This week, the UK Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) released their data on new registrations to work as nurses and midwives in the UK for 2021-22. It shows that nearly half—23,408 registrations—came from foreign-trained nurses and midwives.

Agreements of this type fulfil the requirements of the WHO Code: They help individual health workers move to countries of destination, they increase the number of skilled workers and improve health systems in countries of origin, and they manage migration in an ethical and sustainable way. They dese...

Worldwide, the health worker profession relies on migrants. But policy often restricts their movement. The COVID-19 outbreak has shown that, under crisis, many of these barriers are more malleable than policymakers make them out to be.

With a new government in majority and Brexit certainty greater, there is an opportunity for the UK to make a global mark in four areas of global health and development.