Africa still faces 5.85 mn health worker shortfall despite recruitment gains

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 16— Africa remains short of 5.85 million health workers needed to meet its healthcare demands, despite expanding its workforce to 5.72 million in 2024, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) says. The continent’s health workforce has grown from about 4.3 million in 2018, adding more than 1.4 million nurses, doctors, midwives and other health personnel in six years. However, the gains remain insufficient to meet Universal Health Coverage targets by 2030.

Africa CDC said the current workforce represents less than half of the health workers the continent needs, warning that progress in closing the gap remains too slow. “Africa must train, recognize, regulate, remunerate and empower its health workers faster and at a far larger scale,” the continental health agency said. The health workforce shortage has declined from 6.1 million to 5.85 million, signalling progress but leaving millions of people at risk of inadequate access to essential health services.

Community health workers account for about 1.06 million of the continent’s health workforce and play a critical role in delivering care, particularly in rural and underserved communities. “For many families in rural areas, they are the first, and often the only, link to care,” Africa CDC said. The agency’s figures point to a persistent challenge for African health systems of expanding the number of trained personnel while ensuring workers are adequately supported, regulated and compensated to deliver reliable services.

Closing the gap will require countries to increase investment in health worker training, strengthen professional regulation and improve remuneration and working conditions to support recruitment and retention. Africa CDC, an autonomous public health agency of the African Union, works with member states to strengthen health systems, improve disease surveillance and laboratory capacity, and enhance preparedness for public health emergencies. The agency also provides a platform for countries to exchange knowledge and coordinate responses to shared health challenges.