Volunteer doctors help to tackle 'brain drain'

Bonn, Germany: UNV volunteer bone specialist Dr. Robert Lapyam Ayelle describes his work in Malawi as "fighting a war". "We are working under very difficult conditions. The doctors now working in Africa are really tired. You are stretched beyond your limits," he says.

Dr. Ayelle is one of 41 UNV volunteer doctors working in Malawi to fill an acute shortage of local medical personnel. Television company CNN International reported this month in the programme 'Untold Stories: Africa's deadly brain drain' that Malawi now has only one doctor for every 50,000 people.

The lack of trained personnel, shortages of drugs and equipment and epidemics such as Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS are piling on the pressure. 'Due to the resources, you reach the point of frustration,' Dr. Ayelle told CNN. Some 25% of Malawi's health staff is expected to die of HIV/AIDS in the next decade, the programme says.

CNN reports that many locally trained doctors have been lured to Europe and North America by higher incomes and professional opportunities. Malawi Health Minister Narhirue Ngaunje said that the situation was not unique. 'Many countries have got problems," she told CNN.

Dr. Ayelle and the other doctors are working as UNV volunteers to develop health capacity as part of a scheme that started in 2003. Faced with the acute shortage of health professionals, the Government of Malawi obtained support from the Southern Africa Capacity Initiative and UNDP, and continues to receive support from the Global Fund against Tuberculosis and Malaria. As a result, UNV volunteers are providing health services all over the country.

The doctors work under the supervision of the Ministry of Health in major hospitals and in district clinics as specialists and district doctors. They provide health services to the communities and enhance the capacity of the domestic health personnel through training in basic medical processes and by motivating and training local volunteers to provide home-based services to their communities.

Dr. Ayelle told CNN that UNV volunteer doctors are high committed. "You need to be a person that is there for the community, ready to serve at all costs," he says.