As the world celebrated International Nurses Day on May 12, the World Health Organization (WHO) dropped a bombshell: Africa is on the brink of a massive health worker shortage, expected to hit 6.1 million by 2030.
This alarming prediction throws a spotlight on South Africa, already struggling with a critical lack of nurses.
According to the WHO, the nurse shortage is escalating. Just last year, South Africa's National Department of Health reported that nurses make up over half of the health workforce.
Yet, as early as 2020, there was a glaring gap of 26,000 to 62,000 professional nurses. If the current trend continues, South Africa will be in dire need of an additional 340,000 nurses by the end of the decade to cope with soaring healthcare demands.
This week's WHO report paints a grim picture of the future, warning of the unfolding challenges within the public health system and emphasising the urgent need for economic stability.
Despite growth - health workforce numbers increased from 1.6 million in 2013 to 5.1 million in 2022 - the health workforce shortage in Africa remains problematic.
The report also sheds light on critical concerns such as the migration of health workers to other regions, funding shortfalls, and the mixed results of strategies aimed at enhancing the health workforce across different areas.
This situation calls for immediate attention and action to avert a healthcare crisis on the continent.
According to the WHO report, the shortage will mainly affect doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, and dentists, who are crucial for everything from disease prevention to treatment.
“To avoid this crisis, countries need to increase the number of health workers trained each year by 8-12%," the WHO said.
The training capacity has already seen a significant increase, from 150,000 graduates in 2018 to over 255,000 in 2022, thanks to investments in over 4,000 training programs. The private sector contributed to at least 40% of this growth
There has been a remarkable increase in the number of doctors and nurses trained. The number of doctors graduating annually has jumped from 6,000 in 2005 to almost 39,850 now. In the same period, the number of nurses and midwives graduating annually increased from 26,000 to more than 151,300.
The importance of nurses and midwives cannot be overstated. They not only provide critical care but also play major roles in health policy and primary healthcare.
They are key to the function and sustainability of health systems worldwide. Despite this, over 80% of the world’s nurses work in only half of the countries, and one in eight nurses works in a country different from where they were trained or born.
The WHO emphasised the urgent need to support and increase the number of these vital health workers to meet the growing health demands in Africa and beyond.