The UK signed up to the WHO Code of Practice in the International recruitment of health personnel. National Health Service in the UK strongly advised to adhere to the code of practice in all matters concerning international recruitment of health care professionals across all disciplines.
The medical training initiative accommodates overseas post-graduate medical specialists to undertake a fixed period of training in the UK for up to two years. This is a temporary route and it seeks to promote circular migration so that participants in a particular scheme could return to their home country and apply the skills and knowledge developed during that time in the UK.
The MTI scheme allows International Medical Graduates (IMGs) to come to the UK for a maximum of 2 years to train within the National Health Service (NHS).
The UK funds a health partnership scheme, which enables overseas volunteering by UK health professionals in order to contribute effectively to global health development and also to strengthen the skills of the UK workforce when the volunteer returns.
The Health Partnership Scheme (HPS) works to improve healthcare for some of the world’s poorest people through partnerships between the NHS and UK institutions and developing countries’ health systems.
The Temporary Return of Qualified Nationals (TRQN) programme enables the Diaspora of the targeted countries to contribute to the reconstruction and development of countries of origin. The objective of the programme is to contribute to the reduction of poverty and to stimulate economic development by strengthening the institutional capacities of both public and private organisations.
Norway implements the WHO Code of Practice by scaling up education for relevant personnel to ensure sustainability of its own health care system. It has formally stopped recruiting health personnel from countries facing critical shortages in the health workforce.
Kenya is working to incorporate the voluntary WHO Code of Practice into national law. It entered into bilateral agreements with certain countries (including Namibia, Lesotho and Rwanda) regarding collaborative health workforce training and promotion of circular migration of health workers (involving the temporary or permanent return to their home countries).
The MIDA Ghana Health project contributes to the development of human resources in the health sector in Ghana. Ghanaian and other African migrants in EU countries can transfer knowledge, skills and experience through temporary assignments to Ghana. Also, health workers from Ghana have the opportunity to engage in specialized training at health care institutions in the Netherlands, Germany or the United Kingdom.
The project is implemented by IOM in close cooperation with the Ministry of Health of Ghana and Ghanaian diaspora groups in Europe.
The Government of Ghana, with the support of IOM, the Netherlands and the UK, has a circular migration program to encourage Ghanaian professionals to return on an temporary basis to teach and provide medical assistance in various regions.
MIDA seeks to respond to the ‘brain drain’ phenomenon in African countries through the creation and strengthening of sustainable links between diasporas and countries of origin. The objective is to encourage the transfer of competencies and resources of the African Diaspora benefiting countries of origin and strengthening the capacities of local public and private institutions.