Forthcoming event second Webinar of 2021, 30 March 2021, 15.00-16.40 CET
Organized with financial support of Open Society Foundations
You may find Webinar recording on YouTube here
Scope and purpose
Background
Growing international migration of medical professionals is a global phenomenon. An increasing share of migrant health workers in the OECD was presented on the 1st webinar of 2021 by Jean-Christophe Dumont, Head of International Migration Division Directorate for Employment Labour and Social Affairs, OECD:
Europe demonstrates even faster integration and growth of labour mobility. Just thirty years ago the continent was strictly divided with almost no movement of people between the East and West hostile to each other. Collapse of soviet regimes and enlargement of the EU Eastwards widened labour market and crated new opportunities for Europeans to decide on their employment perspectives. International migration of medical professionals was enriched by the fall of “iron curtain”.
Before the 2004 migration of medical professionals between Member States of “Old” EU prevailed. Currently countries of the new Europe is the main source of Intereuropean migration of doctors to Germany.
Immigration of foreign trained doctors to most of western European countries is growing (see figure 1) and this trend by most analysists is considered as welcomed development.
Figure 1.
Source: OECD.Stat
Growth of international migration of medical professionals is a development that provides benefits but at the same time it is not immune to risks:
- The free movement of people is a cornerstone of an open and integrated Europe and has to be cherished.
- Emigration of highly educated workers places strain on countries of origin. This hampers the ability of sending states to deliver on the human right to health, while fueling nationalist sentiment and eroding a vision of European solidarity.
Question how to strike a balance between these two features of international migration of medical professionals is fundamental for Global, European and national health policies. The question may be rephrased in following manner how to assure that the health systems of both source and destination countries should derive benefits from the international migration of health personnel.
The webinar has a purpose to reflect on healthcare labour policies development globally and in Europe with the emphasis on labour migration/mobility, to investigate opportunities of stronger EU say on matters related to healthcare workforce mobility.
The webinar is an integral part of a 3-year project “Working Together to Address Health Workforce Mobility in Europe”. Up to 12 webinars to address the unequal distribution of the health workforce in Europe, to participate in designing of policies to support regions that have difficulties in attracting health workers as well as promoting training and education of health professionals to common standards, coupled with measures to safeguard the rights of health workers from the rest of the world. are foreseen by the project. The first webinar of 2021 was organised on 02.02.202. For the recording of the event see here. For a provisional planning of the future seminars see annex 1.
Conclusions of the webinar are going to be developed and disseminated in 2 weeks after the webinar.
Format
Moderated by a professional moderator Joe Lynam from BBC (TBC) Chaired by Dr Vytenis Andriukaitis
Panel of 5 speakers representing the following perspectives:
- Matthias Wismar, PhD, WHO/ Observatory. Global and European health policy 10 years since approval of WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel;
- Annette Schrauwen, PhD, the Netherlands. May the EU successfully work towards the balance between securing freedom of movement for workers and addressing the unequal distribution of the health workforce capacities in Europe? (TBC)
- Dominique Polton PhD, France. Evidence based policies in managing national and regional shortages of health professionals.
- Wolfgang Aulitzky, Dr. Austria. Practical experience how to provide needed professional qualifications and avoid brain drain from the East to the West of Europe.
- Algis Dobravolskas, PhD, Lithuania. Some ways to fight against shortage of health workforce: Perspective of a social insurance expert.
Speakers and Moderator
Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis served as European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety in 2014-2019. Vytenis Andriukaitis has been practicing surgeon for more than 20 years. In 1990 he was one of the co-authors of Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania adopted in 1992. A Member of Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania for six mandates. He led the Lithuanian delegation to the Convention on the Future of Europe. Minister for Health of Republic of Lithuania (2012-2014).
Wolfgang Aulitzky, Wolfgang Aulitzky, MD is the Medical Director of the American Austrian Foundation. As Director of the Medical Program of the American Austrian Foundation he has initiated the Open Medical Institute, a scientific and educational collaboration of Weill Cornell and the NewYork Presbyterian Hospital, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Duke University, Columbia University, the Cleveland Clinic and leading hospitals in Austria.
