Brain Drain: North African MDs Abroad
The statistics are stunning. Huge numbers of much needed doctors from North Africa and the entire continent, in fact, live and work abroad. But more interestingly, governments in the region have no policies and incentives in place to stimulate returns and get these doctors back.
Foreign markets remain attractive destinations for African medical doctors, a phenomenon even more pronounced for North African MDs. The American think tank, the Center for Global Development (CGD) recently reported that some 20% of African doctors practice outside of their homeland. Economic and working conditions in their home countries and the opportunity to earn higher incomes abroad are the primary reasons for this brain drain. Ironically, NGOs spend about $4 billion a year in bringing foreign doctors in Africa under humanitarian and aid rules.
In the Maghreb region, the problem is also substantial in light of the need for health services of the populations. Algeria has the worst record with a massive 44% of registered doctors practicing abroad. Security issues have added to the economic malaise, forcing tens of thousands of doctors to seek opportunities outside of the home country. In Tunisia, a full one third (33%) are registered practitioners abroad, with the near entirety (96%) working in France. Morocco is the lesser troubled of the three and yet 31% of its doctors are in foreign countries.
In the African continent, the top two countries with the highest retention rates are South Africa and Egypt. Only 5% of the 143,000 Egyptian doctors are based abroad.
