Publication: Towards a Regional Strategy to Strengthen the Nurse Workforce of the English-speaking CARICOM : International Legal Instruments, Agreements and Obligations
Date
2012-01
ISSN
Published
2012-01
Author(s)
Abstract
The supply of nurses in the
English-Speaking Caribbean is insufficient to meet the
demand with growing shortages fuelled by the health needs of
a rapidly aging population and tremendous losses of human
capital occurring at multiple points in the markets. In
defining the scope of commitments of a regional legal
agreement, English-Speaking Caribbean Community (ES CARICOM)
states will have to ascertain whether states would commit to
actions to strengthen the nurse workforce or the health
workforce more broadly. While the challenges of
strengthening the nurse workforce have been systematically
assessed, information about other groups of health
professionals remains patchy. In 2008, at the request of the
Ministers of Health, the World Bank initiated a stream of
work to strengthen the nurse workforce in the
English-speaking Caribbean. The study estimated the stock of
nurses in the ES CARICOM at approximately 7,800 in 2007 with
growing shortages under existing policies at 3,400 in 2007
increasing to 10,700 nurses in 2025 due to the health needs
of a rapidly aging population. There are two types of
international legal instruments: legally binding instruments
or treaties; and non-legally binding instruments.
Citation
“Kurowski, Christoph; Carpio, Carmen; Vujicic, Marko; Gostin, Lawrence O.; Baytor, Tanya. 2012. Towards a Regional Strategy to Strengthen the Nurse Workforce of the English-speaking CARICOM : International Legal Instruments, Agreements and Obligations. HNP Discussion Paper;. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12994 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”