personnel. Such allegations have met with firm official denials.
The reality is that for a variety of reasons, among them objective factors of higher pay and promises of better opportunities and living conditions, have made a success of organised enticements by North America and Europe in the ongoing brain drain that afflicts poor and developing nations like our region in virtually every category.
According to data revealed by CARICOM’s Assistant Secretary General, Dr Edward Greene, this region has over the past eleven years lost some 50,000 doctors, nurses and teachers who have migrated to North America, Britain and other foreign countries.
Dr Greene, who shoulders responsibility for Human and Social Development at the CARICOM Secretariat, in referring to research findings of 2006, has disclosed that accompanying the severe loss in the exodus of professionals was also the drain on the public purse for money invested in training nurses and teachers in particular, with migrated nurses alone accounting for approximately US$2.02 million.
Big question
Question is how to effectively plug this mass migration of nurses, doctors, teachers and other skilled nationals of our Community who are enticed into migrating. The problem has clearly been aggravated by the prevailing global financial and economic crisis that’s further eroding social and economic gains achieved when the challenges were not as severe.
It is not enough, however, to learn of the ‘concerns’ of governments, agencies and institutions over the exodus of skilled nationals from EVERY member country of our Community — some much more affected than others. We need to learn of specific policies and programmes being pursued at a regional level to arrest this predicament.
What, for instance, is the regional plan to attract the return home of skills lost to the USA, Canada and the United Kingdom that could be proportionately allocated to member states of the Community, taking into consideration the preferences and/or family connections of the migrants to be interested into helping check the brain drain now further impoverishing CARICOM states?
Those who are cynical about CARICOM’s commitment to deal with this problem — and we can do with less cynicism at this time — want to know if our 15-member Community has done any research to ascertain the various skills located among the West Indian Diasporas, starting with the USA and Canada?
As far as I can recollect, CARICOM, now in its 37th year, functions without a Regional Skills Data Bank and, consequently, remains in the difficult position to tap potential available skills at home and in the Diasporas for projects in the health, education and other development sectors.
Some experienced professionals feel that new approaches in the conduct of scheduled national census could prove useful in identifying available skills that could contribute to the compilation of a regional data bank for mobilising human resources to curb the brain drain that benefits the rich and deepens the region’s agony over the loss of needed professionals.
However finally determined, such a project will take time to get off the ground. What appears urgent, in the thinking of some regional technocrats and government officials, is for CARICOM to embark on an emergency programme to recruit doctors, nurses and teachers, plus other skills in very short supply.
Funding for this project could be sought from either the World Bank and/or the Inter-American Development Bank. It is a matter that could also be discussed at the forthcoming summit later this year between President Barack Obama and CARICOM Heads of Government, in the context of plans by the region to arrest the brain drain that’s contributing to our poverty.
After all, as the CARICOM Secretariat’s Edward Greene had alerted us over two years ago, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources itself is expecting a shortfall of approximately 800,000 of its nursing needs by 2020 (not to mention for teachers as well). It will, therefore, want to be on watch for skilled foreign recruits.
