Germany Reportedly Seeks Kenyans for Nursing Jobs Due to Lack of Local Medical Staff
Kenya Red Cross nurse Elizabeth Wanjiru stands as she is introduced during the 4th Zumba dance session for health care providers
With as much as 22% of German citizens being older than 65 years, the country is the world’s ninth oldest, which significantly affects the German labour market. Thus, a need to attract specialists for some positions, even from other continent, arises.Due to a shortfall of nurses in the following years, more nursing job opportunities are opening in Germany with Africa being regarded as an important hub for human resources, the Kenyan media reported, citing a research consortium, which includes German residents of Kenyan origin.The EU’s biggest economy is estimated to face a deficit of between 400,000 and 600,000 nursing vacancies by 2030. The consortium is developing a mechanism which would allow systematical preparation of Kenyan high school graduates for nursing work in Germany.For instance, Mount Kenya University (MKU) already has a partnership with the Hochschule Koblenz university. The agreement includes basic nursing certificate courses for Kenyans to prepare them for apprenticeship in Germany. An MKU official said that young Kenyans who want to participate in the program purportedly “only need to be equipped with basic nursing skills to qualify for training and working in Germany as nurses”.The consortium promised to support the Kenyan nursing students at different stages of their training to help them integrate into the environment in German hospitals.Previously, the Kenya National Union of Nurses noted that a “brain drain” was caused by problems in country’s helthcare system. Those include poor training, a lack of staff and equipment and low wages. In 2020–2021, Kenyan medical workers went on a 100-day strike against unacceptable working conditions in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.Germany is not the only European country to face a lack of medical specialists. Previously, Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) was reported to be overwhelmed and understaffed. In July, the cross-party Health and Social Care Committee released said that the NHS in England is short of 12,000 hospital doctors and more than 50,000 nurses and midwives.In October, the British Medical Association (BMA) drew attention to the exploitation of doctors from less developed countries, including those in Africa, by British healthcare companies. African specialists were made work under conditions contradicting the UK laws.Among those affected were Nigerian doctors hired by the firm NES Healthcare. They were recruited despite Nigeria being on the UK government’s “red-list” of 47 countries which was compiled by the World Health Organization (WHO). The list bans “active recruitment” of medical staff from nations that have a lack of doctors and nurses.
AfricaNigerian Doctors Open Up on Being ‘Exploited’ by UK Medical Firm11 October, 14:34 GMT
