African Health Ministers Launch Ten-Year Plan to Increase Health Workforce

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During the 76th session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, African health ministers endorsed the Health Workforce Management Programme in Africa (2026-2035). The initiative aimed to address a projected shortage of over six million health professionals by 2035, a crisis exacerbated by the current paradox where nearly one million trained health professionals remain unemployed despite systemic shortages. The programme committed to training, employing, and retaining three million additional workers, shifting the focus from mere education to sustainable labour-market planning and equitable distribution.

Consequences

The programme is expected to prompt increased investment in health systems, with the WHO estimating that an additional annual expenditure of $4 to $6 per person could generate $10 in economic benefits and thirty times that amount in social returns. Furthermore, the implementation of the new regional strategy will likely necessitate coordinated action across multiple sectors, including nutrition, education, and finance, to improve child development outcomes.

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