WHO warns of deepening health workforce gap as doctors age and retire

The World Health Organization has raised concern over a widening shortfall in the global medical workforce, warning that the problem is likely to sharpen in the 2030s as both health workers and the populations they serve grow older.

In a statement released alongside a major report on workforce trends drawn from data covering more than 100 countries, the WHO said the twin pressures of an ageing workforce and ageing populations could deepen a projected global shortage of 11.1 million health workers by 2030.

"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 organisation said.

The report estimates that by 2030, 67 countries will lack the staffing needed to sustain the standards of medical treatment they currently provide. Maintaining present ratios of medical staff to population would require an additional 832,000 health workers worldwide.

That demand could push poorer countries to rely more heavily on foreign health care workers, the report notes, potentially affecting healthcare standards in those countries.

Higher income countries, including many in Europe, are expected to be among the hardest hit, because they have a larger share of older healthcare workers. In these countries, one in three doctors is set to retire over the next ten years.