Due to war and mobilization, Russia is hiring African doctors, according to UK intelligence

Russia is hiring underqualified medical professionals from Africa in order to fill manpower shortages brought on by conflict and mobilization. The UK Ministry of Defense claims that the state of Russian healthcare is still deteriorating.

The Russian State Duma Chairman declared on April 3 that there is a 30,000 physician shortage, of which about 50% is found in district hospitals. This exceeds the 26,500 that were documented in November 2023.

British intelligence claims that the reason for the current deficit is because some medical professionals have left the nation and moved to the private sector. Following the September 2022 mobilization, physicians received a clear warning not to travel outside of the nation. In order to evade conscription, up to 2% of Russian physicians and healthcare professionals emigrated.

Estimates for January 2024 demonstrate that, as a result of lengthy work hours and low pay, the number of doctors has dropped by 7,500 during the previous 15 months. The Center for European Policy Analysis claims that Russia is hiring workers from African nations with little regard for their qualifications in order to solve this issue.

“The major resource and financial commitment of supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine is negatively affecting a range of civilian sectors that serve the Russian population. The numbers of healthcare professionals in Russia will continue to decrease throughout 2024. Externally sourcing medical staff with limited checks on qualifications creates the potential for clinical delivery degradation,” the Ministry of Defense in Britain states.