Economic Community of West African States

Conservative estimates by Wilma Meeus and David Sanders at the University of the Western Cape’s School of Public Health show that the United States has saved at least U$3,86-million(R30,9 million) in training fees by employing doctors from Nigeria which has lost 21 000 doctors to the superpower. Nigeria in turn incurred a loss of U$420 million (R3,4 million) while Zimbabwe conservatively lost U$16,8 million (R134,4 million) through the loss of 840 doctors. According to the United Nations, 31 of 53 African countries have less than 32 doctors per 100 000 people with 17 of these countries having less than 10 doctors per 100 000 people. In 41 countries there are less than 135 nurses per 100 000 people with 17 countries having less than 50 nurses per 100 000 people. Meeus said researchers had found that Africa was set to become a major source of migrants during the 21st century and that 33 800 people migrated annually from Africa since the beginning of the 1990s, of whom about 20 000 to 23 000 are highly skilled. She pointed out that the available data was incomplete and that it was not possible to establish over what time period the migration occurred. A United Nations document published in 2000 it stated: It can be extrapolated that between 1985 and 1990, on the 60 000 professionals who emigrated, the continent lost U$1,2 billion (R9,6 billion). This represents the reverse of what development aid tries to achieve through transfer of technology and human resources. The document warned that this development paradox, combined with the inability of the African countries in building, retaining and utilising indigenous capacities critical to Africa’s growth and development would deprive Africa of its vital development resources and make it more heavily dependent on foreign expertise. In the 1970s, the US government calculated that it gained U$20 000 (R160 000) for every skilled worker from a developing country. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimates that for each professional aged between 25 and 35 years, U$184 000 (R1,5 million) is saved in training costs by developed countries. Meeus said that the 27 richest developed countries have a workforce of about three million professional educated in developing countries. Using the conservative figure of U$20 000 (R160 000) per person educated outside these 27 countries, the transfer of wealth from developing to developed countries is about U$60 billion (R480 billion). The savings to these rich countries is a staggering U$552 billion (R4 416 billion) if the UNCTAD figure of U$184 000 (R1,5 million) is used. The United Nations also found that Africa spent an estimated 35% of overseas donor assistance annually, about U$4 billion (R32 billion), on salaries of 100 000 foreign experts (all sectors, not only health) to replace lost capacity, to build capacity and/or provide technical assistance.(Source: Anso Thom, Health-e, 04-04-2003)

Integrating Traditional Medicine Into Orthodox Medicine which is a continuing process of dialogue and education between practitioners of orthodox medicine and practitioners of traditional medicine with the aim of advancing global health care, will be hosted by Africa First LLC in association with the Ministry of Health of Ghana in Accra, Ghana on July 20-21, 2001. There will be pre/post conference tours to hospitals and other interesting sites and medical institutions, doctors and nurses are encouraged to offer voluntary services and medical supplies to specific institutions where needed during the tour. For detailed information contact: J.William Danquah Chief Executive Officer Africa First, LLC mailto:africafirst@yahoo.com