Luring African doctors criminal, says Vancouver researcher

From the Vancouver Sun:
Rich Western countries, including Canada, are demolishing African medical systems and destroying African lives by continuing to lure away their health care workers, a group of international medical experts led by a Vancouver doctor said Thursday.

The problem is so bad future active recruitment should be considered a crime in international law, argue the doctors, pharmacists and researchers in a commentary released today by the Lancet.

The article is the latest addition to a growing body of academic literature that suggests sub-Saharan Africa's ability to cope with the HIV/AIDS epidemic and even to provide basic health care is being crippled by the flow of medical personnel to the wealthy world. ...more

Recruiting pharmacists called 'shameful'

From the Globe and Mail:
A small group of AIDS activists demonstrated outside a recruitment meeting held by Shoppers Drug Mart in Cape Town last night. The session, at a hotel in the upmarket neighbourhood of Camps Bay, was designed to inform South African pharmacists about opportunities working with Shoppers in Canada. ...more

Is Shoppers Drug Mart poaching pharmacists from South Africa?

From the Globe and Mail:
Michael and Berdine Fazakas liked what they heard: that in Canada, they could own a profitable business - really profitable. That there are fewer murders in most Canadian cities each year than there are in a week in Johannesburg, where they live now. Canada has good, free schools for their future kids and vast expanses of nature - "just lots of opportunity," Mr. Fazakas said.

That's what they took away from a meeting held here last week by Shoppers Drug Mart Corp. Canada's largest drugstore chain has a team in South Africa seeking pharmacists to hire and sponsor as immigrants to Canada. The company provides legal assistance and covers the costs associated with immigration for the pharmacists it hires here. There's another Shoppers' information session in Durban tonight and in Cape Town on Thursday.

This is the only developing country where Shoppers recruits, and it's one with a dire shortage of pharmacists: In KwaZulu-Natal province, for example, one in three adults has HIV but 75 per cent of jobs for public pharmacists are vacant.

So meetings like last week's dinner-drinks-and-information session (from which Shoppers' staff barred a Globe and Mail reporter) are controversial. ...more

Prescription for shortage?

There's no sign that the pharmacist shortage will end anytime soon. Perhaps one of the highest demand locales for pharmacists in the world is Indiana, where three huge mail order pharmacies will soon open and need to hire hundreds of pharmacists.

From the Indianapolis Star:
Bre Taylor has two more years before she graduates from Butler University with a doctorate in pharmacy, but job recruiters around the country are already deluging her with pitches. Starting salaries range from $75,000 to $100,000, sweetened by signing bonuses and tuition reimbursements.

"There's all kinds of job expos, e-mails, drugstores offering us free gifts, companies offering internships," said Taylor, 22, of Vincennes, dressed in a crisp white coat as she mixed an ointment for an assignment in a Butler lab. "I can pretty much go anywhere in the country and have a job."

The reason: A national shortage of pharmacists, fueled by a surge of retirements, a flurry of hospital and drugstore expansions, an aging population and an increased number of prescriptions written. ...more

Journal accuses Shoppers Drug Mart of poaching South African pharmacists

I find the concept of recruiting health professionals from other geographic areas a fascinating ethical question. Who is to say that a foreign pharmacist doesn't deserve the opportunity to build a new life in another country? Also, what about luring health professionals from rural areas of Canada to larger urban centres? What if Shoppers recruits the only pharmacist in a small town in northern Manitoba and leaves that town without pharmacy services?

I'm not sure why a physicians group has decided to take Shoppers Drug Mart to task on this. I'd like to hear the Canadian Medical Association's views on urban health regions recruiting in smaller Canadian towns that are already short of physicians.

The last line in the article is very interesting...

"If Shoppers Drug Mart fails to act before World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, CMAJ also believes governments, hospitals and all Canadians should show solidarity for South Africa, and take their business elsewhere."

Does this mean we will see a physician led boycott of Shoppers Drug Mart? Will physicians counsel their patients to not get their prescriptions there? Will they refuse to send new or refill prescription orders to Shoppers? As far as I'm aware, physicians are ethically obliged to not suggest one pharmacy over another to patients.

