In an effort to close the gap in the quality of care between
wealthy and poor countries, health professionals from more than
100 nations are meeting in Ethiopia. The exit of doctors and
nurses seeking better-paying jobs overseas is hurting progress
toward better care in developing countries. The 13th World
Congress on Public Health is focused on the opportunities, but
also the threats to improving the quality of health care in less
developed countries. Ethiopian Public Health Association
President Dr. Tewabech Bishaw says this gathering is one step in
a long struggle that began before the 1970s “In the '70s there
was the “Health For All” slogan, and everybody was agreed and
committed to achieving health for all by the year 2000. Then in
2000 we set Millennium Development Goals with those targets. We
cannot just move the goalposts over and over, but be serious
about these things and address them honestly in a manner of
justice,” she said. Tewabech says among the biggest obstacles to
closing the quality gap in