- According to official estimates, by 2030 there could be a deficit of 10 million doctors worldwide.
- Regarding Mexico, 200,000 health professionals are currently needed to comply with international recommendations.
- Austria and Norway top the list of countries with the most doctors in the world.
There are professions that will never be replaced by technology because it requires human skill and empathy. Such is the case of doctors because the development of innovations does not matter because they all have the objective of complementing the work of people. But although it is a very important field, only some Countries stand out from the rest because they have the most doctors in the world.
First of all, it is necessary to talk about the current world panorama. During 2022 at the World Economic Forum (WEF) the results of the research Why is the world now facing a medical recruitment crisis?
One of his conclusions is that the pandemic complicated the work of health professionals. As of 2020 there was an increase in the levels of Burnout Syndrome within this sector. As a consequence, a loss of passion was generated within the people in charge of caring for the patients.
But the most alarming point of the work is that it states that if the trend continues then by 2030 there will be a deficit of 10 million doctors worldwide.
Which are the countries with the most doctors?
The shortage of health professionals is a problem that affects several countries in the world, including most European nations. Regarding doctors, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) offers data on the ratio of physicians per citizen in various nations.
According to the most recent data from this body, Spain has 4.6 doctors for every thousand inhabitants, while in other European countries such as Norway (5.2) or Austria (5.5) the number is somewhat higher. In France (3.4) and the United Kingdom (3.2), on the other hand, the density of PhDs is lower.
Current panorama in Mexico
For its part, in Mexico there are 2.4 doctors for every thousand inhabitants, a density slightly higher than that of Brazil, also Latin American (2.2). While India is at the opposite extreme because it registers less than one doctor for every thousand inhabitants.
How much is the deficit of doctors in Mexico?
Throughout the last few years it has been mentioned that Mexico does not have a sufficient number of health professionals. According to federal authorities, at least another 200,000 doctors are required to comply with international recommendations. Of the figure, at least 70,000 correspond to specialists.
According to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, everything was generated by neoliberal governments. On multiple occasions he has pointed out that the admission exam to enter the university is to blame. He assures that there are thousands of young people who want to be doctors but see their dreams cut short because they do not get a place in higher education institutions.
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Mexico has a deficit of 200,000 general practitioners and specialists: SSa