Medical Migration From Zimbabwe: Towards New Solutions?

Health worker migration presents a daunting challenge to health systems in many sub-Saharan African countries (Anyangwe and Mtonga 2007; Conway et al. 2007; Crush and Pendleton 2011). In fact, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has identified the migration of health workers as probably the most critical problem facing health systems in Africa today (Hussey 2007). Global health indicators show that Africa bears one quarter of the burden of disease around the world when only 3 per cent of all health professionals are found on the continent (WHO 2006). The shortage of health professionals in Africa has been further worsened by the HIV and AIDS pandemic, which has severely overburdened health systems across the continent. Not surprisingly, the migration of health workers presents a major obstacle to the continent’s quest to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).