APA – Accra (Ghana)
The United Kingdom (UK) has listed Ghana, Nigeria, Angola, and Cameroon among 54 countries that should not be actively targeted for recruitment by health and social care employers.
The UK said in its revised code of practice for international recruitment of health and social care personnel in England, which was published on the NHS Employers website that some developing countries, such as Ghana, should not be targeted when actively recruiting health or care professionals.
According to the report by the Daily Graphic newspaper, the countries listed on the red list of ‘No active recruitment’ under the code include Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo and Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Liberia.
Others are 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, United Republic of Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Republic of Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Titled: “Code of Practice red and amber list of countries,” the UK Government said the list is based upon the World Health Organisation Workforce Support and Safeguard List, 2023 and will be updated alongside progress reports on WHO Global Code implementation and reported to the World Health Assembly every three years.
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).
Reacting to the announcement, the General Secretary of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), Mr. David Tenkorang, stated that the red listing of Ghana by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Kingdom (UK) will not halt the ongoing brain drain of health workers.
The newspaper quoted Mr Tenkorang as saying in an interview with local radio station, Joy FM, that the UK and other developed countries would continue to recruit health workers from Ghana and other red-listed countries despite the directive.
He suggested that the Ghanaian government should provide better conditions of service in Ghana to make healthcare work attractive to nurses and prevent them from fleeing the country.
GIK/APA
UK lists Ghana, 53 others on red list for health workers’ recruitment
