Greetings,

The following alert is from a coalition of organizations (including Physicians
for Human Rights and the Global Health Council among others) working to get the
US to support broad-based investment in African health infrastructure as a way
to address the HR crisis. The bill was introduced yesterday by Senator Durbin
(the number is S. 805) and tomorrow (MARCH 9th) is a national call-in day to US
senators to ask for their support.

Attached is a summary of the bill, which would be an important and innovative
response to the health care worker shortage: a funding program
which is neither disease nor health problem specific.
__________________________


Dear Colleague,


We've been hard at work with colleagues at other organizations and in Congress
to get a piece of legislation introduced that addresses the massive health
worker shortage in Africa. It's here! Please help us get it passed.
We're working to generate thousands of emails and calls to the Senate TODAY.


In Sub-Saharan Africa, a mere 3% of the world's health workers struggle against
all odds to combat 24% of the global disease. Millions of people in this
region of the world are suffering and dying from HIV/AIDS and other preventable
and treatable diseases. This week, Senator Richard Durbin introduced the
African Health Capacity Investment Act of 2007, which would help African
countries to develop a stable health infrastructure and better address their
health crises.


The time to act is now. Please call and email both of your Senators today and
ask them to co-sponsor the African Health Capacity Investment Act.


Please ask both of your Senators to:


* Co-sponsor the African Health Capacity Investment Act of 2007.


* Work with Senate colleagues to pass the bill quickly and ensure that
Congress appropriates at least $150 for the health workforce this year,
including by including at least $150 million for health workforce in Africa in
their appropriations "wish lists."


* The original co-sponsors of the African Health Capacity Investment
Act include Senators Durbin (D-IL), Bingaman (D-NM), Coleman (R-MN), Dodd
(D-CT), Kerry (D-MA), and Feingold (D-WI). If one of the preceding is your
Senator, you may contact them to thank them for their support of the Act and
encourage their dedication to passing and appropriating full funding for the
bill.



Call your Senators TODAY and encourage their support of the Africa Health
Capacity Investment Act of 2007. You can reach your member by calling
202-224-3121 (connecting all offices).


For maximum impact, please follow up your calls with emails to your Senators.

Thank you for your support,


Sample letter:



I am writing to respectfully urge you to co-sponsor the African Health Capacity
Investment Act, and to help make sure it passes quickly with the full amount of
funding appropriated.

In Africa, people are dying unnecessarily because there are simply not enough
doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other health care workers. The World Health
Organization has identified 57 countries, including 36 in Africa, facing
critical shortages of health workers that make them "very unlikely" to achieve
goals in fighting diseases like AIDS and malaria and reducing child and
maternal mortality. In Africa, a mere 3% of the world's health workers struggle
against all odds to combat 24% of the global disease burden.

The causes of the shortage are complex, and include HIV/AIDS, poor working
conditions, insufficient capacity to train new health workers, the overall lack
of funding for health, ceilings on government wage bills, and the "brain drain"
of health workers to countries like the United States, which need to do more to
address their own health worker shortages. A recent estimate of the funds
needed to double the health workforce in sub-Saharan Africa placed the cost at
an additional $2 billion in the first year, and more in ensuing years.

Strengthening the health workforce in Africa will bring enormous health
benefits to millions of people and save untold numbers of lives. That is why I
am asking you to co-sponsor the African Health Capacity Investment Act, and to
ensure that it passes and is fully funded this year. To help ensure full
funding, I hope that you will include in your appropriations "wish list" at
least $150 million for Africa's health workforce.

Thank you.

_____________________

Background

The World Health Organization has identified 57 countries, including 36 in
Africa, where the current level of health workers make it "very unlikely" to
achieve health-related Millennium Development Goals, internationally agreed
upon goals on reversing the spread of AIDS, malaria, and other major diseases,
and significantly reducing child and maternal mortality. A recent estimate of
the funds needed to double the health workforce in sub-Saharan Africa placed
the cost at an additional $2 billion in the first year, and more in ensuing
years.

In Africa, people are dying unnecessarily because there are simply not enough
health care workers. Health workers--nurses, doctors, pharmacists, community
health workers, laboratory technicians, physician assistants, nurse assistants,
mental health workers, and many more-are at the core of health systems
everywhere, diagnosing and treating diseases, educating and caring for
patients, and developing and implementing policies and strategies to combat
disease. But in sub-Saharan Africa, a mere 3% of the world's health workers
struggle against all odds to treat 14% of the worlds population and combat 24%
of the global disease burden. The World Health Organization estimates that
sub-Saharan Africa is suffering a shortage of more than 800,000 doctors,
nurses, and midwives, and an overall shortfall of nearly 1.5 million health
workers. At present, sub-Saharan Africa has little over 1 million health
workers, and fewer than 600,000 doctors, nurses, and midwives.

The causes of the shortage of health workers are complex, and include HIV/AIDS,
which is decimating much of the continent's workforce. In South Africa, it is
conservatively estimated that 16% of the existing health workforce are HIV+ and
in Malawi the government assumes they will lost 3% of their health workforce
each year to the disease. Additionally, there is a lack of sufficient and
relevant training capacity to produce the number of health workers required; an
inability to retain health workers due to poor working conditions and lack of
funding for adequate salaries, sometimes due to wage caps imposed by the
International Monetary Fund; and "brain drain,"
the large-scale emigration of health care workers seeking better paying and
more secure jobs in countries with greater resources such as the United States,
England, and Canada.

If the international community is committed to reaching universal access to
prevention, treatment, and care, governments must show leadership in addressing
the health workforce crisis. Today, you can be part of the solution.

_______________________________________________
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