Jamaica warns of 600,000 health worker shortage in Caribbean egion

Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States His Excellency Major General (Rtd) Antony Anderson greets Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton prayer to the opening the 62nd Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) at its headquarters in Washington DC Monday September 29.2025. Photo Derrick Scott.

Jamaica’s Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, has issued an urgent call for regional cooperation to address a looming healthcare workforce crisis that threatens to devastate health systems across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Speaking at the 62nd Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) on September 29, Minister Tufton highlighted projections showing the region will face a shortage of 600,000 health professionals by 2030 if current trends continue.

“In the region, a critical pivot point to improve health services is filling the gaps that exist for healthcare workers,” Minister Tufton stated in Jamaica’s official address to the Council. “We have long had shortages of the registered and specialist nurses and midwives needed to manage service delivery, emergency response, and heightened surveillance.”

The Minister noted that the shortage will be concentrated in three critical professional categories: medicine, nursing, and midwifery, the backbone of any functioning healthcare system.

The Migration Challenge

Minister Tufton revealed that discussions at the recent CARICOM Health Ministers meeting showed a troubling pattern: while small island states are increasing training capacity to meet growing demand, they are simultaneously losing workers to migration as larger countries recruit Caribbean-trained healthcare professionals.

“We are constrained by shortages in educators as our more experienced nurses are also being recruited by larger countries,” the Minister explained, highlighting a crisis within the crisis that threatens training capacity itself.

Jamaica’s Solution: South-South Cooperation

In response to this challenge, Minister Tufton announced that Jamaica is actively pursuing partnerships with countries facing similar challenges, emphasizing south-south cooperation as a viable pathway forward.

“Jamaica believes that the deepening of south-south cooperation with the sharing of resources, including technologies, provides new hope for meeting some of our hard-to-reach goals,” Minister Tufton told the assembly.

The Minister called on PAHO to facilitate regional partnerships, stating: “Jamaica stands ready to support the advancement of the work undertaken by PAHO with respect to strengthening human resources for health. We need continued support in exploring new partnerships and expanding on existing ones.”

Minister Tufton specifically requested that PAHO examine opportunities within the subregions of the Americas to facilitate mutually beneficial relationships that can help address the workforce crisis before it reaches critical levels.

The theme of the 62nd Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)   is human resources for health. The health ministers in attendance are representing Countries of the Americas and have come together for this hemispheric discussion on a range of health issues. The 62nd Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) concludes on October 3rd.