By John Ikani
The United Kingdom (UK) has placed Nigeria on its red list of countries that health and social care employers should not actively target for recruitment unless there is a government-to-government agreement in place.
The UK government’s decision came about a month after the World Health Organization (WHO) identified 55 countries, including Nigeria, as facing significant health workforce challenges regarding Universal Health Coverage.
According to the UK government’s Code of Practice for the international recruitment of Health and social care personnel in England, the listed countries should be given priority for health personnel development and health system-related support, provided with safeguards that discourage active international recruitment of health personnel.
“Countries on the list should not be actively targeted for recruitment by health and social care employers, recruitment organisations, agencies, collaborations, or contracting bodies unless there is a government-to-government agreement in place to allow managed recruitment undertaken strictly in compliance with the terms of that agreement,” it states.
Kenya and Nepal are listed as amber countries, where international recruitment is only permitted in compliance with government-to-government agreements.
Meanwhile, green-graded countries such as India, Malaysia, Philippines, and Sri Lanka allow active recruitment with the UK under such agreements in place.
The Code of Practice also notes that “Green-graded countries without a government-to-government agreement with the UK are not published in the code of practice for England.”
It recommended that employers, contracting bodies, recruitment organisations, agencies, and collaborations regularly check the list for updates before embarking on any recruitment campaign.
“The government-to-government agreement may set parameters, implemented by the country of origin, for how UK employers, contracting bodies, recruitment organisations, agencies, and collaborations recruit. These organisations are encouraged to recruit on the terms of the government-to-government agreement,” the release added.
In response to the announcement, the Nigerian government said it was working to address the challenges facing the health sector, including workforce shortages.
According to a statement by the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora, “the government is committed to implementing various reforms and policies aimed at strengthening the health system, including the National Health Act, the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund, and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Act.”
The statement also stressed that the Nigerian government “has put in place various measures to retain healthcare workers in the country, including the implementation of the Residency Training Programme, the establishment of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, and the creation of the Medical Residency Fund.”
