Countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region face an overall shortage of qualified health workers. Overall, production and availability of health workers is suboptimal and imbalanced. The inequitable geographic distribution of the health workforce is a challenge in several Member States, and raises concerns in relation to quality, relevance and performance of health workers. There are also concerns over the safety and security of health workers in several countries. 

In May 2016, the World Health Assembly endorsed the “Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health: Workforce 2030”. Informed by the Global Strategy, the Eastern Mediterranean Region has developed a draft “Framework for action for health workforce development” to accelerate progress in addressing health workforce challenges and moving towards universal health coverage and achieving the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals in the Region. The draft has gone through several consultations and has benefited from the inputs of relevant experts and officials.