Public health workforce, economics and human rights

Now more than ever before the interdependence between communities and countries in terms of the Global Health Workforce is evident, and its effects on human rights globally profound. Whether in the “brain drain” intercontinental, continental or within country; the spending caps on state-employed public health professionals imposed by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund; the purposeful under-training and relentless head-hunting of health professionals by the industrialized world; or in myriad other manifestations, the economics of human rights is nowhere more evident than in the employ of health professionals worldwide. This panel will explore the nexus between the health workforce, economics and human rights, demonstrating the potential devastation of local human rights and presenting options for confronting the problem using examples from around the world.