March 2026- Health professions regulatory bodies, education leaders and technical experts from across the African Region have reached a landmark consensus on the Africa Health Professions Education Quality Standards (AHPEQS), establishing a shared continental framework to strengthen the quality, relevance and responsiveness of health professional training.
The agreement comes at a critical time for the Region, which faces a projected shortage of 6.1 million health professionals by 2030, driven by high attrition, outmigration and persistent mismatches between training outputs and evolving population health needs. In many countries, this challenge is compounded by a structural labour market paradox, where workforce shortages coexist with unemployment, particularly affecting primary health care and specialized services, and placing additional strain on fragile and vulnerable settings.
Adopted during a three-day meeting in Potchefstroom, South Africa, the standards mark a decisive shift from expanding training capacity alone toward ensuring consistent quality, accountability and competence across health professions education systems. While the African Region has made significant progress in increasing training output, with more than 4,000 institutions producing over 225,000 graduates annually, concerns remain about the readiness of some graduates to meet increasingly complex health system demands.
Evidence continues to highlight gaps in competencies, including challenges in diagnostic accuracy and clinical decision-making, underscoring the need for stronger, more harmonized education and accreditation systems. Variations in education quality, regulatory capacity and institutional performance have further contributed to inconsistencies in the delivery of safe, effective and people-centred care.
The newly adopted AHPEQS respond directly to these challenges by providing a comprehensive framework structured across nine domains and 35 standards, covering regulatory systems, institutional governance, curriculum and educational processes, student selection and support, academic and support staff, infrastructure and technology, institutional quality assurance, partnerships, and health workforce competence. Together, these standards establish a common reference for countries to strengthen accreditation, improve institutional performance and ensure that health professionals are equipped with the competencies required to respond to evolving health needs.
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AlksoThe consensus, formalized through the Potchefstroom Consensus, reflects a growing recognition among countries and partners that improving health outcomes depends not only on increasing the number of health workers, but also on ensuring the quality and relevance of their education. It also aligns with continental priorities, including the African Union’s Agenda 2063, which promotes the development of a competent workforce and the free movement of health professionals across the continent.
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