Move to stop Caribbean health exodus

REGIONAL and international medical institutions are joining forces to stop the exodus of health personnel from the Caribbean because the region will be hard-pressed to meet its development goals without them. This was disclosed yesterday by United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Population Affairs Officer Karoline Schimd during a news conference at the Crowne Plaza to discuss the Declaration of the Caribbean sub-regional meeting to assess implementation of the Programme of Action (POA) of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD).

Planning and Development Ministry representative Desmond Hunte said loss of regional health personnel was one of the main concerns raised by Caribbean nations at the meeting. United Nations Population Fund (Latin America/Caribbean) director Marisela Padron said their loss was “a double blow” for the region which is identified in the Declaration as “the second-hardest hit region in the world” by HIV/AIDS. She reaffirmed the UNFPA’s commitment to help Caribbean nations combat the “potentially devastating impact” of HIV/AIDS on their socio-economic development. Schmid said this exodus started 40 years ago because regional doctors and nurses were being lured by more lucrative positions in the United States and Britain. She added that right now it is very easy for a registered Trinidadian nurse to obtain a green card to live and work in the US.

However, the UN ECLAC official revealed that steps are on the way to ensure that health personnel remain within the region. She said the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and regional medical organisations are developing exchange programmes whereby regional health personnel will be trained at foreign medical institutions on a regular basis in order to improve their skills. Schmid disclosed that one such programme between a hospital in New York and one in Barbados is in its early stages. She added that other steps will be taken to encourage doctors and nurses to stay in the region. Hunte said the region was still growing but is affected by declining fertility rates. In terms of population movement, he said larger countries like Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica had declining populations while smaller nations like the Turks and Caicos Islands had growing populations. Hunte disclosed that TT had “the double problem of low fertility and immigration” with its population growing less than one percent annually. He added that any country’s development plans would be thwarted if its human resource base was not protected and developed.