Health worker brain drain in Sudan

10/12/2013 17:21

80 per cent of all health professionals in Sudan are leaving the country. At least one out of every three Sudanese graduate and PhD students migrates to another country for work, according to the National Population Council of Sudan. Khartoum city is hosts many immigrants. Almost one third of the people living in the Sudanese capital come from abroad, according to online newspaper El Taghyeer, quoting statistics reported by senior researcher of the Council, Abdelrahman Mohamed Mubarak. About 95,000 Sudanese left the country in 2012 compared to only 10,032 in 2008. Migration has economic benefits for Sudan, which struggles with a high budget deficit and a shortage of foreign currency needed to pay for imports. The World Bank estimates migrant workers remitted $1.13 billion to Sudan last year, up from $442 million in 2011. That helped to offset the country’s goods and services trade deficit, estimated at $6.7 billion by the International Monetary Fund. Yet, a prolonged brain drain of professionals will put further pressure on the country’s already deteriorated public services. File photo: Sudanese migrants wait to pay taxes at the Secretariat for Sudanese Working Abroad, Khartoum (Reuters)

80 per cent of all health professionals in Sudan are leaving the country. At least one out of every three Sudanese graduate and PhD students migrates to another country for work, according to the National Population Council of Sudan.

Khartoum city is hosts many immigrants. Almost one third of the people living in the Sudanese capital come from abroad, according to online newspaper El Taghyeer, quoting statistics reported by senior researcher of the Council, Abdelrahman Mohamed Mubarak.

About 95,000 Sudanese left the country in 2012 compared to only 10,032 in 2008. Migration has economic benefits for Sudan, which struggles with a high budget deficit and a shortage of foreign currency needed to pay for imports.

The World Bank estimates migrant workers remitted $1.13 billion to Sudan last year, up from $442 million in 2011. That helped to offset the country's goods and services trade deficit, estimated at $6.7 billion by the International Monetary Fund. Yet, a prolonged brain drain of professionals will put further pressure on the country's already deteriorated public services.