Malawi First, a local pressure group, has protested the Government-to-Government (G-to-G) arrangement to deploy 500 nurses to Israel fearing it could weaken an already understaffed local healthcare system.
In a statement yesterday, Malawi First leader Bon Kalindo opposed the arrangement, arguing that it is inconsistent with the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel, which discourages active recruitment from countries facing critical health-worker shortages.
He said: “Malawi is currently listed by WHO among countries in the ‘red list’ with severe shortages. As such, a G-to-G export programme undermines our national health system and violates the spirit of these international labour safeguards.
“While we recognise the value of labour mobility and the right of individual health professionals to seek opportunities abroad, we strongly disagree with the proposal.”
But some health-sector groups have welcomed the proposed deployment of Malawian nurses to Israel, saying that overseas employment could provide jobs for unemployed professionals while enabling them to gain skills that could benefit Malawi’s health system.
In separate interviews yesterday, National Organisation of Nurses and Midwives in Malawi (Nonm), Malawi Health Equity Network (Mhen) and Human Resources for Health (HRH) Coalition said qualified healthcare workers should be allowed to seek employment abroad if they cannot be absorbed locally.
Nonm president Shouts Simeza said the local labour market is saturated as it is not accommodating all health professionals.
Mhen executive director George Jobe said healthcare professionals need employment to support their livelihoods, particularly amid concerns over remuneration and working conditions in some local facilities.
On his part, HRH Coalition chairperson Solomon Chomba said prolonged unemployment could affect healthcare workers’ skills because healthcare work requires practical experience.
Earlier this month, taxpayer-funded Malawi Broadcasting Corporation quoted Malawi’s Charge d’Affaires to Israel David Bisnowaty as having said implementation protocols for the bilateral labour agreement were at an advanced stage and recruitment would begin once remaining procedures were completed.
The 2026 State of the Health Workforce in Africa report by WHO shows Malawi has 5.4 nurses per 10 000 population against the recommended benchmark of 56.73.
