A little bit of poaching from the poor
If I have read the data on the World Health Organisation's Global Atlas of the Health Workforce correctly then in 2004 India had 0.6 of a medical physician for every 1000 people. Figures r eleased yesterday by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australia in 2006 had 2.9 "full-time equivalent (FTE) medical practitioners" for every 1000 people. We might be complaining in this country about the shortage of doctors - and Australia is still below the OECD average for physicians - but by comparison with Indians we appear to be well serviced. That is a conclusion that sits awkwardly with the decision last month by the Australian Medical Council to give a United States company a contract to open five exam centres in India to streamline the recruitment of overseas-trained doctors. Why the the federal government had gone back on its 2003 pledge not to actively recruit doctors in developing countries, a practice that has been condemned on the basis that it