Health ministers and senior representatives from small countries in the WHO European Region have agreed on urgent measures to strengthen and sustain their health and care workforce, adopting the Riga Outcome Statement at a high-level meeting held in Latvia.
The agreement was reached during the 12th High-level Meeting of the WHO Small Countries Initiative, where leaders focused on addressing growing workforce shortages, rising healthcare demand, and increasing pressure on health systems across Europe.
According to the World Health Organization, the European Region could face a shortage of nearly one million health workers by 2030 due to ageing populations, workforce attrition, and rising demand for care. Officials warned that these pressures are already affecting the ability of health systems to deliver essential services.
The Riga Outcome Statement outlines commitments to improve long-term workforce planning, strengthen retention of health professionals, enhance training and education systems, and support the mental health and wellbeing of healthcare workers. Countries also pledged to improve working conditions and address workforce mobility challenges through coordinated regional cooperation.
A key focus of the meeting was the urgent need to retain existing health workers, with discussions highlighting burnout, staffing shortages, and workplace violence as major concerns. Evidence from recent WHO surveys shows elevated levels of anxiety and depression among doctors and nurses compared to the general population, underscoring the need for improved support systems and safer working environments.
Participants also emphasized the importance of deploying health workers more effectively in rural and underserved areas, strengthening primary healthcare systems, and using digital tools and workforce data to improve planning and service delivery.
Countries including Latvia presented national reforms aimed at improving workforce distribution, training pathways, and career sustainability for health professionals. Leaders stressed that improving retention and working conditions is as important as training new professionals.
WHO officials described small countries as important drivers of innovation in health workforce policy, noting their ability to rapidly implement reforms and share best practices across the region. The initiative was highlighted as a model for regional cooperation in addressing shared healthcare challenges.
The commitments are expected to support long-term efforts to build more resilient, sustainable, and people-centered health systems across the WHO European Region as countries prepare for increasing demographic and environmental pressures.
