Training for health workers, including those based in communities where access to services is limited, is urgently needed to address the growing gap in the Asia Pacific health workforce, say leaders in the sector. The global shortage of health workers could reach more than 10 million by 2030, according to a departmental update by the WHO Western Pacific Region, which stressed the importance of “lifelong learning” of health workers and the sharing of science-based health knowledge. Countries in the Pacific are particularly affected by the shortage due to their high population density and greater impacts from climate-related disasters, and as many health workers move abroad to seek better opportunities.
Saia Ma’u Piukala, WHO regional director for Western Pacific, said countries in the region were working together to improve education and training and achieve a more equitable distribution of health professionals. He said there was an urgent need “to work with academic institutions to develop and implement training programmes” to respond to the evolving needs of the health-care sector. In countries like the Philippines and Pacific-island states such as Fiji, Micronesia and the Cook Islands the shortage is severely limiting access to quality health care services, aggravated by insufficient educational opportunities for would-be health workers, members of a Philippine-led health collaborative said at a The Philippines has become the world’s largest exporter of nurses, .
