Reflections on the ethics of recruiting foreign-trained human resources for health

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Developed countries' gains in health human resources (HHR) from developing countries with significantly lower ratios of health workers have raised questions about the ethics or fairness of recruitment from such countries. By attracting and/or facilitating migration for foreign-trained HHR, notably those from poorer, less well-resourced nations, recruitment practices and policies may be compromising the ability of developing countries to meet the health care needs of their own populations. Little is known, however, about actual recruitment practices. In this study we focus on Canada (a country with a long reliance on internationally trained HHR) and recruiters working for Canadian health authorities.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted interviews with health human resources recruiters employed by Canadian health authorities to describe their recruitment practices and perspectives and to determine whether and how they reflect ethical considerations.</p> <p>Results and discussion</p> <p>We describe the methods that recruiters used to recruit foreign-trained health professionals and the systemic challenges and policies that form the working context for recruiters and recruits. HHR recruiters' reflections on the global flow of health workers from poorer to richer countries mirror much of the content of global-level discourse with regard to HHR recruitment. A predominant market discourse related to shortages of HHR outweighed discussions of human rights and ethical approaches to recruitment policy and action that consider global health impacts.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We suggest that the concept of corporate social responsibility may provide a useful approach at the local organizational level for developing policies on ethical recruitment. Such local policies and subsequent practices may inform public debate on the health equity implications of the HHR flows from poorer to richer countries inherent in the global health worker labour market, which in turn could influence political choices at all government and health system levels.</p

Embryogenes somatique a partir d'embryons immatures de ble tendre: Effet genotypique

Plants regeneration from in vitro tissue culture is very important for the programme of selecting drought-tolerant plants. In this study 20 wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varieties have been tested for their response to in vitro propagation. For all the cultivars, five parameters were considered: rate of callogenesis, rate of germination, percentage of embryogenic calli, percentage of regeneration and number of plants regenerating/callus. Murashige and Skoog (1962) medium suplemented with 2 mg l-1 of 2,4-D was used for callus induction. Explants were immature embryos and regeneration was obtained on modified MS medium supplemented with BAP (10 mM), NAA (5 mM) and 2,4-D (0,2 mg l-1). Genotype had a large effect on the ability of immature embryos to undergo auxin-stimulated somatic embryogenesis. Differences were observed among varieties and 7 of the 20 tested genotypes provided good somatic embryogenesis and regeneration; they could be used in in vitro selection. RESUME La régénération de plantes à partir de cellules et tissus in vitro est une étape primordiale pour le programme de sélection des plantes tolérantes au stress hydrique tel qu'il a été conçu au laboratoire. Dans le présent travail, 20 variétés de blé tendre (Triticum aestivum L.) ont été, dans un premier temps, évaluées pour leur aptitude à la culture in vitro. Pour chacune d'elles, cinq paramètres ont été pris en considération: les taux de callogenèse, de germination zygotique, de cals embryogènes, de régénération et le nombre moyen de plantules par cal régénérant (NMPR). Le milieu de base utilisé était celui de Murashige et Skoog (1962) additionné de 2 mg l-1 de 2,4-D. Les explants étaient des embryons immatures et la régénération était réalisée sur milieu MS additionné de BAP (10 mM), d'ANA (5 mM) et de 2,4-D (0,2 mg l-1). Les résultats obtenus montrent un effet génotypique très marqué dans la production de cals embryogènes, le pourcentage de régénération, ainsi que le nombre moyen de plantules obtenues par cal régénérant. En plus, parmi les 20 variétés testées, 7 seulement ont montré, dans les conditions de culture utilisées, des taux relativement élevés de cals embryogènes et de régénération adéquats pour être utilisés dans des programmes ultérieurs de sélection in vitro. (African Crop Science Journal 2001 9(2): 339-350