…As govts urged to invest in doctors to reverse brain drain, medical tourism
A 12-year shortage of specialist training is emerging as one of the biggest threats to Africa’s expanding hospital infrastructure, with Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, warning that the continent’s healthcare construction boom will not deliver better outcomes unless governments invest as aggressively in people as they do in buildings.
Africa’s drive to build more hospitals will do little to improve healthcare unless governments invest just as heavily in training, retaining, and rewarding doctors, nurses, and specialists, according to Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi.
The hospital warned that while new medical facilities can be built within months, developing a medical specialist takes 12 years to 14 years, leaving the continent with a widening talent gap that threatens to undermine billions of dollars invested in healthcare infrastructure and limit access to quality.
While modern healthcare infrastructure remains essential, the continent’s growing shortage of skilled medical professionals threatens to leave many new facilities unable to provide the quality care they were built to deliver, the hospital affirmed.
