WHO flags growing health workforce gap as workers and patients age

The World Health Organization ​warned on Friday of ​a gap in ‌the medical ​workforce around the world in the 2030s, with a quarter of doctors set ‌to retire in the next decade. "In many countries both our populations and health workers are ageing at the same time. This ‌can intensify the projected global shortage of 11.1 million health ‌workers by 2030," the WHO said in a statement accompanying a major report on workforce trends based on data from over 100 countries.

By 2030, ⁠67 ​countries are ⁠projected to lack sufficient staffing to maintain the standards of medical treatment ⁠they currently enjoy, it said. To maintain the current density of medical ​staff to the population an additional 832,000 health workers are ⁠needed and this could increase reliance on foreign health care workers in poorer ⁠countries, ​the report said, potentially impacting healthcare standards there.

Higher income countries, including many in Europe, are set to be the ⁠hardest hit since they have a higher share of older healthcare ⁠workers, the ⁠report said. In these countries, one in three doctors will retire in the next ten ‌years, it ‌said.