Three hundred nurses and more than 500 doctors are leaving South Africa each year. 4% Of African doctors emigrate after graduation, and 75% in the first decade as medical graduates. These are the latest data offered within the report on the State of the world children 2008 of Unicef. Most of these doctors choose Europe and North America as destinations for exercising their profession. Those who migrate to Europe make it to United Kingdom where already more than one third of the workforce is foreign. Meanwhile, in their countries of origin the number of qualified medical personnel is far below what is necessary.
You have from three to nine doctors per thousand population as it happens in countries such as Ethiopia, Somalia, Cameroon and Zambia, determines values such as maternal mortality or the mortality of children under five years to grow to alarming levels. These countries are trying to supplement the low rate of doctors with volunteers but the role of these is complement the work of the doctor, not be converted in doctor. There are three factors that determine the lack of health personnel in these areas. The first factor is the mass migration of doctors and nurses. The main problem is foreign migration to other more developed countries, but there are other types. They are cases of internal migration from rural to urban areas, from the public sector to the private sector and even the health sector to other sectors. The causes for those who migrate are similar in all countries.
Insufficient remuneration, rigid schedules, difficult working conditions or lack of supplies to carry out its work with guarantees. Another negative impact of migration is that professionals who migrate are often the most qualified, in which Governments invested more money in their training and professional development. The second factor is AIDS. In sub-Saharan Africa, the disease, due to its extended extension has caused thousands of deaths also among health care.