15 West African States On UK Health Workers Recruitment Red List

Almost all West African countries have been classified among the red list countries of the United Kingdom (UK) for health workers’ recruitment.

Except for Cape Verde, all West African countries including Ghana made it onto the list.

In all, 54 countries are on the list published by National Health Service (NHS) Employers.

This means that health and social care employers in the UK cannot employ personnel from these countries.

It noted that the red list is based on the Code of Practice for International Recruitment and the World Health Organisation (WHO) Workforce Support and Safeguard List, 2020.

The code states that some developing countries should not be targeted when actively recruiting health or care professionals.

“The countries listed have a UHC Service Coverage Index that is lower than 50 and a density of doctors, nurses and midwives that is below the global median (48.6 per 10,000 population), the NHS Employers explained.

It however noted that 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 54 Countries
The flagged countries include; 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, Lesotho, Liberia, 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, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Tanzania, Uganda, Vanuatu, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe Criminalisation Of Health Workers Recruitment
Many African countries have decried brain drain in their health sectors.

Health workers including doctors, nurses and midwives, tend to leave their home country for advanced countries like the UK and the US where conditions of service are deemed better.

Last week, the Vice President of Zimbabwe, Constantino Chiwenga, communicated the country’s intention to enact a law that will criminalise the recruitment of its health personnel by other countries.

“If one deliberately recruits and makes the country suffer, that’s a crime against humanity. The people are dying in hospitals because there are no nurses and doctors. That must be taken seriously,” Mr Chiwenga said according to BBC.

According to him, the act is human trafficking and therefore appropriate sanctions will be established.

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini