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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Brain drain from developing countries: how can brain drain be converted into wisdom gain?

Brain drain is defined as the migration of health personnel in search of the better standard of living and quality of life, higher salaries, access to advanced technology and more stable political conditions in different places worldwide. This migration of health professionals for better opportunities, both within countries and across international borders, is of growing concern worldwide because of its impact on health systems in developing countries. Why do talented people leave their countries and go abroad? What are the consequences of such migrations especially on the educational sector? What policies can be adopted to stem such movements from developing countries to developed countries? This article seeks to raise questions, identify key issues and provide solutions which would enable immigrant health professionals to share their knowledge, skills and innovative capacities and thereby enhancing the economic development of their countries.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed2006

Brain drain of doctors from southern Africa: brain gain for Australia.

"Brain drain" is the depletion or loss of intellectual and technical personnel. The United Nations defines it as a one-way movement of highly skilled people from developing to developed countries that only benefits the industrialised (host) world. Today, brain drain is a major problem facing less developed countries, while Australia and other developed countries are the beneficiaries. Brain drain is reported to have direct negative impact on the population's health status in the donor country, with associated consequences for the productivity and welfare of the population. This paper reports on a qualitative study to understand the key factors behind brain drain from the perspective of the migrating doctor, and to consider possible solutions. Interviews were conducted with doctors who have migrated to Australia from southern Africa to explore reasons for brain drain. Specifically, the study tests the supposition that push factors play a much greater role than pull factors, and identifies which push factors are most important. Strategies to prevent brain drain from this depleted labour region are considered.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

An economic perspective on Malawi's medical "brain drain".

BACKGROUND: The medical "brain drain" has been described as rich countries "looting" doctors and nurses from developing countries undermining their health systems and public health. However this "brain-drain" might also be seen as a success in the training and "export" of health professionals and the benefits this provides. This paper illustrates the arguments and possible policy options by focusing on the situation in one of the poorest countries in the world, Malawi. DISCUSSION: Many see this "brain drain" of medical staff as wrong with developed countries exploiting poorer ones. The effects are considerable with Malawi facing high vacancy rates in its public health system, and with migration threatening to outstrip training despite efforts to improve pay and conditions. This shortage of staff has made it more challenging for Malawi to deliver on its Essential Health Package and to absorb new international health funding.Yet, without any policy effort Malawi has been able to demonstrate its global competitiveness in the training ("production") of skilled health professionals. Remittances from migration are a large and growing source of foreign exchange for poor countries and tend to go directly to households. Whilst the data for Malawi is limited, studies from other poor countries demonstrate the power of remittances in significantly reducing poverty. Malawi can benefit from the export of health professionals provided there is a resolution of the situation whereby the state pays for training and the benefits are gained by the individual professional working abroad. Solutions include migrating staff paying back training costs, or rich host governments remitting part of a tax (e.g. income or national insurance) to the Malawi government. These schemes would allow Malawi to scale up training of health professionals for local needs and to work abroad. SUMMARY: There is concern about the negative impacts of the medical "brain-drain". However a closer look at the evidence for and against the medical "brain-drain" in Malawi suggests that there are potential gains in managing medical migration to produce outcomes that are beneficial to individuals, households and the country. Finally we present several policy options.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Global estimates of high-level brain drain and deficit.

Brain drain, the international migration of scientists in search of better opportunities, has been a long-standing concern, but quantitative measurements are uncommon and limited to specific countries or disciplines. We need to understand brain drain at a global level and estimate the extent to which scientists born in countries with low opportunities never realize their potential. Data on 1523 of the most highly cited scientists for 1981-1999 are analyzed. Overall, 31.9% of these scientists did not reside in the country where they were born (range 18.1-54.6% across 21 different scientific fields). There was great variability across developed countries in the proportions of foreign-born resident scientists and emigrating scientists. Countries without a critical mass of native scientists lost most scientists to migration. This loss occurred in both developed and developing countries. Adjusting for population and using the U.S. as reference, the number of highly cited native-born scientists was at least 75% of the expected number in only 8 countries other than the U.S. It is estimated that approximately 94% of the expected top scientists worldwide have not been able to materialize themselves due to various adverse conditions. Scientific deficit is only likely to help perpetuate these adverse conditions.

Developed Countries↗
PubMed1989

[Trends and new factors affecting the brain drain from developing countries].

Current trends in brain-drain migration from developing to developed countries are analyzed. "Describing the growing specialisation of and rapid changes in the demand for qualified migrants in developed countries, this study shows that the brain drain phenomenon is increasingly fed by LDCs nationals migrating primarily for studies abroad. The resulting economic and social effects, both for sending and receiving countries, of the brain drains' modern patterns are analysed, as is the current action undertaken by various parties to eradicate this phenomenon." (SUMMARY IN ENG)

Demography↗
PubMed2005

Is there any solution to the "brain drain" of health professionals and knowledge from Africa?

