title: Rebalancing brain drain: exploring resource reallocation to address health worker migration and promote global health.
abstract: Global public health is threatened by an imbalance in health worker migration from resource-poor countries to developed countries. This "brain drain" results in health workforce shortages, health system weakening, and economic loss and waste, threatening the well-being of vulnerable populations and effectiveness of global health interventions. Current structural imbalances in resource allocation and global incentive structures have resulted in 57 countries identified by WHO as having a "critical shortage" of health workers. Yet current efforts to strengthen domestic health systems have fallen short in addressing this issue. Instead, global solutions should focus on sustainable forms of equitable resource sharing. This can be accomplished by adoption of mandatory global resource and staff-sharing programs in conjunction with implementation of state-based health services corps.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health Law Studies, California Western School of Law, United States. tmackey@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: Timothy Ken
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Mackey
authors.forename: Bryan Albert
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Liang
mesh_terms: D003906:Developing Countries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004641:Emigration and Immigration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014943:Global Health; D006291:Health Policy; D006280:Health Workforce / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D010560:Personnel Selection / Q000458:organization & administration; D040841:Resource Allocation; D014944:World Health Organization