Brain drain of Caribbean professionals alarming
…50,000 nurses left over past 10 years
Kaieteur News
May 17, 2007
Assistant Secretary-General for Human and Social Development of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, Dr Edward Greene, is calling for stern policies to stem the mass migration of Caribbean professionals, especially nurses, teachers and doctors.
Speaking at the International Conference to mark the Third Year of the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions, in Jamaica, last Sunday, Dr. Greene stated that when the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine (CAAEM) was inaugurated in 2004 in Jamaica, it marked a dividing line in a process that engaged the entire CARICOM and medical professionals.
“When the regional education and health professionals advocated for a Caribbean accreditation mechanism, it was in full recognition of the need for medical and other health professionals to be capable of functioning effectively within the global arena where competition for skills continuously contend.”
Dr. Greene stated that it was also in full recognition that the CARICOM had already initiated a process for an umbrella accreditation mechanism that would involve all professions networking with national accreditation authorities.
He added that the wider umbrella mechanism has been evolving but in the meantime the flow of Caribbean Professionals out of the region has been alarming.
A CARICOM background paper prepared for the ‘UN High-Level Dialogue on Migration and Development,' September last, illustrated that over the past 10 years, approximately 50,000 nurses migrated at an estimated loss of US$2.2M from the investment in training at the public's expense.
The Report of the Caribbean Commission on Health and Development chaired by Sir George Alleyne directly associated the shortage of nurses in the CARICOM Region to the shortage of trained personnel.
It is also directly linked to the current rate of vacant nursing positions estimated at 12 percent of the total workforce, and the decline in graduating nurses by 23 percent. Indeed, the shortfall in nurses predicted by the US Department of Health and Human Services (2002) will be 800,000 by 2020.
“Similar studies for medical doctors, medical technicians, teachers and other trained personnel reveal mind startling statistics,” said Dr Greene
He added that it was alarming, especially for countries like Jamaica and Guyana where an IMF study has estimated that more than 40 and 75 percent respectively of trained personnel in these countries migrated from 2000 to 2004.
The Assistant Secretary-General also stated that another relevant area is the implication of the liberalisation of tertiary education and its impact on the Universities of the Region, including the Faculties of Medicine and other health specialisations.
“There is need to strike a balance between the advantages to be gained from increased direct foreign investment in the higher education sector and the need to protect the viability of the Region's tertiary level institutions and the learning integrity of Caribbean citizens.”