The Impact of Skilled Migration on the Healthcare Systems of Developing Countries
Owen Wong
The global issue I decided to focus my attention on was the impact of highly skilled migration on the healthcare systems of developing countries. The issue is characterized by highly skilled professionals such as medical workers migrating from poor to wealthy countries in search of a better life. Often motivated by factors such as political instability, lack of personal safety, greater job satisfaction, and higher wages, these skilled individuals are able to immigrate into developed countries due to the nature of their jobs. By this, I mean that wealthy countries readily accept those trained in highly skilled professions into their country as these individuals will benefit the economy. However, the migration of these healthcare workers means that the countries they leave behind are, in most cases, in need of health care professionals to replace those who had left. This often resulted in critical shortages in healthcare workers in developing countries which cause a significant increase in preventable deaths.