New draft charter aims to cut by half health workforce shortages in Africa
The draft Africa Health Workforce Investment Charter, developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with African Member States and partners to tackle significant health worker shortages on the continent, has been opened for public comment.
With the official launch planned to take place at the inaugural High-Level African Health Workforce Investment Forum later this year, this marks the final stage in the development of the charter, which has garnered the support of global leaders, government ministers, and financing, bilateral and multilateral institutions.
Forecasts are that the WHO African Region will face an estimated shortfall of 5.3 million health workers by 2030, exacerbated by challenges including underinvestment in training and employment opportunities for health workers, inadequate incentives, and burgeoning migration.
To achieve the goal of cutting by half health worker shortages in African countries by 2030, the charter seeks to facilitate strategic investment in health workforce education and employment creation to support existing regional commitments and country plans. The implementation of these has been constrained by inadequate financing, siloed and ad hoc interventions, and inefficient investment approaches.
WHO and partners including Harmonization for Health in Africa (HHA) first convened a regional policy dialogue on health workforce investment and protection in November 2022. Held in Accra, Ghana, it brought together 26 Member States, along with key international agencies and organizations, and recommended the development of an African health workforce investment charter.
The draft charter is designed to facilitate the alignment of stakeholder efforts, as well as the stimulation and endurance of health workforce investments, in accordance with regional and continental commitments. These include mobilizing and sustaining political and financial commitment, and fostering inclusiveness and cross-sector collaboration, as part of investment in the development, performance and retention of Africa’s health workforce.
Now open for public comment, further collaborative and constructive input is invited.
