Ghana is now one of the 54 nations on the list that UK-based businesses in the health and social care sector should not actively pursue for hire.
The UK government made the announcement in its updated code of practice for the hiring of foreign health and social care workers in England.
According to the guideline, certain underdeveloped nations shouldn’t be specifically targeted when actively seeking for health or care providers, including Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, and Nigeria.
The UK government highlighted that the listed nations have a UHC Service Coverage Index that is lower than 50 and a density of doctors, nurses and midwives that is lower than the worldwide median in a release on the NHS website (48.6 per 10,000 population).
The list, according to the UK government, is based on the WHO Workforce Support and Safeguard List, 2023, and it will be updated together with updates on the implementation of the WHO Global Code and reported to the World Health Assembly every three years.
The list, however, has no effect on an individual health and social care worker applying on their own initiative and without being targeted by a third party, such as a recruitment agency or employer, to a health and social care employer for employment in the UK (known as a direct application).
The countries placed on the red list of ‘No active recruitment’ under the code are 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.
The remaining nations are Timor-Leste, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Republic of Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Federated States of Micronesia, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, United Republic of Tanzania, and Rwanda.
