Fact Check: What does WHO say about nurses, doctors leaving Zimbabwe? - ZimFact
Ngoni Mhuruyengwe
March 28, 2023
Claim: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has added Zimbabwe to a list of countries where health services are threatened by the migration of skilled personnel, and recommended that such movement be managed by government-to-government agreements, according to a report by Health Times.
Is this True or False?
Verdict: True.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended that the migration of doctors, nurses and other healthcare personnel from vulnerable states needed careful management to stop bleeding and damaging the health delivery systems.
The WHO released an updated “health workforce support and safeguards list” on March 8 2023, identifying 55 countries, including Zimbabwe, as vulnerable to migration “for availability of health workers required to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goal targets for universal health coverage (UHC) by 2030.”
Who is on the WHO safeguard list?
The WHO health workforce support and safeguards list 2023 is made up of countries that face the most pressing health workforce challenges related to universal health coverage: World Health Organisation health workforce support and safeguards list 2023.
Besides Zimbabwe, other African countries on the WHO Safeguard List include Zambia, Mozambique, Madagascar, Cameroon, Ghana and Democratic Republic of Congo.
The WHO says it flags on its “health safeguard list” nations that have a low ratio of doctors, nurses and midwives below the global median (that is 49 per 10,000 people) and a universal health coverage service coverage index below 55.
Conclusion: Zimbabwe is now part of the 55 countries which are on the WHO Safeguards list as of 2023. The list will be reviewed after three years.
Zimbabwe media reports that thousands of local nurses and ancillary health workers have been leaving for the United Kingdom (UK) in the last 20 years, and many more are desperate to join them in search of better wages and working conditions.
The Zimbabwe government says it is working on improving salaries and conditions of service in the public health sector, and has complained of a skills drain by developed Western countries.
Sources:
World Health Organisation health workforce support and safeguards list 2023.
WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel
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