The UK Government on Monday, April 10, released names of 53 countries that were red-listed for recruitment by health and social care employers.
All East African Countries appeared on the list except Kenya due to a deal former president Uhuru Kenyatta made with the UK.
In January 2021, former President Uhuru Kenyatta and former UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson signed an agreement on recruiting the health workforce.
“The countries put on the red list should not be actively targeted for recruitment by health and social care employers,” the UK government directed.
UK revealed that the list was prepared following ten years of review if the countries were following the international code of practice meant for healthcare practitioners prepared by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
“Consistent with the WHO Global Code of Practice principles and articles, 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,” UK explained how it had arrived at the list.
Britain though announced that since Kenya had entered into an agreement with them, they would not be put on the list.
“In countries where there is a government-to-government agreement in place, managed recruitment will be undertaken strictly in compliance with the terms of that agreement,” Kenya was given a reprieve.
Apart from Kenya, only Nepal has such an agreement with the European nation.
The first batch of Kenyan nurses recruited to work in the United Kingdom under the agreement travelled on June 2022.
The list of red-listed countries includes; Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, 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 include; 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.
