15th April, 2009
Africa, the majority of people do not have access even to basic health care. Many die from preventable diseases, and many more slip into abject poverty because they are too sick to work or study.
At the root of the crisis is a critical shortage of health workers – the fewest per capita of any region in the world. In the UK, for example, there are 250 doctors per 100,000 people while in Sudan there are only 16.
The result is a sticking-plaster solution to a chronic and very serious health problem — one whose implications are far-reaching. Poor health creates poverty, which in turn creates more poor health. Economies falter. Societies struggle.
In our special World Health Day podcast, Dr Peter Ngatia, AMREF's director of capacity-building, talks about the crisis, the impact of brain drain on African health, and some possible solutions.
A graduate of the University of Alberta and a former faculty head at the Kenya Medical Training Centre, Dr Ngatia has over the course of his professional life conducted numerous research projects on the issue of human resources in health.
Listen to the podcast (8.7 MB, 12:45)