Dominique POLTON, worked in the National Health Insurance Fund for Salaried Workers (CNAM) as Director of Strategy, Research and Statistics, and as an advisor to the Director-General. Before joining the NHI, she was Director of a research centre in health economics and public health, the Institute for Research and Documentation in Health Economics (IRDES). She chairs the National Health Accounts Commission and the Scientific committee of the National school of public health.
Annette Schrauwen, Prof. dr. A.A.M. (Annette) Schrauwen, Professor of Migration Law and Citizenship in the Internal Market at the Amsterdam Law School, University of Amsterdam.
Algis Dobravolskas, PhD. 30-year experience in research in public economics. Experience in management of public sector as a Minister of Social Protection and Labour of Republic of Lithuania.
Moderator, Joe Lynam: is a respected broadcaster and moderator who was the BBC’s senior Business Correspondent for a decade. He now presents the current affairs show ‘The Newsroom’ on BBC Radio 4 and the World Service. Joe has won many awards for his original journalism. He has presented and been a senior correspondent on the Today programme, Newsnight, BBC One Breakfast as well as Five Live and the BBC News Channel.
Webinar Outline
time in total: 100 min.
| Time | Activity | Who is leading and/or speaking? | What’s on screen for event participants? |
| 2 min | Introduction and opening
Presenting speakers |
Moderator | Moderator |
| 8 min | Short video on 1st Webinar | ||
| 5 min | Keynote by partner of All Policies for a Healthy Europe (TBC) | Chair and speaker | Chair and speaker |
| 10 min | Legal avenues to address the unequal distribution of the health workforce capacities in Europe, providing support to regions that have difficulties in attracting health workers as well as promoting training and education of health professionals to common standards, coupled with measures to safeguard the rights of health workers from the rest of the world. | Chair Vytenis Andriukaitis | Moderator and chair
|
| Q1: 1st Intervention of panellists 30 min.
|
Moderator and panel | ||
| 15 min | Global and European health policy 10 years since approval of “WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel “, WHO,
Matthias Wismar |
Moderator and speaker | |
| 10 min | May the EU successfully work towards the balance between securing freedom of movement for workers and addressing the unequal distribution of the health workforce capacities in Europe?
Annette Schrauwen |
Moderator and speaker | |
| 5 min | Q&A | Moderator and speakers | |
| Q2 – The Second intervention of panellists 20 min |
|
Moderator and panel | |
| 10 min | Evidence based policies to manage local shortages of health professionals: what can we learn to address health workforce mobility in Europe? Dominique Polton | Moderator and speaker | |
| 10 min | How to provide needed professional qualifications and avoid brain drain from the East to the West of Europe: experience of Austria. Wolfgang Aulitzky | Moderator and speaker | |
| 10 min | Some ways to fight shortages of health workforce: Perspective of social insurance expert. Algis Dobravolskas | ||
| 15 min | Q3 – Questions from the audience and panel responses | Chair, moderator, panel | Chair, Moderator, panel |
| 5 min | Wrap up | Chair, moderator | Chair, moderator |
Annex 1
Working Together to Address Health Workforce Mobility in Europe
Plan of seminars/webinars for April – September 2021
III. April 2021. Modelling of pull and push factors of HWF mobility
- International mobility of labor in the EU and European region (ILO)
- Macroeconomic statistics and modeling of healthcare workforce mobility in the EU.
- Training of international students in Eastern Europe. How sustainable is the development?
- Lessons learned from pandemic. Opportunities provided by e-health solutions.
IV. June 2021. Economics and politics of mobility of laborty
- Principles of accounting of human capital and financial measurement of HWF migration
- Assessment of gains and losses related to HWF on the level of National Health Systems, MS, European Union
- Economic assessment of HWF migration management projects (WB)
- Mapping of countries according to HWF related economics and policies
- Looking for win-win solutions: networking opportunities (Observatory).
V. Coordinated healthcare workforce policy as an integral part of European Health Union
- Healthcare work force. Legacy of COVID -19
- Main trends in European HWF development
- Where solidarity, UHC and economics meets?
- What a technological progress (for example e-health) and cross border cooperation may help dealing with shortages of health professionals?
- Looking for win-win solutions between donors and recipients of migrant medical professionals
- Migration of medical professionals in European politics: current status and a vision.