In May, Member States approved a resolution to amend the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel (the Code) and to strengthen its implementation, following Member State-led consultations in the lead up to the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly. The resolution marks an important step toward the vision that everyone, everywhere can access competent and motivated health and care workers – a foundation for both universal health coverage and global health security.

Key revisions to the Code include the incorporation of provisions covering health personnel recruited internationally for employment as care workers and clarification on the applicability of the Code’s recommendations during emergencies. The Code also encourages co-investment in health systems and the health workforce to ensure international recruitment generates proportional benefits for both source and destination countries.

These additions were recommended by an Expert Advisory Group (EAG) appointed by the WHO Director-General. The expert advisory group’s final report noted the progress in health workforce data availability, provision of migrant health worker rights and the embedding of ethical recruitment principles in national policies. It also highlighted areas of possible improvement in the Code implementation, including support for the strengthening of health systems in source countries. Read more

Who are health and care workers? 

• Health worker - Health workers are all people primarily engaged in actions with the primary intent of enhancing health. For health workers, the relevant ISCO codes are generally found within the "Health Professionals" (Sub-Major Group 22) and "Health Associate Professionals" (Minor Group 325) categories, with more specific unit groups depending on the type of health work. 
• Heath care assistant (ISCO-08 code: 5321) - Institution-based personal care workers who provide direct personal care and assistance with activities of daily living to patients and residents in a variety of health care settings such as hospitals, clinics and residential nursing care facilities. They generally work in implementation of established care plans and practices, and under the direct supervision of medical, nursing or other health professionals or associate professionals.
• Home-based personal care workers (ISCO-08 code: 5322) who provide routine personal care and assistance with activities of daily living to persons who are in need of such care due to effects of ageing, illness, injury, or other physical or mental conditions, in private homes and other independent residential settings. 

Key figures

The estimated stock of health workers now exceeds 70 million. Shortage estimates decreased steadily since the Global Strategy adoption in 2026, trends that may be linked to investment decisions, the adoption of evidence-based policies and improved data availability.

The pace of progress has slowed, however, and masks diverging trends across and within regions, prompting an upward adjustment to the projected workforce shortage by 2030 to 11 million (compared to the 2022 estimate of a projected 10 million shortage by 2030).

Women comprise 67% of the global health workforce.