Curbing the demand for foreign health workers: A review of policies and policy proposals in industrialized countries aimed at reducing the depletion of health workers from developing countries

The World Health Organization estimated in 2006 that four million doctors, nurses, midwives, and other health workers are needed in developing countries to meet basic health care needs. At the same time, the shortage and poor distribution of health workers in industrialized countries continues to draw health workers away from poor countries, exacerbating the health worker crisis.

A number of governments and public health organizations have recognized the role of their health worker recruitment policies on the depletion of health workers in low-resource settings. In 2001, the United Kingdom's Department of Health developed a code of practice for the international recruitment of healthcare professionals. In recent years, several international organizations and public health associations (including APHA) have also passed resolutions calling for the ethical recruitment of health workers from abroad.

This presentation will provide a summary of policy options for industrialized countries to reduce their impact on the human resource crisis in the developing world, based on implemented and proposed policies. We offer a critical analysis of the effect that the United Kingdom's code of practice has had on health worker migration to the UK and the staffing of its National Health Service. We will propose policies for consideration by the US at the state and national level to minimize the drain of health workers from the developing world.