Understanding The Trends and Drivers of Intention to Migrate among Health Workers from sub-Saharan Africa

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a minimum health workforce density of 4.45 skilled health professionals per 1,000 population to meet the health-related SDGs (1). However, SSA is projected to experience a critical shortfall of 6 million health workers by 2030, accounting for one-third of the estimated global deficit (2,3). This persistent shortage is exacerbated by the emigration of HRH, which deprives already under-resourced health systems of skilled professionals and adversely impacts health outcomes, including maternal and child mortality and the management of communicable and non-communicable diseases(3). The consequences of HRH migration are significant, particularly for SSA. Emigration reduces access to essential healthcare services, increases the workload for remaining staff, and escalates healthcare costs (3). Recognizing these challenges, SDG target 3.c aims to strengthen health financing and promote the training, recruitment, and retention of health workers in low-resource settings (4). However, despite these global efforts, the drivers of HRH migration, migration intentions, and non-migration in SSA remain poorly understood. Previous systematic and scoping reviews on health workforce migration have primarily focused on LMICs or on specific countries, leaving significant gaps in understanding the broader regional dynamics influencing HRH mobility. This scoping review, therefore, seeks to address this gap by examining the drivers of HRH migration and migration intention specifically within SSA