In 2021, the WHO developed a guide to help analyze the health sector labor market and trained 75 experts from 25 African countries. Building on this, it created a tool to assist in labor market analysis for the health sector.

The World Health Organization’s Africa Regional Office (WHO Africa) has introduced a new tool to help countries analyze the health sector labor market. The tool, called the Health Labor Market Analysis (HLMA), was officially launched yesterday, October 7.

It is designed to assist countries in evaluating the supply, demand, and needs of health workers, as well as their capacity to train healthcare professionals. It also aims to support workforce integration and planning within the health labor market.

“The HLMA Support Tool allows users to assess education capacity, health workforce supply, demand and needs, and identify investment requirements for employment,” said Dr. Abdourahmane Diallo, WHO’s representative in Kenya.

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According to WHO, Africa faces a shortage of health workers due to several factors, including international migration, rapid population growth, insufficient training, and weak governance of health personnel.

A 2022 study by WHO on Africa’s health workforce, covering 47 countries, revealed that the region has 1.55 healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses, and midwives) per 1,000 people. This figure falls below the WHO’s recommended density threshold of 4.45 professionals per 1,000 people, which is necessary to achieve universal health coverage.

WHO further estimated that Africa will face a shortage of 6.1 million healthcare workers by 2030, a 45% increase from 2013 when the last estimates were made.