The Malawi Government has disclosed that it will soon launch a structured government-to-government (G2G) labour export programme for healthcare workers, but concerns over the approach and premature celebrations have already emerged.

Minister of Health Madalitso Baloyi announced the plan on Saturday, during the launch of the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS) Alumni Association in Lilongwe, saying several countries have expressed interest from recruiting in the country.

However, she did not indicate when the programme will be rolled out or which countries will be the first to participate.

Baloyi said the initiative is being developed jointly with the Ministries of Labour and Foreign Affairs to create an organized framework for the international recruitment of Malawian healthcare workers.

"Together with the Ministries of Labour and Foreign Affairs, we are in the process of developing a structured labour export programme to some countries which have shown interest in employing healthcare workers from Malawi," she said.

On Sunday, Health rights advocate Maziko Matemba welcomed the planned labour export programme but cautioned against celebrating before it is implemented.

"We have heard similar announcements over the years without seeing tangible results. We will celebrate only when the programme is implemented, especially considering that many qualified healthcare workers remain unemployed," Matemba said.

National Organization of Nurses and Midwives of Malawi (NONM) president Shouts Simeza speaking to Zodiak Online, today, also welcomed the proposal, but faulted the government for announcing it without consulting the organization.

"We welcome the news, but we would have expected the government to engage us and establish links with our sister organizations in the destination countries so that the process is properly coordinated," Simeza said.

He said Malawi has enough trained healthcare workers to meet domestic needs while also supplying professionals to international labour markets, provided the process is well managed.

The minister also announced that the government will recruit more than 2,500 healthcare workers beginning this month after the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) lifted the moratorium on public sector recruitment of health personnel.

"The Office of the President and Cabinet has now lifted the moratorium on the recruitment of healthcare workers. Therefore, the Ministries of Health and Local Government will soon begin recruiting various health cadres this August," Baloyi said.

She said the recruitment, supported by the United States Government, is intended to strengthen staffing levels in central hospitals and district health facilities. She added that further recruitment exercises would follow using government funding.

Baloyi also said the government is developing an Integrated Human Resources Information System to provide accurate data on available healthcare workers and those still in training, saying the information will strengthen workforce planning and inform future health sector reforms.