The WHO Global Code: increasing relevance and effectiveness

The international migration of health personnel is on the rise. Recent data demonstrate increasing reliance on foreign-born and foreign-trained health professionals in OECD countries with a 60 % increase in the total number of migrant nurses and physicians over the last decade and a higher proportionate increase from countries experiencing ‘critical’ health workforce shortages [1]. These trends are projected to worsen [2]. OECD countries are not the only destination. Emerging economies in Asia, the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa are increasingly the destinations for migrating health professionals [3].