Zambia removed from WHO health workforce red list

Zambia has been removed from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) health workforce safeguards red list. The list discourages active international recruitment from countries with low health worker density and low universal health coverage.

In a technical update in March 2026, the WHO cut the list from 55 countries to 36. It said the reduction was mainly due to improvements in the Universal Health Coverage Service Coverage Index, which tracks 14 indicators across reproductive and child health, infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases and service capacity.

The change follows a sustained recruitment drive under President Hakainde Hichilema, whose administration has hired more than 18,000 health workers since August 2021, beginning with 11,276 in 2022. The 2026 national budget provides for a further 2,500 health worker posts. Government has also built 66 new health facilities and 75 maternity annexes since 2022, and says the availability of essential medicines has risen from 35% to 87%.

Recruitment is set to speed up under the five-year, USD 2.49 billion health cooperation agreement that Zambia and the United States signed in Lusaka on 9 October. The United States will contribute USD 1.52 billion and Zambia USD 975 million.

Health Minister Roma Chilengi said the agreement will fund the recruitment of 40,000 health workers, made up of 15,000 frontline workers and 25,000 community health workers. It will also secure HIV, tuberculosis and malaria medicines and support local procurement and digital health systems. He added that the pact contains no clauses that compromise Zambia’s security through data sharing.