Hello, hope you are having a great Sunday. This week we reflect on the present conditions of healthcare professionals, the peace talks and the news around the world.
Top Jobs of the Week
Documentation and Communication Officer, YRG Care
Location- Delhi. To apply, click here.
State Media Consultant, UNICEF
Location- Patna. To apply, write to patna.consultants@unicef.org
Manager, Partnership and Alliance Building. Rise Against Hunger India
Location- Bangalore. To apply, write to info@riseagainsthungerindia.org
The Transforming Healthcare Sector
Healthcare workers have been appreciated and depreciated at the same time in the last two years. The long working hours forced due to the known virus, or just the nature of the occupation has brought a demographic and occupational shift in the sector.
Here we found 2 instances from different parts of the world, stating lack of satisfaction with the job
The Great Job Dissatisfaction in the USA
One in five physicians says that it is possible for them to leave their job within two years. Additionally, one in three doctors wants to reduce their working hours in the coming 12 months as per a recently published survey- “COVID-Related Stress and Work Intentions in a Sample of U.S. Health Care Workers.”
The Situation:
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the healthcare sector has lost nearly half a million workers since February 2020.
Morning Consult, a survey research company, says that 18 per cent of healthcare workers have quit since the pandemic began, while 12 per cent have been laid off.
The reasons which were given by the healthcare workers were that, some lost their jobs, some contracted Covid, but many chose to leave the profession because of the burnout and the physical assault faced by them.
Exporting Indian healthcare workers to the world & USA
India has the highest number of medical colleges in the world(541) and is one of the largest exporters of healthcare workers to the developed world.
As per the data from 2017, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development highlights the number of Indian doctors ( 69,000) and nurses (56,000) who were working in the four countries- UK, USA, Canada and Australia, in 2017.
Now, in 2021, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship identified the healthcare sector as a major source of employment. The ministry announced that it would supply 300,000 healthcare workers, doctors, nurses, and allied health personnel, to the developed countries by 2022.
However, upskilling the health workers and sending them abroad is trending, but there are pitfalls to it as India now faces a shortage of doctors and nurses.
The shortages have initiated the debates on brain drain and the need to strengthen the healthcare infrastructure and incentivise the workers for them to stay back.
(Sources: ORF, Atlantic)
Readjusting priorities might be way out for peace in Ukraine
The conflict between Ukraine and Russia is entering its fourth week with the talks about a potential peace deal to put a full stop to the conflict. The analysts and academicians are discussing what kind of deal will the negotiators bring to the table and what will be the conclusion.
The target points of the peace talks-
Neutrality:
As per the negotiators, the prospect of a ceasefire and withdrawal of the Russian army is on the table if Ukraine declares neutrality on the stands of joining with the west and getting membership in NATO and the European Union.
The Western Commitment:
For Ukraine to take any step towards neutrality, the country would need to ensure that the Western powers would be ready to help Ukraine if Russia threatens them again. However, Ukraine cannot completely depend on the western powers based on its past experiences.
Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk:
During the time of the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russia sent its proxies to take over Luhansk and Donetsk in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. Now, in 2022, during the initiation of the invasion, Putin declared Luhansk and Donetsk independent provinces.
As per Anthony Faiola, the Columnist at the Washington Post, Russia may demand recognition of its annexation of Crimea, as well as de facto control over Donbas, things the Ukrainians have pledged they would never do.
Experts’ say-
Benjamin Haddad, senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center, told Today’s WorldView:
“Russia has said no to the blocs, both the E.U. and NATO. But if you were able to decouple this, and say they won’t join NATO, — so you don’t have the military dimension, in exchange — you could start a process to the European Union. I don’t think that was acceptable to Russia before the war, but I think we’re in a maybe more dynamic situation now.”
(Sources: Washington Post, Financial Times, The Week)
What else is happening?
Finland has been named the world’s happiest country for the fifth year in a row, in an annual UN-sponsored index that ranked Afghanistan as the unhappiest, closely followed by Lebanon. India, on the other hand, is ranked 136th in the annual survey, while neighbouring nation Pakistan is ranked 121st.
A tiny marine microbe has been discovered by researchers in Sydney, Australia. This organism has the potential to absorb carbon naturally, even as oceans become warmer and more acidic, say scientists. It could turn out to be a ‘secret weapon’ in the battle against climate change has been discovered.