Pretoria—The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa today launched the first-ever Africa Prototype Competency-Based Curricula for ten selected health professions, marking a major turning point in how the region trains, equips and prepares its health workforce for the future. 

The launch, held in Pretoria with satellite events across multiple countries, will signal a decisive shift from outdated, theory-heavy training towards competency-based education that ensures every graduate is ready to deliver safe, high-quality, people-centred care from day one. 

Drawing on the Global Competency and Outcomes Framework for UHC (2022), the new curricula were co-developed through an unprecedented regional collaboration involving more than 300 experts, universities, professional councils, ministries, students and development partners. The process was guided by the Curriculum Development Advisory Group, comprising leading education and practice experts from the continent. 

These prototype curricula provide a continental benchmark for quality and relevance, offering countries a common starting point to modernize national programmes for nurses, midwives, pharmacists, dentists, laboratory scientists and other priority professions.

Why it matters now

Africa’s health workforce has grown from 1.6 million in 2013 to more than 5 million in 2022, yet the continent still faces a projected shortage of 6.1 million health workers by 2030. At the same time, 27% of trained health workers remain unemployed, signalling a disconnect between outdated training models and evolving labour market needs. 

“For too long we have trained for qualifications not for competence. But competence is what saves lives. These curricula position Africa to produce health workers who are competent, ethical, confident and ready to serve their communities with excellence,” said Dr Adelheid Onyango, Director of Health Systems and Services at the WHO Regional Office for Africa. 

The curricula aim to strengthen practical skills and clinical readiness; ethical and professional judgement; emergency and primary care capabilities; adaptability to new technologies, including AI and digital health; and the confidence to deliver quality care in all settings. 

A key ambition is to ensure that a health worker trained in any African country graduates with comparable competencies, enabling smoother mobility, reduced re-examination burden, and stronger integration of Africa’s health labour market. 

The launch coincides with the Member States Consultation on the Africa Health Workforce Agenda 2026–2035: Plan, Train, and Retain, where government officials, regulators, and experts will define strategies to create more jobs, reform education, and improve retention across the continent. The new curricula are expected to serve as a foundational tool to accelerate this transformation. 

WHO is urging countries, universities, regulators and professional associations to adapt the prototype curricula to their national contexts. Next steps include supporting Member States in implementation, developing continental accreditation standards, strengthening regulation to ensure consistent training quality, promoting mutual recognition of qualifications, and moving toward a more integrated African health labour market.

 “We want this to become a continental movement. These curricula are only the beginning. They will anchor a new era of quality, trust, and excellence in Africa’s health workforce,” said Dr Onyango.