From the Canadian Press:
Human rights activist and former UN ambassador Stephen Lewis joined one of Canada's pre-eminent medical journals Tuesday in denouncing an iconic drugstore chain for aggressively recruiting South African pharmacists and potentially fuelling a public health disaster.

In an article to be published in its January edition, the Canadian Medical Association Journal takes Shoppers Drug Mart, Canada's largest drugstore chain, to task, accusing it of going after the very pharmacists South Africa desperately needs to dispense drugs to its own population.

For the last three years, Shoppers has dispatched recruiters to the southern African country with aim of luring pharmacists with the promise of a guaranteed $100,000 salary, the journal says.

"This behaviour is not just gauche; it is unethical," the article states. ...more

Number of pharmacists up 33% over 10 years

From CTV News:
he number of pharmacists in Canada grew by more than 7,200 over a 10-year period, according to a new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

This represents an increase of 33 per cent in a decade, compared to a 10 per cent increase in the population.

Prince Edward Island showed the greatest percentage increase, at 42.9 per cent. The Northwest Territories saw a 40.5 per cent drop, with the number of pharmacists in the territory falling from 42 in 1995 to 25 in 2005. Ontario is currently home to almost one-third of the country's 29,471 pharmacists. ...more

Medicine man wanted Munday officials work to lure pharmacist

Here's an older article that I wanted to post because I don't think I've ever heard of a town be so aggressive in the pursuit of an independent pharmacist.

From the Wichita Falls (Tex.) Times Record:
It was more than a drug store.

It was the center of life in Munday.

For decades, locals drifted into Smith Drug on Main Street for a cup of coffee, a gift for a friend's birthday and - almost as an afterthought - their prescriptions.

But in March 2006, the out-of-town owners of the store closed the business, creating a huge void that city leaders are working hard to fill, said Munday City Manager Dwayne Bearden.

"People need a pharmacy," he said. "We have one 12 miles away (in Knox City), but it's not as good as having one here. Somebody would be a hero if they could get one here."

The city, along with the Development Corporation of Munday, have been actively trying to lure a pharmacist to town by offering incentives for anyone willing to relocate and reopen the business. ...more

Pharmacist shortage dangerous: association

From the Montreal Gazette:
Quebec's hospitals are suffering from a severe shortage of pharmacists - a situation that could lead to medication errors, the president of a pharmacists' association is warning.

There are 1,250 pharmacists working in Quebec hospitals and other health-care establishments. But hospitals need another 200 pharmacists to properly serve patients, said Francine Lussier-Labelle, president of the Association des pharmaciens des établissements de santé du Québec. ...more

Canada's health care workers migrate to cities and Alberta: report

From CBC News:
Canadian health-care workers are leaving rural areas and moving to larger centres, according to a report released Thursday by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

The report, "Distribution and Internal Migration of Canada's Health Care Workforce," tracks migratory patterns of physicians, dentists, pharmacists, physiotherapists and registered nurses within Canada over a 15-year period, between 1986 and 2001.

The report finds that each year, rural areas of Canada lose on average 1.3 per cent of their doctors to urban areas, with the time period between 1996 and 2001 showing the biggest decline. ...more

Alberta tops B.C. as chief destination for health care workers

From Canada.com:
Heath care workers in Canada are people on the move, according to a new study that shows they are generally more mobile than the rest of the country’s workforce.

The Canadian Institute for Health Information tracked the movement of health care professionals within and between provinces over a 15-year period and published the results in a report released Thursday.

The study showed that Alberta attracted more health care workers than any other province between 1996 and 2001, surging ahead of British Columbia as the number one destination for the first time in a decade.

Alberta had the largest growth of any province in its health care workforce during the period studied, expanding it by four per cent. ...more

Poor prognosis prompts action

From the Financial Post:
Canada is facing a critical shortage of health care professionals as Baby Boomers retire and too few graduates are emerging from medical schools to care for the ageing population.

While all health care provider roles stand to be affected, the number of nurses in particular is falling rapidly. The Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) projects by 2011, the nation will be in need of 78,000 nurses; if no action is taken, the system will be down 113,000 nurses by 2016.

The prognosis has prompted organizations representing medical professionals to band together in an effort to boost education and recruits. ...more