Brain drain: UK places Nigeria on red list for health workers’ recruitment

Some days after the WHO tweaked the Health Workforce Support & Safeguard list, the UK has also revised its policy on recruitment of health workers from overseas.

The code of practice for the international recruitment of health & social care personnel in England, recently updated, has Nigeria returned to the red list countries, which means, “no active recruitment is permitted”.

By the updated WHO’s workforce safeguard list & now adopted by the UK government, Nigeria & the likes of Benin, Cameroun, Ghana, Senegal & 48 others – mostly African countries – are now in the no recruitment list.

According to the UK Home Office, “If a government-to-government agreement is put in place between the UK & a partner country, it will restrict UK employers, contracting bodies, recruitment organisations, agencies to the terms of the agreement. The country will be added to the amber list & recruitment can happen only on the terms of the agreement.