Healthcare Workers in the Southern Caucasus: Availability, Migration and Patients' Access to Healthcare

Abstract

The availability of qualified healthcare workers is essential to patients' access to healthcare. An increased demand for medical workers has contributed to their shortage and uneven distribution across and within the states. Looking for a better life and career prospects, healthcare professionals move from rural to urban areas and from developing to developed countries. This article focuses on the issue of availability of medical workers in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The analysis illustrates the unequal access to healthcare caused by the concentration of medical personnel in urban areas. Therefore, the shortage of healthcare workers is related to the uneven geographic and professional distribution, rather than to the lack of personnel. Reviewing the secondary literature on retention of medical personnel and the scarce empirical data on the three countries, this article provides policy recommendations and argues for an inclusive approach that accounts for both patients' and medical workers' interests.