Brain drain: UK stops recruiting Nigerian doctors, nurses

The United Kingdom (UK) has listed Nigeria among countries that would not be actively targeted for recruitment by health and social care employers.

The UK, while adding Nigeria to its red list of countries, said the West African nation would not be considered for recruitment unless there is a government-to-government agreement in place.

The UK government made this known via a statement published on its website titled ‘Code of Practice for the international recruitment of Health and social care personnel in England’.

It noted that countries on the red list should be prioritised for health personnel development and health system-related support, but with safeguards that discourage active international recruitment of health personnel.

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The UK government hinged its decision on the methodology contained in the 10-year review of the World Health Organisation (WHO) global code of practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel, which identified 55 countries facing the most pressing health workforce challenges related to Universal Health Coverage.

“Consistent with the WHO Global Code of Practice principles and articles, and as explicitly called for by the WHO Global Code of Practice 10-year review, the listed countries should be prioritised for health personnel development and health system-related support, provided with safeguards that discourage active international recruitment of health personnel,” it stated.

The UK government added that active recruitment is permitted from green-graded countries where there is a government-to-government agreement in place for international health and care workforce recruitment.

Kenya and Nepal were placed on the amber list, where international recruitment is only permitted in compliance with the terms of a government-to-government agreement.

The green-graded countries with a government-to-government agreement for managing international health and care workforce recruitment include India, Malaysia, Philippines, and Sri Lanka.

The countries placed on the red list of ‘No active recruitment’ in alphabetical order are Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Liberia.

Other countries are Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Federated States of Micronesia, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Samoa, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, United Republic of Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Republic of Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The Star