The United Kingdom decided against signing an agreement among 22 European Commonwealth countries discouraging recruitment of nurses from developing countries. Instead, the U.K.’s health secretary pledged that the government would take measures “to avoid damaging” developing countries’ health care industries. The code agreed upon by the Commonwealth nations requests that countries receiving foreign workers compensate workers’ countries of origin by providing technological devices, training, and capital for the remaining workforce. The agreement was proposed after the Royal College of Nursing reported that Britain recruited 40,000 foreign nurses-many from developing nations-across the past three years (Dutt, Hindustan Times, 5/15/04).
