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Windhoek, Namibia — The World Health Organization (WHO) says Africa has a shortage of health care workers. The issue was addressed in Namibia this week at a forum in Windhoek. Speaking at the first WHO Africa Health Workforce Forum held in the capital, Namibia’s minister of health and social services, Kalumbi Shangula, warned that Africa’s shortage of health workers will impede the continent from achieving universal health coverage by 2030.  In order to reach universal health coverage by 2030 as envisaged in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals report, Africa needs to invest in training programs, offer incentives for health practitioners to remain in their home countries, and create initiatives to attract health professionals in the diaspora back to the continent.  Shangula spoke at the Africa Health Workforce Investment Charter event this week. “The number of Africans who have left the continent in search of greener pastures in other parts of the world are staggering," Shangula said. "It is a matter that needs to be addressed as a top priority for African governments and indeed all those who wish to see a shift in the historical as well as current trends.” Africa has a ratio of 1.55 health workers per 1,000 people. That is below the recommended WHO threshold of 4.55 health workers per 1,000 people. Africa’s Center for Disease Control Director-General Jean Kesaya says achieving universal health coverage by 2030 will require an additional 1.8 million health workers on the continent.  He says the critical shortage is projected to reach about 6.1 million by 2030 and is made worse by recurrent public health emergencies faced by countries on a daily basis. “In 2023 alone, Africa recorded 166 disease outbreaks and the trend I see in 2024 is not good," Kesaya said. "AU member states are far from realizing the 2017 AU Assembly decisions that called for rapid recruitment, training and deployment of 2 million institutionalized community health workers by 2030.” Global Health Director for the Africa Diaspora Development Institute (ADDI) Lee Whitaker says the institution has opened doors for diasporan healthcare workers to return to Africa and reverse the brain drain. He says the organization has “access to over forty-five-thousand black African physicians in America and only needs an invitation from the heart of any African state to come abroad.” Dr. Arikana Chihombori is the president of the ADDI, an organization that is mobilizing the African diaspora to return and invest in the continent. “Let the diaspora come in and invest in for-profit-clinics in Africa as well as for volunteer work in Africa," Chihombori said. "It has to be balanced! Because if they are going to leave their work where they are in Europe, in America, they can be here a little bit longer if they are going to make money and also donate some of their time. So a program that allows them to make money while they are stopping Africans from going to India and at the same time also giving to those who are less fortunate is actually a program that can be sustained but to completely hundred percent volunteer is not going to work, it’s not sustainable”. The forum, which was attended by health dignitaries from all over the world, concluded Wednesday with the launch of the Africa Health Workforce Investment Charter that aims to mobilize and sustain development, performance and retention of the health workforce in African Union countries.

Warsaw, Poland — Poland's defense minister said Thursday his country is strengthening the metal barrier along its border with Belarus to deter illegal migration. "We are mending the barrier on the Polish-Belarusian border, we are strengthening this barrier," Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on private Radio Zet. "The spending on these purposes is the highest in [Poland's] history." Kosiniak-Kamysz said the increased presence of Polish and allied military forces in regions close to the border is also helping to tighten the eastern frontier of NATO and the European Union. That presence has been increased since Russia's aggression in Ukraine in 2022. He spoke in favor of Poland building a line of defensive bunkers, trenches and ditches along that border and the one with Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad, steps that the Baltic states have already taken. Poland says a massive wave of illegal migration from Belarus, especially in 2022, was orchestrated by that country and by Russia to destabilize Poland, a Ukrainian ally, and the European Union. The influx was largely curbed by the metal barrier that Poland completed last year, but some illegal crossings continue. The minister's comments also suggested that the barrier is seen as a wider defense measure during Russia's war with Ukraine, which borders Poland.

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Yaounde — Chad's opposition, civil society groups and some election observers are condemning violence, threats and fraud, including the stuffing of ballot boxes, to favor transitional president General Mahamat Idriss Deby after the central African state’s May 6 presidential polls. Deby's main challenger, Prime Minister Succes Masra, is asking for international assistance, saying he is under surveillance and faces threats to his safety after at least two people were killed in the election. Masra says there has been persistent violence and threats against him and his supporters since election day. The Transformers, the party Masra leads, said on Facebook Wednesday that their candidate's residence is under drone surveillance, but gave no further details. The party denounced what it called threats and serious violence to intimidate their supporters, who they say have also been arbitrarily arrested since Monday's vote. Masra charged that Chad’s National Elections Management Agency, known as ANGE, is rigging the vote in favor of Deby. Masra urged civilians to defend what he called their will expressed at the ballot box against massive electoral fraud. Chad's Coalition of Moral Authorities for Mediation, or CONAMM, an association that includes traditional rulers, clerics, former government ministers and youth and women leaders, complained of massive fraud and intimidation during the polls. Speaking on Chad’s state television Thursday, CONAMM's secretary-general Baniara Yoyana said there were many irregularities including seizing and stuffing of ballot boxes in favor of Deby by government officials. He added such irregularities are pushing civilians who think that their democratic rights are being abused to riot. Chad's opposition and civil society say a government soldier who attempted to stuff ballot boxes in favor of Deby died in a hospital after he was assaulted and stabbed by angry voters near Moundou, Chad's second-largest city. They also say a civilian was killed on election day in Moundou following a dispute in a polling station. Chad's government acknowledges the killings but denies troops were ordered to vote and rig the election in favor of Deby. The central African state’s officials say ANGE is a permanent, independent and impartial body and refute what they say are allegations Deby wants to rig the election and proclaim himself Chad's president. Civil society groups and CONAMM say Chad may descend into chaos if the government and ANGE fail to ensure the results they will publish reflect the aspirations of Chad's citizens as expressed in Monday's polls. Saleh Kebzabo’s duty as Chad's government-appointed state mediator is to preempt and negotiate an end to potential crises and threats. He said he is pleading with all citizens to be calm and maintain peace while waiting for the official proclamation of Chad's May 6 presidential elections results by the country's constitutional council, which is the only body empowered to proclaim definitive results. Kebzabo said results civilians appear to be contesting are fake because Chad's Constitutional Council has not proclaimed any. Kebzabo said tensions are also provoked by a ban on filming or taking photos of result sheets in polling stations and publishing them on social media and radio and television. ANGE says it imposed the ban because opposition parties may manipulate results they film to ignite violent clashes. The European Union said Tuesday that Chad officials denied nearly 3,000 civil society members it financed from observing the presidential election. Deby was proclaimed transitional president in April 2021 after his father, Idriss Deby Itno, was killed in a gun battle with rebels following 30 years in power. He promised an 18-month transition to democracy but then extended it by two years. He is seen by many observers as the likely winner of the May 6 presidential polls, whose result will be proclaimed by Chad's Constitutional Council on May 21. The opposition and civil society accuse Deby ruling with an iron fist and say he is not ready to relinquish power. But Deby says he will hand over power if defeated.

