Why UK Stopped Recruitment of Health Workers From Nigeria, 53 Other Countries | READ DETAILS

Why UK Stopped Recruitment of Health Workers From Nigeria, 53 Other Countries | READ DETAILS

As the House of Representative members are seeking a way to ban the mass exodus of Nigerian-trained health workers to other countries, the United Kingdom has stopped the active recruitment of health and social care workers from Nigeria and 53 other countries.

According to an updated Code of practice for the international recruitment of health and social care personnel in England’, Nigeria and the other countries were placed on red list following the review made by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Nigeria and the others were listed on the WHO Workforce Support and Safeguard List, 2023 as countries facing the most pressing health workforce challenges related to Universal Health Coverage.

The UK’s updated policy on social and health workers released in March 2023 read partly;

“There must be no active international recruitment from countries on the red list, unless there is an explicit government-to-government agreement to support managed recruitment activities that are undertaken strictly in compliance with the terms of that agreement”.

The other countries on the red list 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, Laos, and Lesotho.

Others are Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Micronesia, Mozambique, Niger, Pakistan , Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Samoa, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Tanzania, Uganda, Vanuatu, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The British Government, however, said the list doesn’t prevent individual health and social care personnel from independently applying to health and social care employers for employment in the UK, “of their own accord and without being targeted by a third party, such as a recruitment agency or employer (known as a direct application)”.

The UK also said the restrictions do not apply to health workers from countries on the red list but who do not reside there or in another red list country.

ALL FACTS NEWSPAPER had reported that the House of Representatives are seeking to make it compulsory for Nigerian-trained medical doctors to practice in the country for at least five years before they are given full practising licence. READ HERE