Nigeria has been added to The United Kingdom’s red list of countries that are not to be actively targeted for recruitment by health and social care employers unless there is a government-to-government agreement in place.
This decision was made following the World Health Organization’s identification of 55 countries that are currently facing significant challenges related to providing universal health coverage. The UK Home Office released a report containing this information, which can be found in the ‘Code of Practice for the International Recruitment of Health and Social Care Personnel in England’ on the UK government’s website.
The process of identifying countries for the red list was based on the methodology outlined in the 10-year review of the WHO global code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel.
The reports reads, “Consistent with the WHO Global Code of Practice principles and articles, and as explicitly called for by the WHO Global Code of Practice 10-year review, the listed countries should be prioritised 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.
“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 between a partner country, which restricts recruiting organisations to the terms of the agreement, the country is added to the amber list.”
The distinction between the red, amber, and green categories was made clear – if a country is not on the red or amber list, it is considered to be in the green category. On the other hand, active recruitment is allowed from green-graded countries as long as a government-to-government agreement for international health and care workforce recruitment with the UK is in place.
“Green-graded countries without a government-to-government agreement with the UK are not published in the code of practice for England.
“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 green country list will be updated as new government-to-government agreements are signed with the UK. It is recommended employers, contracting bodies, recruitment organisations, agencies, and collaborations regularly check the list for updates prior to embarking on any recruitment campaign.
“Green-graded countries with a government-to-government agreement for managing international health and care workforce recruitment are India, Malaysia, Philippines, and Sri Lanka,”.
