The United Kingdom has ordered an immediate halt to the frequent recruitment of health workers from Nigeria and 46 other countries.
The report is coming at a time Nigerian policy makers are struggling with the perennial phenomenon of brain drain in the country.
Recall that the country lawmakers at a plenary on January 2 lamented that the mass exodus of medical practitioners from the country is worsening the quality of health care service.
In a statement signed by the UK’s Minister of State for Care, Helen Whately, the ban prevents active recruitment to Britain from countries on the WHO Health Workforce Support and Safeguard List 2020,
“The aim to “protect and promote health and social care system sustainability through international cooperation, ensuring safeguards and support for countries with the most pressing health workforce challenges,” he said.
The UK’s National Health Service noted that the policy applies to the appointment of all healthcare professionals supplied internationally, including medical staff, nurses, dentists, healthcare scientists, radiographers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and all other allied health professionals.
Continuing, the NHS stated that the affected countries on the WHO list are graded red to indicate that no active recruitment is permitted from them
The UK government, however, conceded that if a government-to-government agreement is put in place with a red country, the grading of that country is changed to amber and recruitment can happen on the terms of the agreement.
Apart from Nigeria, the other 46 countries on the red list are: Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, and Guinea.
Others include Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Federated States of Micronesia, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, United Republic of Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Vanuatu, and the Republic of Yemen.
