Migration of health workers from East Africa countries is hurting provision of healthcare services in the region, a growing concern that has attracted industry’s attention.
Kenyan Medical Association is organizing a major conference that will feature some of East Africa’s prominent figures in the healthcare industry and further discuss the issue of brain drain in East Africa.
The Healthcare Management Conference at Medic East Africa is the largest healthcare event in the East Africa region Scheduled for September 2015 from 1st to 3rd at the Oshwal Centre, Nairobi, Kenya.
The event will showcase the very latest medical breakthroughs and technological developments in healthcare, and feature the leaders in the healthcare industry in Kenya and East Africa.
Chief of Party Funzo Kenya, IntraHealth (USAID), Dr James Mwanzia, said there needs to be an adequate workforce in terms of their availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality in order for East African countries to achieve Universal Health Coverage.
“We must ensure an adequate workforce. We must, therefore, seriously address the issue of migration of health workers,” said Mwanzia.
Currently, the retention rate of healthcare workers in East Africa is a lot less than the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations.
The population ratio for all cadres is significant, and the emigration only worsens the situation.
Among top retention strategies can target to address the loss of medical talent include scaling up the training of nurses and clinical officers, continually investing in staff recognition and motivation.
Others are improving human resources management policies, practices, governance, using salary survey results and recommendations to review their structures.
“Staff motivation, retention, and teamwork, and institutionalizing staff exit feedback and acting on issues are also partinent,” says Dr Mwanzia.
More than 250 healthcare and medical laboratory companies will showcase their products and services to more than 2,500 attendees during the three-day Medic East Africa exhibition.
The exhibition will host leading healthcare companies such as Alvo Medical, Hill-Rom, Medel, Mindray, Olympus, and more.