Abstract
The brain drain of medical professionals from lower-income to higher-income countries contributes to the current inequity that characterises access to mental healthcare by those in need across the world and hinders efforts to scale up mental health services in resource-constrained settings, especially in Nigeria and other West African countries. The migration of skilled workers is driven by a combination of the globalisation of the labour market and the ability of highly resourced countries to attract and retain specialists from poorer countries. If we are to ameliorate the worldwide shortage of mental health professionals, we need to find innovative ways of attracting young doctors into psychiatric training in all countries. We must also introduce measures to improve health worker retention in low- and middle-income countries.
Highlights
The challenge to global public health posed by the migration (‘brain drain’) of health workers from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to highincome countries has been recognised for decades
Despite measures taken by some countries to stem the flow, and attempts to reach international agreements, the migration of health workers has accelerated significantly in recent years, fuelled by a combination of global shortages in the health workforce, population changes in higher-income countries and the globalisation of the labour market for healthcare professionals, allowing them to seek better conditions of service away from their home countries (World Health Organization, 2006; Aluttis et al, 2014)
Global disparities in the distribution of the health workforce have a major impact on mental healthcare delivery because clinical demands require personal expertise and training, rather than advanced technology or equipment
Summary
The brain drain of medical professionals from lower-income to higher-income countries contributes to the current inequity that characterises access to mental healthcare by those in need across the world and hinders efforts to scale up mental health services in resource-constrained settings, especially in Nigeria and other West African countries. The migration of skilled workers is driven by a combination of the globalisation of the labour market and the ability of highly resourced countries to attract and retain specialists from poorer countries. If we are to ameliorate the worldwide shortage of mental health professionals, we need to find innovative ways of attracting young doctors into psychiatric training in all countries. We must introduce measures to improve health worker retention in low- and middle-income countries
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