Fifty years ago | W. German programme for medicos from third world
A 1974 report highlights a West German initiative to address the 'brain drain' of medical professionals from developing nations. The program aimed to provide reintegration support for foreign doctors to return home, where their skills were more urgently needed.
Why it matters
This historical perspective illustrates long-standing global challenges regarding the migration of skilled labor from developing to developed economies.
Bonn, July 22: Too many medical students from developing nations stay on in West Germany after becoming doctors instead of going back home where they are needed.
To help reverse the Third World drain of urgently needed medicos, the Economic Ministry in Bonn has co-operated with the German Medical Association to work out a ‘multi-million dollar’ reintegration programme.
The Medical Association estimates that more than 6,000 of the 8,560 qualified foreign doctors practising in West Germany are from Third World countries where, in some cases, there is only one doctor for as many as 40,000 inhabitants.
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