A message for Polly Toynbee: The UK owes Africa
megan redmond | 22.03.2008 15:42
A message for Polly Toynbee: The UK owes Africa, not only but particularly when it comes to HEALTH CARE.
On Radio 4's Question Time on Friday 21st March, 2008 one of the questions posed was whether the UK is guilty for the death of Ama Sumani. Ama Sumani was taken from hospital in Wales two months ago, where she had been receiving treatment for cancer of the kidney, and removed to Ghana where she has subsequently died, in emotional and physical pain. Polly Toynbee - amidst much hand-wringing - responded that the UK could not open the doors and accept all the sick of the developing world, quickly adding that thankfully the UK was in turn increasing aid to Africa.
All panelists followed suit in their replies, ignoring or ignorant of the fact that the UK doesn't close its door to the qualified medical staff that come to work in the NHS when they are needed and has saved much more in training costs than has been given in aid. In fact according to a BBC report of 2005, 'Out of Africa,
into the NHS':
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4642255.stm
‘But Africa is still subsidising the NHS.
If the doctors and nurses from Sub-Saharan Africa registered to work here over the last five years had actually been trained in the UK it would have cost £1.95 billion - almost four times as much as we've given in aid.
Some believe the code of practice is irrelevant because, whatever the rules, higher salaries and better conditions in the UK will always draw staff away from the developing world.
"The only answer is to train more of our own doctors and nurses", says James Johnson of the British Medical Association.
"We are training more now but it is late in the day and we started from a very low base.
"As long as we cynically under-produce in this country, the world's poorest countries will pay the price." '
The decision to deport Ama Sumani was cruel, inhumane, racist, misogynist and ignorant. Ghana particularly has lost 60% of its nurses. The British public are being encouraged by government and the media to scapegoat people seeking asylum and refuge and all immigrants for problems in the NHS, whilst the amount of money spent on waging wars around the world has seemingly no limit.
All panelists followed suit in their replies, ignoring or ignorant of the fact that the UK doesn't close its door to the qualified medical staff that come to work in the NHS when they are needed and has saved much more in training costs than has been given in aid. In fact according to a BBC report of 2005, 'Out of Africa,
into the NHS':
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4642255.stm ‘But Africa is still subsidising the NHS.
If the doctors and nurses from Sub-Saharan Africa registered to work here over the last five years had actually been trained in the UK it would have cost £1.95 billion - almost four times as much as we've given in aid.
Some believe the code of practice is irrelevant because, whatever the rules, higher salaries and better conditions in the UK will always draw staff away from the developing world.
"The only answer is to train more of our own doctors and nurses", says James Johnson of the British Medical Association.
"We are training more now but it is late in the day and we started from a very low base.
"As long as we cynically under-produce in this country, the world's poorest countries will pay the price." '
The decision to deport Ama Sumani was cruel, inhumane, racist, misogynist and ignorant. Ghana particularly has lost 60% of its nurses. The British public are being encouraged by government and the media to scapegoat people seeking asylum and refuge and all immigrants for problems in the NHS, whilst the amount of money spent on waging wars around the world has seemingly no limit.
megan redmond