In a bid to to retain human capital, President Yoweri Museveni has directed that the government absorbs all qualified doctors.
Museveni made the directive while delivering his remarks on the budget speech day on Thursday.
“On human capital, I hereby direct the Minister of Health-designate and the Prime Minister-designate to absorb all qualified doctors in the country into health facilities up to the sub-county level.
I thank you,” Museveni said.
This news has been received with mixed reactions considering brain drain escalates because of a lack of good incentives to work at home than abroad.
Countries that invest in the training of health workers suffer financial losses when these educated professionals emigrate, according to a 2011 research by a group of Canadian scientists led by Edward Mills, chair of global health at the University of Ottawa. The researchers studied nine sub-Saharan African countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe) and estimated that these countries suffered a loss of about $2.1 billion from investments for all doctors working in destination countries up to 2010. It costs African nations between $21,000 and $59,000 to train each doctor, the Canadian team found.
Africa’s loss is rich countries’ gain: the research estimated that financial benefits amounted to $2.7 billion to the UK, $846 million to the United States, $621 million to Australia and $384 million to Canada. Rich countries should provide financial and logistical support to Africa’s health institutions, the researchers recommended.