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New York — TikTok will begin labeling content created using artificial intelligence when it's uploaded from certain platforms. TikTok says its efforts are an attempt to combat misinformation from being spread on its social media platform. The announcement came on ABCs "Good Morning America" on Thursday. "Our users and our creators are so excited about AI and what it can do for their creativity and their ability to connect with audiences." Adam Presser, TikTok's Head of Operations & Trust and Safety told ABC News. "And at the same time, we want to make sure that people have that ability to understand what fact is and what is fiction." TikTok's policy in the past has been to encourage users to label content that has been generated or significantly edited by AI. It also requires users to label all AI-generated content where it contains realistic images, audio, and video.

Last year, Congress called for an investigation into 100 reported incidents of Chinese nationals attempting to enter U.S. military bases and other sensitive sites around the world. Officials on the island of Guam – which hosts some of the most strategically important U.S. bases in the Pacific – says they too are at risk and are asking for help in protecting their shores.  VOA’s Jessica Stone reports.

The European Union has agreed in principle to a deal that would use the proceeds from frozen Russian assets to supply weapons for Ukraine. As Henry Ridgwell reports, allies in Washington want the EU to go much further

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DAKAR — A Boeing 737 plane carrying 85 people skidded off a runway at the airport in Dakar, Senegal's capital, injuring 10 people, the transport minister said Thursday.  Transport Minister El Malick Ndiaye said the Air Sénégal flight operated by TransAir was headed to Bamako late Wednesday with 79 passengers, two pilots and four cabin crew.  The injured were being treated at a hospital, while the others were taken to a hotel to rest.  No other details were immediately available.  The Aviation Safety Network, which tracks airline accidents, published photos of the damaged plane in a grassy field surrounded by fire suppressant foam on X, formerly known as Twitter. One engine appeared to have broken apart and a wing was also damaged, according to the photos.  ASN is part of the Flight Safety Foundation, a nonprofit group that aims to promote safe air travel and tracks accidents. 

Beijing — Two of China's wealthiest cities said Thursday they would lift all restrictions on buying homes, joining a growing list of urban areas rolling back curbs as they look to prop up the faltering property market. Many Chinese cities imposed restrictions and tough credit requirements on home purchases well over a decade ago in an effort to tamp down soaring prices and rampant speculation. But they are now reversing those policies in a bid to stem an economic slump characterized by a debt crisis among developers, low demand and falling prices. The eastern city of Hangzhou — home to 12.5 million people — said Thursday it had ditched all purchase restrictions "to promote the [market's] stable and healthy development". "From the date of issuance... those who buy lodgings within the bounds of this city will no longer have their purchasing qualifications reviewed," it said. Hangzhou, a major innovation hub home to tech giants such as Alibaba, is one of the most desirable and expensive places to buy property in China. In a separate announcement, the northwestern city of Xi'an, which has a population of 13 million, said it had also cancelled all such restrictions. The announcements quickly racked up more than 230 million views on social media site Weibo, where many users were doubtful the policy would make any difference. "With Hangzhou's house prices, what's the point of cancelling buying restrictions? I still can't afford it," wrote one commenter. Bill Bishop, publisher of the influential Sinocism newsletter, called the move "a sign of desperation." "If this does not goose sales there will be more trouble as prices will have to adjust downward a lot," he wrote on social media site X. More than 20 cities have abolished home purchase restrictions since the beginning of last year, according to an AFP tally. Chengdu in southwestern China said last month it would no longer look at prospective buyers' household registration documents, social security and other conditions before greenlighting purchases. Several of the biggest cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, have partly lifted curbs but have resisted dumping them entirely. Property and construction account for more than a quarter of China's gross domestic product, but the sector has been under unprecedented strain since 2020. That year, authorities tightened developers' access to credit in a bid to reduce mounting debt. Since then, major companies including Evergrande and Country Garden have teetered on bankruptcy, while falling prices have dissuaded consumers from investing in property. Measures introduced by the central government to support the sector have so far had little effect. And President Xi Jinping has largely stuck to his often-touted maxim that "houses are for living in, not for speculation." Last month, the International Monetary Fund said China's economic recovery from the pandemic could falter if the crisis was not properly addressed. "Without a comprehensive response to the troubled property sector, growth could falter, hurting trading partners," it warned in its World Economic Outlook report.

Issue of hiring intern doctors is still under discussion

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.