Rome, March 11, 2014 - The impact of the current economic and financial crisis is a very real threat to the implementation of the WHO Code of Conduct for the recruitment of health workers from the EU Member States: public spending health care in many countries has decreased, altering the relationship between the investment required for the development of health personnel and the mobility of the latter. Consequences are obvious phenomena such as the brain drain of health workers that affects not only the poorer countries outside Europe, but the eastern and southern Europe as well, including Italy . 

This is the picture shown by the Report of the project " Personal health for all and all for health workers " (HW4All) . The analysis shows how health systems are severely undermined by the lack of critical personnel and by the increase in the turnover of the health professions: a shortage about 1 million health workers is estimeted by 2020 if current trend are not reversed .

Some recommendations to governments and all the actors involved in the implementation of the Code of Conduct: review the policies of austerity and those of development aid to focus on a single European market that protects the freedom of movement, but that incentives an equitable distribution of health professionals as well; revive WHO Code's directions to put at the center of the development debate and the mobility of health workers in a public health perspective .

HW4All : an online collaborative platform

Along with the summary report, the project  has also launched an online collaborative platform where all the main actors and stakeholders are invited to share their experiences, opinions, ideas, best practices and proposals on issues related to health care personnel. Platform users will be able to take action as supporters of a greater coherence among development policies and health policies of the member countries of the European Union.

The online platform: https://interact.healthworkers4all.eu/dashboard.action

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