Health Workforce

Countries in the WHO African Region have made measurable progress in strengthening their health workforce, which expanded from 1.6 million in 2013 to 5.1 million in 2022. This progress has been driven by increased training outputs, policy reforms and growing political commitment to workforce development. Across the Region, approximately 4,000 health training institutions collectively produce about 255,100 graduates annually, reflecting a growing but uneven capacity to meet national and regional service delivery needs.

National Health Workforce Accounts (NHWA) have been institutionalized in more than 40 Member States, and Health Labour Market Analyses (HLMA) have been completed or initiated in over 25 countries, providing a strong evidence base for planning, financing and policy dialogue.

The Africa Health Workforce Investment Charter, adopted in 2024, has galvanized political commitment and multi-partner alignment to increase investments in the health workforce. Important advances are also being made in health professions education through the development of Prototype Competency-Based Curricula for ten occupations and regional education quality standards to enhance the relevance, comparability and mobility of graduates.

Despite this progress, the Region faces a projected shortage of 6.1 million health workers by 2030, underscoring persistent structural imbalances between training outputs, health system needs and fiscal capacity.