Migration of Indian health professionals to selected European nations: the case of Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden

Abstract

India's comparative advantage in health care is due to a large resource pool and competence in English. Indian migration to the US, UK or Australia has been widely studied, but not much attention has been given to the Scandinavian countries. This paper fills the gap by analysing recent trends and prospects for Indian health professionals in Denmark, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. It combines available data sources, personal communication with different migration boards, interview of two international recruiters and a migrant health professional. Additionally, it looks at Indian R and D tie ups in the sector with these countries, which have implications for the movement of health professionals. The data indicates that not much migration is happening in spite of the growing demands. On the R and D front, India has several tie ups with Sweden. Though lot of developments have happened, a major hindrance to movement into these countries is still the language barrier and qualification recognition issues. The discussion in this study suggests that improving medical education, standards of practice and initiatives in India can have favourable effects on emigration and positive spill overs for the Indian health sector as a whole.