NAIROBI, 19 May 2010: Shortages of medical staff have been identified as one of the major impediments to achieving the health-related UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For example, one of the poorest countries in the world, Mozambique, has just 548 doctors for a population of more than 22 million, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).
The WHO’s baseline estimate for achieving health-related MDGs is at least 23 health workers per 10.000 people – against an average of 13 in Africa. Some of the countries that have almost no doctors are compiled below:
Chad – With fewer than one doctor for every 20,000 people and just four hospital beds for every 10,000, Chad has one of the worst health-worker shortages in the world. Many countries are bolstering their staff with community health workers, but according to WHO’s World Health Statistics Report 2010, Chad has just 154 of these.
Burundi – Malaria is responsible for 40 percent of health-centre consultations and 47 percent of in-patient deaths in Burundi, but there is just one doctor per 34,744 people and two nurses per 10,000.
The government provides free maternal and child healthcare and free treatment and care for people living with HIV, but the country’s lack of skilled health professionals has severely hampered this programme.
Ethiopia – One of Africa’s most populous nations, Ethiopia is extremely short of doctors, with fewer than one doctor for every 36,407 people.
Research shows that Ethiopia’s public health sector is losing as many as 26 percent of its physicians to private healthcare and to other countries.
Tanzania – The Ministry of Health reported in 2007 that the country had 1,339 physicians, mostly in the Dar es Salaam region, which had at least one doctor per 10,000 population, six times the national average. Many regions have a ratio as low as 0.1 doctors per 10,000 people.
The country has trained “assistant medical officers” (AMO) to cope with the shortage. There are about as many AMOs as there are physicians in Tanzania.
Liberia – Still recovering from a 14-year civil war that ended in 2003, Liberia has just 51 doctors, according to the WHO.
Fewer than half of all births are attended by a skilled health professional, and maternal mortality is very high, at 994 maternal deaths per 100.000 live births.
Malawi – With an estimated two doctors for every 100,000 people and a 60 percent vacancy rate for nurses in rural areas, Malawi has turned to “task-shifting” – the use of less qualified health workers. A new cadre of health worker, called a health surveillance assistant (HSA), carries out tasks usually handled by highly trained physicians. In 2007, for example, 95 percent of 625,000 HIV tests were performed by non-medical counsellors.
