Should I Stay or Should I Go? the Answer for Most Health-Care Workers in Developing Countries Is Easy: Go. Higher Pay and Better Working Conditions Are Luring More and More Health Personnel Abroad Leaving Their Native Health Systems Stripped of Staff

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There has been an alarming surge in the number of health workers leaving their own countries to benefit from better pay and working conditions offered by richer countries, according to WHO and The World Bank. Whilst this has increased the flow of remittances--and in some cases, expertise--back home, it has also triggered staffing crises in many countries.

According to The World Bank, remittances wired by migrant workers through the banking system alone totalled US$ 90 billion in 2003, up from some US$ 88 billion in 2002 and US$ 72.3 billion in 2001. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that at least as much again is remitted outside the banking system. In the United Kingdom 50% of newly registered nurses came from abroad in 2002, compared with 25% in 1998.

"It's not surprising when salaries in Zambia, for …