African countries have reached consensus on the priority actions, commitments and milestones that will shape the Africa Health Workforce Agenda 2026–2035 in a major step towards transforming how the continent plans, trains and retains its health workforce.
Member States, professional councils, universities, development partners and technical experts gathering in Pretoria from 24 to 26 November 2025 for consultation convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa agreed on a unified direction for the forthcoming Agenda, which will be formally endorsed and launched by Member States in 2026.
The shared priorities focus on strengthening governance and stewardship; modernizing and expanding health workforce education; improving employment and retention; scaling up investments through the Africa Health Workforce Investment Charter; and institutionalizing robust labour-market intelligence to guide planning and accountability.
“These outcomes reflect a shared continental vision for a workforce that is fit for purpose and positioned to deliver quality, people-centred care. The next decade must be transformational. If we do not act boldly and collectively, the gap between what our health systems need and the workers available will only widen,” said Dr Adelheid Onyango, Director of Health Systems and Services at WHO Regional Office for Africa.
Africa faces a projected shortage of 6.1 million health workers by 2030. While the region has tripled its workforce from 1.6 million in 2013 to 5.1 million in 2022, it continues to struggle with severe mismatches between training outputs and labour market needs; outdated and theory-heavy education models; chronic underinvestment in training institutions; unemployment among newly trained health workers; and significant migration and attrition.
Throughout the consultation, participants emphasized the urgency of comprehensive reforms to align education, employment, financing and service-delivery needs, building on key achievements reached this week.
“Let this mark a turning point in how we plan, train, deploy and retain the health workers our continent needs. With unity and determination, Africa can build a health workforce capable of meeting both present and future demands,” said Dr Percy Mahlathi, Deputy Director-General, Hospital Services, Tertiary Health Services, and Health Workforce Development, National Department of Health, South Africa.
As part of the process to develop the new strategy, WHO convened Member States in July 2025 to update their national health workforce stock and related datasets and to reflect on the challenges and progress they have made since the adoption of the current strategy.
In July 2025, WHO convened a 17-member Expert Group to review the available evidence and identify priorities for the Africa Health Workforce Agenda 2026–2035.
The Africa Health Workforce Agenda 2035 is scheduled for a formal adoption and launch by Member States in 2026.
WHO called on all partners to sustain investment and political momentum to ensure the successful rollout of the agenda once it is endorsed and launched next year. It also urged governments, regional bodies, academia and development partners to sustain investment and political commitment to transform health workforce planning and education systems at scale.
“This consultation has been more than a technical exchange; it has solidified an Africa-wide commitment to reshape the future of health workforce development. The consensus achieved here provides clear direction for the agenda that countries will endorse and launch next year,” said Dr James Asamani, Team Lead for Health Workforce at WHO Regional Office for Africa.
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