Addressing The Brain Drain Crisis

Author : Yusuf Yuksekdag
Publisher : Linköping University Electronic Press
ISBN 13 : 9176850897
Total Pages : 69 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (768 download)

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Download or read book Doctors Behind Borders written by Yusuf Yuksekdag and published by Linköping University Electronic Press. This book was released on 2019-05-27 with total page 69 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This doctoral thesis within applied ethics consists of four articles together with a cover essay. All articles concern the ethics of skilled health worker emigration from under-served and resourcepoor regions, often referred to as ‘medical brain drain’. Methodologically, the thesis utilizes normative ethical theory to analyse the justifiability of temporary or long-term emigration restrictions, such as compulsory health service programmes, that are employed by developing countries with the aim of safeguarding their needs for health care provision. Such programmes restrict the mobility of individual health workers and give rise to conflicts between different types of rights and interests. The ethics of skilled worker emigration warrants an exploration of the ethical implications of such restrictive programmes for different stakeholders, such as the under-served countries and health workers; and a clarification of the rights and duties of the concerned parties. This thesis provides a thorough analysis and clarification of such rights restrictions and offers theoretically and empirically grounded recommendations as to how they ought to be managed. Rights theory and accounts of individual responsibilities are employed to assess the acceptability of restrictive health service programmes. In brief, the thesis (a) discusses the conditions under which individual health workers may have responsibilities to attend to the basic health needs of a population, (b) explicates the rights at stake such as the freedom of movement and the right to exit, (c) offers insight into what it means to restrict one’s right and its implications and (d) suggests ways for conflicting rights and interests to be balanced and resolved. Taken together, the thesis presents a nuanced approach towards individual responsibilities in under-served contexts and an improved understanding of the right to exit as well as the implications of restricting the right. The thesis also contributes to the ethics of skilled worker emigration with a discussion on the responsibilities of skilled workers when the other parties do not fulfil their fair share of responsibilities. Denna avhandling i tillämpad etik består av fyra artiklar jämte en längre introduktion. Samtliga artiklar behandlar etiska aspekter på emigrationen av högutbildad vårdpersonal från utvecklingsländer och resursfattiga regioner, ett fenomen som ofta beskrivs som medicinsk kunskapsflykt (Medical Brain Drain). Utifrån normativ etisk teori analyseras i vilken utsträckning, om alls, utvecklingsländers ansatser att säkerställa nationella vård- och omsorgsbehov med hjälp av begränsningar av vårdpersonals mobilitet kan anses vara etiskt försvarbara. I avhandlingen analyseras också olika intressenters skyldigheter och rättigheter utifrån teorier om ansvar och rättigheter. Det gäller bland annat frågan om sjukvårdspersonalens individuella ansvar att stanna i hemlandet för att tillgodose grundläggande vårdbehov hos befolkningen. Avhandlingen bidrar med ett klargörande av (i) argument för och emot begränsningar av vårdpersonals rätt att lämna landet, (ii) relaterade rättighets- och intressekonflikters natur och (iii) teoretiskt förankrade rekommendationer för hur denna typ av konflikter bör hanteras. Avhandlingen synliggör etiskt relevanta följder av obligatoriska vårdprogram för olika intressegrupper (stakeholders) som stater, vårdgivare, vårdpersonal och vårdtagare, liksom vilka rättigheter och skyldigheter som står på spel, som exempelvis rätten att fritt lämna sitt land och rätten till grundläggande hälso- och sjukvård. Sammantaget bidrar avhandlingen med en grundlig analys av skäl för och emot begränsningar av den fundamentala men sparsamt analyserade mänskliga rättigheten att lämna det egna landet.