The international migration of health workers is increasing. Over the last decade, the number of migrant doctors and nurses within OECD countries has increased by 60%. Future projections in economic demand and supply of health workers point to a continuing acceleration in the international migration of health workers.

Patterns of health worker mobility are also growing increasingly complex. There is growing evidence of substantial intraregional, South–South, and North–South movement, to complement better understood movement from the Global South to the Global North. Temporary migration, as well as registration and employment in multiple jurisdictions, is also becoming common. Health professional education has itself globalized, with increasing scale and complexity of student movement. More effective management of human mobility has risen to the top of the international agenda.

The Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health: Workforce 2030 and the report of the High Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth (“Commission Report”), Working for Health and Growth, further evidences the desire from states and policy-makers to specifically understand and address health worker mobility flows, with a view to maximize benefits from such movement through multi-stakeholder dialogue and international cooperation.

The Commission report, while calling for countries to do more to achieve greater self-sufficiency and sustainability in domestic supply, emphasizes that the international mobility of health workers, if appropriately governed and adverse effects addressed, can deliver numerous benefits. As an immediate action therefore , the Commission calls on ILO, OECD, and WHO to work with relevant partners to establish an international platform on health worker mobility to advance dialogue, knowledge and cooperation in the area.