World Health Organization: One-quarter of the world's doctors are on the verge of retirement

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Friday of a worsening global shortage of health workers, revealing that nearly one-quarter of doctors in 122 countries are aged 55 or older, signaling a wave of retirements in the coming decade. In a statement, the WHO stated that the global shortfall in the health workforce could reach 11.1 million workers by 2030, and projected that 67 countries will face shortages of the personnel needed to maintain current levels of healthcare. It noted that maintaining the current ratio of health workers to population requires an additional 832,000 workers, warning that widening this gap could push countries to increase their reliance on recruiting staff from low-income countries, potentially exacerbating shortages in those nations and negatively affecting the quality of their health services. The report indicated that high-income countries, including many European nations, will be most affected by the impending wave of retirements due to the high proportion of older workers in their health sectors. The WHO projected that one in every three doctors in these countries will retire over the next ten years, posing increasing challenges for their health systems to replace expertise and ensure the continuity and quality of medical care.