Unpacking the brain drain in sub-Sahara Africa through public health lenses: Implications for development aid

Emigration of qualified health professionals from developing to developed countries, a phenomenon known as the brain drain or human capital flight, has become a dilemma for policy makers due to the complexity of the phenomenon and has implications in development aid assistance. It has become an issue of intense discussions in the human rights literature and has been linked to structural and economic factors. Developed countries have continued to poach scarce human resources for health that are sorely needed to meet the health challenges in Africa, and have exploited the phenomenon so much as to deprive Africa of millions of dollars worth of investments in human resources for health. Such exploitation has significantly contributed to the vicious circle of poor health and poverty and has contributed to many African countries being unable to meet the challenges arsing from the HIV and AIDS epidemics and the Millennium Development Goals. There has been a plethora of papers examining the brain drain, but few have looked at the issue from a development aid perspective. In this chapter, we draw from the literature and experience to explore causes, patterns and long-term consequences of the brain drain in sub-Saharan Africa. The analysis provides information for policy makers to put in place measures geared toward bringing an end to or reversing the brain drain phenomenon and its consequences.