Lusaka, Zambia – The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa is convening a landmark Expert Dialogue on Competency-Based Health Professions Education from 12–14 November 2024 in Lusaka, Zambia. This dialogue aims to address critical gaps in the training and education of Africa’s health workforce, with the goal of transforming health professions education leading to improved service delivery, accelerating progress toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC), and ultimately reducing the region’s preventable deaths.
Despite ongoing political commitment to UHC and the adoption of a comprehensive roadmap for the WHO African Region, significant challenges remain in addressing health security and ensuring equitable access to quality healthcare. While the number of health workers in the region has tripled since 2013, reaching 5.1 million by 2022, this expansion has not been without its limitations. A substantial shortfall of qualified health workers, projected to reach 6.1 million by 2030, coupled with high rates of unemployment among trained professionals of nearly 27%, further exacerbates the challenges facing African healthcare systems.
A critical issue is the quality of education in the health profession. Many countries in the region face outdated curricula, inadequate training infrastructure, and mismatched competencies in relation to the evolving healthcare needs of their populations. Poor quality of care is responsible for nearly 48% of the 2.5 million avoidable deaths in Africa annually, with a large proportion linked to gaps in health workers’ training.
Considering these pressing concerns, the WHO dialogue will bring together senior health professionals, health professions education experts, policymakers, health professions regulators, representatives of member states, and key partners from across the African Region to build consensus on the competencies required for effective healthcare delivery, especially in the context of competency-based education (CBE).
“This dialogue is expected to catalyze a shift towards more effective, competency-based health education systems that align with Africa’s health priorities and meet the region’s growing demand for quality healthcare professionals,” said Dr Kasonde Mwinga, Director for UHC Life Course at the WHO Regional Office.
Why This Dialogue Matters:
The WHO’s approach to Competency-Based Education emphasizes outcomes-based learning that aligns education programmes with population health needs. Competency-based education focuses on mastering competencies required for effective healthcare delivery, including knowledge, skills, and attitudes. This approach ensures that healthcare professionals are theoretically knowledgeable and practically equipped to meet the diverse and evolving needs of African populations.
“The long-term sustainable solution to the global health workforce crisis, which is characterized by widespread shortages, maldistribution, and poor working conditions, is dependent on ensuring that in the first place, adequate numbers of competent health workers are educated and trained. This dialogue is timely because the African region has the potential to contribute to solving this crisis not only at national but also regional and global levels where well-trained African health workers are in big demand.” Said Professor Francis Omaswa, former Executive Director of the Global Health Workforce Alliance at WHO, Geneva.
