The recommended number of healthcare workers in a country to provide basic provision is 250 per 100,000 people, but Malawi has fewer than 31 per 100,000. With training opportunities poor, salaries low and bad working conditions many nurses choose to come and work in the UK. To address this 'brain drain', a year ago the Department for International Development provided ?100 million to increase the number of health workers in Malawi, by topping up salaries, doubling the number of nurses and tripling the number of doctors.
Malawian born Mary Ntata came to the UK to train as a nurse at the end of the 1990s. She intended to return, but has delayed her departure as the Malawian salaries were below living wage. Jenni Murray is joined by Mary and Mogha Kamal-Smith from Oxfam to discuss the situation and how it has been changed by the DFID top-up scheme.
