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Teema: WHO: C.L.25.2026 (WHO Support and Safeguards List: 2026 update)
Kuupäev: 2026-06-08 16:16
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Dear Member States of the World Health Organization,
Please find attached, in the six official languages, C.L.25.2026 regarding
the “WHO Support and Safeguards List: 2026 update”.
For any further information, kindly contact <mailto:
[email protected]>
[email protected]
Best regards,
Department of Governing Bodies
World Health Organization
***DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS E-MAIL. YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE A REPLY***
20, AVENUE APPIA – CH-1211 GENEVA 27 – SWITZERLAND – TEL CENTRAL +41 22 791 2111 – FAX CENTRAL +41 22 791 3111 – WWW.WHO.INT
Ref.: C.L.25.2026
The World Health Organization (WHO) presents its compliments to Member States and
has the honour to refer to: resolution WHA63.16 (2010) on the WHO Global Code of Practice on
the International Recruitment of Health Personnel (“the Code”); the reports of the Expert
Advisory Groups on the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of
Health Personnel as presented to the Seventy-third World Health Assembly in 2020 and to the
Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly in 2026; decision WHA73(30) (2020); and resolution
WHA79.12 (2026), including amendments to the Code.
Resolution WHA79.12 includes a request to the WHO Director-General to regularly (on a
three-yearly basis) update the WHO Health Workforce Support and Safeguards List (SSL), and
to incorporate flexibility in the application of the SSL as recommended by the Expert Advisory
Group. Through this circular letter, the WHO Secretariat is sharing the provisional list of
countries included in the SSL 2026 update and inviting Member States to indicate whether they
wish to avail themselves of this flexibility. The Secretariat will reflect such indications in the
SSL 2026 document, which will subsequently be published in accordance with standard
clearance procedures.
With regard to the international recruitment of health personnel, Article 5.1 of the Code
encourages destination countries to collaborate with source countries on health workforce
development, and discourages active recruitment from countries facing critical shortage of health
workers. Countries with the most pressing health workforce challenges are included in the SSL.
Pursuant to decision WHA73(30), the SSL was first published in 2020 and an updated SSL was
published in 2023.
The purpose of the SSL is to identify countries that: (i) should be prioritized by destination
countries and development partners for investments in their health workforce; and (ii) can benefit
the most from safeguards to minimize the potential negative impacts of health workforce
migration, including by discouraging active international recruitment from these countries.
Neither the Code nor the SSL limits the freedom of health personnel, in accordance with
applicable laws, to migrate to countries that wish to admit and employ them. WHO recommends
that, in the management of international recruitment of health workers from countries in the SSL,
Member States consider government-to-government agreements that involve the Ministry of
Health, ensure domestic health workforce supply remains adequate, and deliver proportionate
benefits to the source countries’ health systems.
Page 2
C.L.25.2026
Based on the latest data on health workforce density and Universal Health Coverage (UHC)
... service coverage index, the provisional list of 36 countries in the SSL 2026 is enclosed (see
Annex). WHO requests Member States to indicate, whether they seek:
(a) an exemption from the recommendation to discourage active recruitment (for
Member States listed in the Annex);
(b) an extension of the recommendations on support and safeguards (for Member
States not listed in the Annex).
Member States may submit the request by email to
[email protected] no later
than 31 August 2026. If no response is received by this date, the standard WHO recommendations
on support and safeguards will apply to countries identified in the enclosed list; conversely no
such recommendations will apply to countries not in the list that do not indicate otherwise.
Additional clarification can be obtained from the WHO Secretariat at the following email:
[email protected].
The World Health Organization takes this opportunity to renew to Member States the
assurance of its highest consideration.
GENEVA, 8 June 2026
Page 3
C.L.25.2026
Annex
(Provisional) WHO health workforce support and safeguards list (2026)
Countries in the table below have UHC service coverage index <50 AND health worker
density (doctors, nurses and midwives per 10 000 population) <50.
African Region (27) Region of the Americas (1)
Angola Haiti
Benin
Burkina Faso Eastern Mediterranean Region (5)
Burundi Afghanistan
Cameroon Djibouti
Central African Republic Somalia
Chad Sudan
Congo Yemen
Côte d’Ivoire
Democratic Republic of the Congo South-East Asia Region (1)
Equatorial Guinea Timor-Leste
Eritrea
Ethiopia Western Pacific Region (2)
Gabon Papua New Guinea
Guinea Solomon Islands
Guinea-Bissau
Liberia
Madagascar
Mali
Mauritania
Niger
Nigeria
Senegal
Sierra Leone
South Sudan
Togo
United Republic of Tanzania
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