NEWS
IN BRIEF

Compensation for Africa's medical brain drain

A new report on Africa's medical brain drain, released on 15 July, calls on rich nations to reimburse African countries for the loss of medical professionals and to train more doctors and nurses domestically rather than recruit them from abroad. The 121-page report, An action plan to prevent brain drain, by US based advocacy organization, Physicians for Human Rights, demands reimbursement for the losses incurred by countries that have paid for the education of doctors, nurses and pharmacists only to lose them to countries offering higher wages. The Nobel Peace Prize-winning group also wants wealthy countries and international organizations to send money to boost salaries of African health workers. (See related news feature, Should I stay or should I go?, in this month's In focus on p. 634).