Mauritius is undertaking a comprehensive Health Labour Market Analysis (HLMA) with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), aiming to strengthen its health workforce and advance universal health coverage. The initiative seeks to address workforce shortages, improve distribution, and ensure that the number and skills of health workers meet the population’s needs, providing evidence for effective and sustainable workforce policies.
The country has one of the highest doctor and nurse densities in the African Region, with 31.7 doctors and 35.7 nurses and midwives per 10,000 population. Despite this, challenges persist, including staff shortages across several cadres, emerging skills gaps, high workloads, burnout, and uneven distribution. Factors such as retirement, migration, limited training capacity, and lengthy recruitment procedures exacerbate these shortages, even with approximately 13,000 officers employed across 375 grades.
To meet growing service demands, Mauritius expanded specialized services and increased primary care clinics from 147 to 268 between 2022 and 2024, an 82% increase. While this expansion improves access to care, it has intensified staffing pressures, as both public and private institutions struggle to fill vacancies due to a limited pool of qualified candidates, emigration, and complex recruitment processes.
The HLMA, conducted from 16 to 27 March 2026, involves 40 representatives from government ministries, regulatory councils, statistical bodies, training institutions, health professional associations, and the private sector. This broad engagement ensures high-quality data, shared ownership, and policy recommendations that reflect the realities of both public and private health services.
WHO has emphasized that a resilient health system relies on a well-planned and supported workforce. The HLMA provides crucial insights into workforce realities, enabling Mauritius to implement reforms that strengthen health system resilience and ensure equitable access to care.
This initiative reaffirms Mauritius’ commitment to developing a motivated, well-distributed health workforce capable of delivering high-quality services to all citizens. By participating in the Africa Health Workforce Investment Charter, Mauritius aligns with over 20 African countries working to reduce inequities in access to health workers by 2030.
Through the HLMA, Mauritius is taking a decisive step toward evidence-driven workforce investments that enhance resilience, improve equity, and accelerate progress toward health for all.
