The UK has placed Nigeria on a “red list.” This is a “red list” of countries that should not be actively targeted for recruitment by health and social care employers. In addition, this comes one month after the World Health Organisation shortlisted 55 countries, including Nigeria. These countries are facing the most pressing workforce challenges related to Universal Health Coverage.
Specifically, the UK Government said Nigeria and other countries on the “red list” should not be actively targeted for recruitment by health and social care employers. Equally important, there had to be a government-to-government agreement if it was to happen.
Moreover, according to the information obtained from the website of the UK government. It was titled “Code of Practice for the International Recruitment of Health and Social Care Personnel in England.” It says country identification follows the methodology contained in the 10-year review of relevance and effectiveness of the WHO global code of practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel.
Therefore, the listed countries should be prioritized for health personnel development and health system-related support. They should be 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.
Again, countries on the WHO Health Workforce Support and Safeguards list are graded “red” in the code. If a government-to-government agreement is put in place, the country is added to the Amber List. Therefore, if a country is not on the red or amber list, then it is green.
The amber-listed countries permitted in compliance with the terms of the government-to-government agreement are Kenya and Nepal. Then, green-graded countries with a government-to-government agreement are India, Malaysia, Philippines, and Sri Lanka.