VANCOUVER - Experts from the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University are calling on Canada to compensate the Philippines for the negative effects of its massive recruitment of Filipino healthcare professionals. In a forum dubbed “Ethics of Healthcare Recruitment in the Philippines”, professors from the said universities discussed whether or not it was ethical for developed countries like Canada to recruit health workers from developing countries like the Philippines.
Jeremy Snyder, an SFU health sciences professor, accused Canada of stealing from the Philippines when he compared the expensive cost of training doctors and nurses here to the much cheaper alternative of hiring already licensed doctors and nurses from the Philippines.
““A country like Canada is... people use the language of stealing or poaching or whatever, but it’s getting a net gain in terms of resources and that’s upsetting when it’s a relatively rich country like Canada doing that to a relatively poor country like the Philippines,” said Snyder.
UBC associate professor Leonora Angeles of School of Community and Regional Planning said a number of options are being considered to make-up for the consequences of recruitment from the Philippine healthcare system.
The yearly loss of more than 5,000 health workers like doctors, nurses, physical therapists and caregivers to other countries has led to serious health problems affecting Filipinos like the lack of doctors and nurses in the hospitals and far flung provinces, inexperienced nurses in medical facilities and many more.
Angeles said there have been proposals for more just trade arrangements that include “bonding schemes” and giving source countries like the Philippines more aid.
“Bonding schemes require the potential migrant to work in poor areas of their countries, serve their countries first, before they can leave and work abroad ... And more focused aid, to ensure that specific measures and money are given to countries to assist in their recruitment and retention of health professionals, ”explained Angeles.
Angeles, however, admitted the proposal to compensate source countries is unpopular because of its high costs. Many things need to be considered like the potential income, tax contribution and the problem in coming up with a working formula.
Academic experts also agreed that while ethical considerations are being discussed in universities and in policy negotiations, the reality remains that many workers leaving the Philippines have mostly economic reasons in mind. Still, experts believe that including ethical considerations in the recruitment process of healthcare workers from the Philippines would be beneficial to all stakeholders in the long run.
The forum also covered a presentation by Lawrence Santiago, a PhD candidate from the UBC, who shared excerpts from his research on the recruitment of Filipino nurses in different provinces of Canada.
