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Africa Commits to Training, Retaining 3 Million Health Workers by 2035
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Health & Science

Africa Commits to Training, Retaining 3 Million Health Workers by 2035

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News From a news agency New plan
  • African health ministers committed to training, employing, and retaining 3 million additional health workers by 2035.
  • The plan, "Agenda Africana de Personal Sanitario 2026-2035," aims to strengthen health systems and improve healthcare access across the continent.
  • It addresses the "paradox" of healthcare worker shortages alongside unemployment among trained professionals, requiring better coordination between training and job creation.

African health ministers have collectively pledged to train, employ, and retain three million additional health workers on the continent by 2035. This commitment, formalized through the "Agenda Africana de Personal Sanitario 2026-2035," aims to bolster Africa's health systems and ensure broader access to healthcare services.

Africa has collectively committed to transforming one of the fundamental pillars of its health systems: its personnel.

— Mohamed Yakub JanabiDirector regional de la OMS para África, commenting on the commitment to train and retain health workers.

Mohamed Yakub Janabi, the World Health Organization's (WHO) regional director for Africa, highlighted that this agenda moves beyond mere training. It emphasizes creating "opportunities, support, and conditions" for health workers to thrive where they are most needed. The plan seeks to strengthen African health labor markets through improved planning, education, employment, and retention strategies.

The WHO noted a significant "paradox" within Africa's health labor market: while many health facilities face critical staff shortages, an estimated one million trained health professionals remain unemployed, particularly recent graduates. This situation underscores the urgent need for better alignment between health worker training programs and actual job creation.

By adopting the Agenda Africana de Personal Sanitario 2026-2035, our member states have recognized that training health workers is only the beginning. We also have to create the opportunities, the support, and the conditions to allow them to serve, grow, and prosper where they are most needed.

— Mohamed Yakub JanabiDirector regional de la OMS para África, explaining the comprehensive approach of the new health workforce agenda.

Closing this gap is projected to require an additional investment of $4 to $6 per person annually. The WHO estimates that such an investment could yield substantial economic and social returns, with every dollar spent on health personnel potentially generating up to ten dollars in return. This initiative is seen not only as a health priority but also as a strategic investment in Africa's future, especially as many African health workers have sought opportunities abroad due to resource limitations and poor working conditions at home.

Africa has committed to training, employing, and retaining 3 million additional health workers by 2035.

— EFESummarizing the core commitment of African health ministers.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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