- The WHO warns Africa could face a shortage of 5.3 million health professionals by 2030 without immediate intervention to address workforce gaps
- Nigeria leads Africa in brain drain, exacerbating the healthcare workforce crisis due to high attrition rates and insufficient training opportunities
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has raised concerns that Africa could face a critical shortage of 5.3 million health professionals by 2030 if immediate actions are not taken to address the current gaps in the healthcare workforce.
Dr. Muyiwa Ojo, WHO’s Technical Officer for Human Resources for Health, shared this alarming projection during an Abuja workshop on building health journalists’ capacity.
He cited several factors contributing to this looming crisis, including labour market failures, insufficient education and training, lack of funding, and high attrition rates, especially due to emigration.
“Nigeria, in particular, leads the African continent in the magnitude and impact of brain drain on its health workforce,” Ojo noted.
He also identified key challenges such as uneven distribution of health workers, poor workforce planning, uninformed policy decisions, and inadequate recruitment and retention strategies.
Ojo stressed the need for an effective health workforce, with the right number of skilled professionals, proper training, and equitable distribution across the region.
In addition, Ms. Oyinloye Inigbehe, WHO’s Technical Officer for Gender-Based Violence (GBV), emphasized the critical role of media in addressing GBV and sexual exploitation.
She highlighted that these issues are priority concerns in the new Global Fund Strategy and stressed the importance of reporting to raise awareness, drive advocacy, and empower survivors to speak out.