Understanding the labour market of human resources for health in Sudan

Overview

Universal health coverage depends on having the necessary human resources to deliver health care services. Sudan is among the African countries currently experiencing a crisis in human resources for health (HRH). The major causes of the crisis include migration and maldistribution of the health workforce. The imbalance between the number graduates of medical and health care trainings institutes and the actual number of graduates which enter the health labour market is alarming. The lack of jobs in both the public and the private sector, together with the challenges of retaining health workers in the country and ensuring an appropriate distribution throughout the country and in rural and urban areas, means that many facilities lack an appropriate health workforce. Low salaries and unfavourable working conditions affect health workers’ daily activities.

This document provides an overview of the HRH labour market in Sudan, highlighting the importance of a comprehensive approach to understanding the driving forces that affect the supply and demand for health workers, in order to provide a basis for developing effective HRH polices that can contribute to progress towards universal health coverage.