Africa Produces More Health Workers but Millions Still Lack Access to Care
Africa is producing more health workers than ever before, yet millions of people across the continent still lack access to healthcare, while hundreds of thousands of trained professionals remain unemployed and many others continue to migrate abroad, according to a new report by the World Health Organization.
The report, titled State of the Health Workforce in Africa 2026: Plan. Train. Retain., was launched during the Second Africa Health Workforce Investment Forum in Accra. It highlights major challenges in employment, distribution and retention of health workers across the continent.
According to the report, Africa’s health workforce increased from 4.3 million in 2018 to 5.72 million in 2024. However, the continent still has only 46% of the health workers it needs to meet growing healthcare demands.
One of the report’s most alarming findings is the coexistence of severe staff shortages and high unemployment. In 2024 alone, nearly 943,000 trained health workers were unemployed despite many health facilities remaining understaffed.
The report notes that more than 325,000 health workers now graduate annually across Africa. Yet in some countries, more than half of these graduates remain unemployed or work under insecure conditions due to weak coordination between education systems, labour markets and health financing.
Quality of healthcare also remains a concern. The report states that health workers correctly diagnose only about 62% of cases and provide appropriate treatment in just 40% of them, exposing patients to preventable risks.
Meanwhile, poor working conditions and limited career opportunities are pushing many professionals to seek opportunities abroad. Nearly 46% of health workers surveyed said they intend to migrate, while absenteeism is estimated to cost health systems up to 20% of their wage bills.
Dr. Mohamed Yakub Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa. warned that Africa’s health workforce crisis is now driven more by systemic failures than by lack of training opportunities.
He said, “Africa’s health workforce crisis is no longer defined by scarcity alone, but by systemic failure. We are training more health workers than ever before, yet too many remain unemployed while millions go without care. Without bold investment and coordinated reform to plan, train and retain health workers, progress toward universal health coverage will remain out of reach.”
Despite the challenges, the report says investing in health workers offers major economic benefits. WHO estimates that every US$1 invested in the health workforce can generate up to ten times in financial returns and more than 30 times in broader social and economic gains.
To address the crisis, African countries are being urged to increase health workforce spending by around US$4 per person annually or raise workforce budgets by 15% each year. Leaders attending the forum are expected to mobilize new commitments and launch the Africa Health Workforce Agenda 2026–2035 to strengthen planning, training and retention of health workers across the continent.
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