Critical workforce shortage worsens public health emergencies in Africa
Tuesday May 07 2024
Striking workers at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. PHOTO | FILE | NMG
A critical shortage of health workforce in Africa has exacerbated the impacts of recurrent public health emergencies on the continent, the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has said.
While Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for approximately 24 percent of the global disease burden, it is home to only 3 percent of the world's health workers, said Jean Kaseya, director-general of Africa CDC, at the May 6-8 Africa Health Workforce Investment Forum, now underway in Windhoek, capital of Namibia, according to an Africa CDC statement.
In the year 2023 alone, the African continent recorded 166 disease outbreaks, a trend likely to persist in 2024, the Africa CDC said.
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The shortage of health workers in Africa is projected to reach about 6.1 million by 2030, the statement said.
Kaseya urged African countries to join forces toward realising the 2017 African Union decision that called for rapid recruitment, training and deployment of 2 million institutionalized community health workers by 2030.
Noting that investments in the health sector would yield substantial economic returns, Kaseya warned that Africa "will go nowhere if we do not have appropriate health workforce."