The “red list”, launched in 2020 with plans to update it every three years, includes Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe and 34 other African countries. Yet the UK’s nursing regulator, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, says more than 7,000 Nigerian nurses relocated to the UK between 2021 and 2022. Data from the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association shows that nearly 4,000 nurses left the country in 2022. In Zimbabwe, more than 4,000 health workers, including 2,600 nurses, left in 2021 and 2022, the government said. Governments across affected African nations have been pushing various legislation to curb the brain drain. In April, Nigeria’s Medical and Dental Practitioners Act (Amendment) Bill, 2022, aimed at curbing the exodus of medical professionals, passed its second reading. If passed by the senate, the bill would make it compulsory for medical graduates to work in Nigeria for five years before being granted their full licence. Zimbabwe’s vice-president, Constantino Chiwenga, has also announced plans to criminalise foreign recruitment of its workers.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
Exodus of Healthcare Workers from Nigeria, Ghana and Zimbabwe continues, despite WHO Red List
