This book is the first comprehensive study of international health worker-migration and -recruitment from the perspective of global governance, policy and politics. Covering 70 years of history of the development of this global policy field, this book presents new and previously unpublished data, based on primary research, to reveal for the first time that international health worker-migration-and -recruitment have been major concerns of global policy-making going back to the foundations of post-war international cooperation. The authors analyse the policies and programmes of a wide range of international organisations, from WHO, ILO and UNESCO to the IOM, World Bank and OECD, and feature extended analysis of bilateral agreements to manage health worker migration and recruitment, critiquing the claim that they work in the interests of all countries. Yeates’ and Pillinger’s ground-breaking analysis of global governance presents an assiduously researched study showing how the interplay and intersections of several global institutional regimes – spanning labour, migration, health, social protection, trade and business, equality and human rights – shape global policy responses to this major health care issue that affects all countries worldwide. It discusses the growing challenges to public health as a result of the globalisation of health labour markets, and highlights how global and national policy can realise the health and health-related Sustainable Development Goals for all by 2030. This research monograph will be of key interest to students and scholars of Global Governance, Global Public Policy, Global Health, Global Politics, Migration Studies, Health and Social Care, Social Policy and Development Studies. Policy makers and campaign activists, nationally and globally, will appreciate the practical relevance and applications of the research findings.

International skilled heath worker migration is a key feature of the global economy, a major contributor to socio-economic development and reflective of the transnationalization of health and elder care that is underway in most OECD nations. The distribution of care and health workforce planning has previously been analysed solely within national contexts, but increasingly scholars have shown how care deficits are being addressed through transnational responses. This Element examines the complex processes that feed health worker migrants into global circulation, the losses and gains associated with such mobility and examples of good practices, where migrants, sending and destination communities experience the best possible outcomes. It will approach this issue through the lens of problems, and solutions, making connections across the micro, meso and macro within and across the sections.

The adoption by WHO's Member States of the Global Code of Practice in the International Recruitment of Health Personnel, and the implementation of it by so many countries, represent two of the biggest steps in recent years towards solving the shortage of health-care workers around the world. The countries' response has been a momentous achievement. Now, a third big step is being taken with the publication of this book. It underlines WHO's unwavering commitment to supporting the implementation of the Code and provides a wide range of detailed examples from the countries themselves of how they are tackling the many complex issues involved. It provides not just numerous insights into progress but also gives other countries valuable guidance and recommendations on how they, too, can implement the Code. Countries are encouraged to learn from the shared experiences, domestic solutions and multi-lateral cooperation described in this book, and move ahead to support and advance the Code's aspirational principles. By doing so, they also strengthen the campaign towards Universal Health Care -- a campaign that requires innovative solutions to the health workforce shortage in order to be successful. The crux of the Code is the development of human resources for health through all aspects of education, improved retention and fair recruitment practices while encouraging technical collaboration and financial support. WHO is playing a leading role in these initiatives and stands ready to assist all its Member States in implementing the Code. We strongly recommend this book to health policy-makers and decision-takers in governments, nongovernmental organizations and other partners and stakeholders, including civil society. They will find it an indispensable guide to a better future for health-care personnel and the people they serve.

International migration and mobility of health workers is increasing in volume and complexity. If not adequately managed, migration of health workers from low and middle-income countries can exacerbate shortages and can weaken health systems in these countries and widen inequities. Among various pathways for movement of health workers, government-to-government agreements hold important potential to ensure that health workers and the health systems of participating countries benefit from health worker migration and mobility. This guidance is a tool for improving the capacity of state actors involved in the development, negotiation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of agreements related to international health worker migration and mobility, keeping health system priorities at the fore, in alignment with the provisions of the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel.

This book is the first comprehensive study of international health worker-migration and -recruitment from the perspective of global governance, policy and politics. Covering 70 years of history of the development of this global policy field, this book presents new and previously unpublished data, based on primary research, to reveal for the first time that international health worker-migration-and -recruitment have been major concerns of global policy-making going back to the foundations of post-war international cooperation. The authors analyse the policies and programmes of a wide range of international organisations, from WHO, ILO and UNESCO to the IOM, World Bank and OECD, and feature extended analysis of bilateral agreements to manage health worker migration and recruitment, critiquing the claim that they work in the interests of all countries. Yeates’ and Pillinger’s ground-breaking analysis of global governance presents an assiduously researched study showing how the interplay and intersections of several global institutional regimes – spanning labour, migration, health, social protection, trade and business, equality and human rights – shape global policy responses to this major health care issue that affects all countries worldwide. It discusses the growing challenges to public health as a result of the globalisation of health labour markets, and highlights how global and national policy can realise the health and health-related Sustainable Development Goals for all by 2030. This research monograph will be of key interest to students and scholars of Global Governance, Global Public Policy, Global Health, Global Politics, Migration Studies, Health and Social Care, Social Policy and Development Studies. Policy makers and campaign activists, nationally and globally, will appreciate the practical relevance and applications of the research findings.

This volume provides the first detailed overview of the growing phenomenon of the international migration of skilled health workers. The contributors focus on who migrates, why they migrate, what the outcomes are for them and their extended families, what their experiences in the workforce are, and ultimately, the extent to which this expanding migration flow has a relationship to development issues. It therefore provides new, interdisciplinary reflections on such core issues as brain drain, gender roles, remittances and sustainable development at a time when there has never been greater interest in the migration of health workers.

Experts from ethicists and political philosophers to clinicians and trade unionists seek answers to a number of key ethical questions to further a deeper understanding of the ethics of health worker migration.