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06/04/2011

Why hundreds of Ethiopia鈥檚 doctors are leaving to work abroad. What鈥檚 drawing them away, can they be encouraged to stay and what鈥檚 the impact on the country鈥檚 health?

Migration of trained medical staff is an issue faced by countries all over the world. But Ethiopia鈥檚 brain drain has left just one doctor for nearly 30,000 people. How can a country with some of the worst health problems cope with such a loss of its human health resources? Even fewer doctors work in rural regions where the majority of the country鈥檚 population lives. So what鈥檚 driving doctors away and what measures are being taken to keep them in the country?

Claudia Hammond travels to Ethiopia to find out more about their medical brain drain. There she meets medical students to find out why they want to work abroad. She meets the country鈥檚 Health Minister to find out about his measures to keep doctors in the country and why he hopes quadrupling the number of medical students helps tackle the problem. She also talks to a general practitioner working in Ethiopia鈥檚 capital, Addis Ababa to find out what working life for an Ethiopian doctor is really like.

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18 minutes

Last on

Sun 10 Apr 2011 23:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Wed 6 Apr 2011 18:32GMT
  • Thu 7 Apr 2011 03:32GMT
  • Thu 7 Apr 2011 10:32GMT
  • Thu 7 Apr 2011 15:32GMT
  • Sun 10 Apr 2011 02:32GMT
  • Sun 10 Apr 2011 06:32GMT
  • Sun 10 Apr 2011 23:32GMT

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