African public health care systems suffer from significant "brain drain" of its health care professionals and knowledge as health workers migrate to wealthier countries such as Australia, Canada, USA, and the United Kingdom. Knowledge generated on the continent is not readily accessible to potential users on the continent. In this paper, the brain drain is defined as both a loss of health workers (hard brain drain) and unavailability of research results to users in Africa (soft brain drain). The "pull" factors of "hard brain drain" include better remuneration and working conditions, possible job satisfaction, and prospects for further education, whereas the "push" factors include a lack of better working conditions including promotion opportunities and career advancement. There is also a lack of essential equipment and non-availability or limited availability of specialist training programs on the continent. The causes of "soft brain drain" include lack of visibility of research results in African journals, better prospects for promotion in academic medicine when a publication has occurred in a northern high impact journal, and probably a cultural limitation because many things of foreign origin are considered superior. Advocates are increasingly discussing not just the pull factors but also the "grab" factors emanating from the developed nations. In order to control or manage the outflow of vital human resources from the developing nations to the developed ones, various possible solutions have been discussed. The moral regard to this issue cannot be under-recognized. However, the dilemma is how to balance personal autonomy, right to economic prosperity, right to personal professional development, and the expectations of the public in relation to adequate public health care services in the developing nations.

Africa↗
PubMed1977

The medical "brain drain" and health priorities in Latin America.

This analysis of the medical brain drain places the problem in the context of the health care infrastructure in the developing world. It emphasizes Latin American social realities as a corrective to the self-interest which characterizes much of the current debate in the United States. It is argued that the same factors constituting emigration "push" factors in Latin America simultaneously underscore the relative unimportance of medical manpower migration compared to other obstacles to health progress. That conclusion is supported by a comparison of the relative damage caused by the brain drain by itself and the damage caused by factors which the brain drain concomitantly symbolizes and flows from: elitist objectives, misdirected priorities, unrealistic policies, and inadequate planning on the part of most Latin American nations. In the absence of urgently needed change in traditional structures, merely closing the gates on foreign medical graduates will not serve to ameliorate health conditions in the region. Those who seek real health improvements for developing nations must address greater challenges than the brain drain.

Allied Health Personnel↗
PubMed1992

Causes of brain drain and solutions: the Taiwan experience.

"This article examines brain drain, its origin in Taiwan, and government response. One of the major findings of this study is that the elite emigration in Taiwan has been caused by a host of complex academic, social, economic, and personal factors." The author notes that the brain drain from Taiwan to the United States is primarily an outflow of college graduates rather than of trained scientists and engineers. Measures developed by the Taiwanese government to recruit overseas graduates back to Taiwan are described.

Americas↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The African brain drain: causes and policy prescriptions.

"This article analyzes the causes of the African Brain Drain. It also identifies policy prescriptions to stem the tide of the brain drain....The analysis shows that African governments should try to retain their skilled personnel by significantly improving their economies so as to provide the basic necessities of life to their people. African governments should also democratize their political institutions and respect individual human rights. Finally, they should create a conducive socio political environment for the skilled professional to operate, otherwise even the most patriotic of them would be tempted to emigrate."

Africa↗
PubMed1987

Economic analysis of brain drain.

"In this paper, we consider the brain drain problem arising from the possibility of signaling and individual's two-stage decision procedures within an asymmetric information framework. Where the ranking of the universities provides a signal to domestic employers, our results indicate that, at rational expectations equilibrium, there is an association between students of a particular quality and corresponding qualities of universities they will choose to attend to attain Ph.D.'s. Moreover, we can predict whether these graduating Ph.D.'s choose to return home or remain abroad."

Behavior↗
PubMed2001

Brain drain or OE? Characteristics of young New Zealanders who leave.

AIMS: To characterise the emigration patterns of young New Zealanders. METHODS: The 980 members of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study participating in the "age-26" (1998-1999) assessment provided information about emigration behaviour, qualifications, aspects of physical and mental health and personality. RESULTS: 26% of the sample had moved overseas to live between the ages of 18 and 26, with the United Kingdom and Australia being the most common destinations. Compared to non-emigrants, emigrants had higher IQ scores, were better qualified, leaner and fitter, and had happier and less stress-prone personalities. Based on their planned return date, 63% of emigrants were considered to be on their OE overseas experience (OE, return in <5 years), 18% were defined as brain-drain emigrants (return in >5 years or never) and 18% were uncertain about their return. Brain-drain emigrants were more likely than OE emigrants to leave for better work opportunities, and they were also more likely to go to Australia. However, there were no differences in terms of qualifications, intelligence and personality between OE and brain-drain emigrants. CONCLUSIONS: Most young New Zealanders in this cohort who left for overseas were embarking on their OE. Brain-drain emigrants make up a sizeable minority of emigrants, but appear to possess no more skills than those who plan or choose to return.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Contemporary Indian immigration to the United States--is the brain drain over?

"The post-mid-1970's picture of international migration from India...gives the impression that its 'brain drain' to the developed countries of the West, particularly the U.S.A. declined.... The impression was also consolidated by changes in the American Immigration Law wherein the emphasis had seemingly shifted from the 'occupational usefulness' of the immigrants in the American labour market to their 'family reunification.'.... The paper argues that human capital transfers through migration from India [have] not abated simply because of immigration under the 'occupational preference' categories. Rather what happened is that the brain drain has continued through alternative channels...." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)

Americas↗