Reply to Hidalgo's ‘The active recruitment of health workers: a defence’ article

The workforce for health in a globalized context – global shortages and international migration

“…In addition, the residents of the recipient country benefit from an adequate supply of healthcare services and a savings of tax moneys through training fewer healthcare professionals than they would otherwise need (19). Some argue that the sending countries benefit to some extent as well from receiving financial remittances from the health workers living in developed countries (20, 21). However, this view has not been uncontested, as remittances throughout the whole life course can hardly match the training and education costs invested in the migrant (5, 22).…”

“…However, the currently existing scientific evidence is insufficient to make any sound statements on the direct health effects of health worker migration. However, it seems common sense that losing health workers will lead to a deterioration of quality of health services, which will ultimately lead to more negative health outcomes (21). …”

Human rights conflicts experienced by nurses migrating between developed countries

“…The discussion of the themes was developed on the basis of the ethical principles documented in nursing migration literature. 4,15,16,[19][20][21][22][23] Aiming to increase the credibility of the data analysis, the findings were collegially discussed involving all researchers until a complete agreement was achieved. In addition, in each step of the analysis, researchers maintained a reflexive attitude towards the phenomenon under study, considering and reinterpreting the participants' phrases and grounding their analysis on the interviews' texts.…”

“…5,7 Nevertheless, appropriate policies, codes of ethics and other guidelines have been developed to prevent or mitigate the negative impact of migration. 20 Among many ethical arguments against migration, global injustice and inequalities between countries and the principle of not harming the poor 4,20,21 have been considered. Additionally, human rights violations in the scope of living standards for everyone, including medical care and the right to health protection, which is put in danger in the donor country in the case of migration of healthcare workers abroad, have been also emphasised.…”

Defending the active recruitment of health workers: a response to commentators

“…Several commentators challenge my analysis. Carwyn Rhys Hooper suggests that it is prima facie plausible that the emigration of health workers causes harm, and that there is insufficient evidence to reject this claim 2. Gilian Brock3 and Iain Bassington4 argue that my paper failed to consider the full range of possible harms that the active recruitment of health workers brings about.…”