WHO health workforce support and safeguards list

The list supports the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel, first adopted in 2010. It names countries whose health workforce is too small to meet their population's needs. For those countries WHO recommends priority support for health workforce development, and safeguards that limit active international recruitment.

WHO describes the safeguards as refraining from active international recruitment of health workers from listed countries, and avoiding targeted approaches by employers or agencies to recruit large numbers of health workers from countries with workforce vulnerabilities. WHO says the list does not prohibit international recruitment, and that recruitment can take place through government-to-government agreements made after consulting the source country's ministry of health.

The first list was published in 2020 and updated in 2023. For the 2023 list, WHO included countries with a universal health coverage (UHC) service coverage index below 55 and a density of doctors, nurses and midwives below the global median of 49 per 10,000 people. The 2023 list has 55 countries: 37 in the African region, 8 in the Western Pacific, 6 in the Eastern Mediterranean, 3 in South-East Asia and 1 in the Americas.

WHO updates the list every three years. In May 2026 the World Health Assembly amended the Global Code and, through resolution WHA79.12, asked WHO to add flexibility. WHO says countries in the 2026 update have a workforce density below 49 per 10,000 and a UHC service coverage index below 50, and that member states can now ask to be exempted from, or included in, the safeguards. Check the WHO page for the final 2026 list of countries.

England's code of practice for international recruitment turns the WHO list into a red list. NHS Employers publishes it, and as of its 27 March 2025 update it is based on the WHO 2023 list, with 54 red-list countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Pakistan and Zimbabwe. Kenya and Nepal are on the amber list, where recruitment is only allowed under the government-to-government agreements in place. NHS Employers says the list will be reviewed in 2026 alongside the WHO update, so the UK list may change once the final WHO 2026 list is published.

• You can still apply. Both WHO and the UK code allow individuals from listed countries to apply directly for jobs of their own accord.
• Recruiters should not target you. Agencies and employers bound by the UK code must not actively recruit from red-list countries.
• Government schemes may apply. Where a destination has a government-to-government agreement with your country, recruitment through that agreement can be allowed.
• Other destinations such as Ireland, Germany and the USA have their own policies; check each country's official guidance.

See our Health and Care Worker visa guide for the UK route.