​‌⁠⁠By Franca Ofili

The West African Health Organization (WAHO) has called for harmonised accreditation criteria for nursing and midwifery training institutions across ECOWAS member states to improve educational standards and strengthen the region’s health workforce.

Prof. Palokinam Pitche, Director-General of WAHO, made the call on Thursday in Abuja at a workshop to finalise harmonised regional accreditation criteria for nursing and midwifery training institutions.

Pitche, represented by Prof. Joseph Olorunda, Head of Training and Human Resources for Health at WAHO, said the initiative would promote quality education, regulatory consistency and a competent health workforce.

He said the harmonisation would also facilitate the movement of qualified health professionals across West African countries.

Pitche said persistent regional health challenges, including inadequate financing, weak surveillance systems, poor public health infrastructure and shortages of skilled personnel, required urgent and coordinated interventions.

According to him, the shortage of health professionals remained a major obstacle to improving health outcomes and achieving regional health development objectives.

He recalled that a 2017 World Health Organization (WHO) survey identified all 15 ECOWAS member states among 57 countries facing critical health workforce shortages globally.

He said the survey, which used a minimum threshold of 2.28 healthcare professionals per 1,000 people, put the average density across the ECOWAS region at 0.73 per 1,000.

Pitche said the regional average ranged from 0.05 to 1.97 healthcare professionals per 1,000 people, highlighting the scale of the workforce gap.

He said addressing the shortage required stronger policies on professional education, curriculum relevance, continuing professional development, interprofessional collaboration and staff retention across member states.

The WAHO director-general emphasised that accreditation should not be treated as a mere administrative procedure but as a strategic investment in national development and stronger healthcare systems.

He said the COVID-19 pandemic had demonstrated that universal health coverage and health security depended on a competent and adequately distributed nursing and midwifery workforce.

According to him, harmonised accreditation will ensure that training institutions met agreed standards for curricula, faculty qualifications, infrastructure, clinical facilities and practical training.

He said the framework would be guided by quality assurance, regulatory alignment, institutional readiness, transparency and accountability.

Pitche explained that lessons from existing national accreditation systems could provide a foundation for a consistent regional approach to assessing nursing and midwifery training institutions.

He outlined the accreditation process to include formal applications, verification of minimum programme requirements, pre-accreditation advisory visits, implementation of recommendations and comprehensive accreditation assessments.

He added that institutions could receive interim or final accreditation, with periodic reviews conducted every two or five years, depending on their accreditation status.

Pitche said the process would strengthen institutional accountability and ensure nursing and midwifery graduates acquired the competencies required to deliver quality healthcare services.

He said WAHO had undertaken several initiatives to address critical health workforce shortages, including harmonising training curricula across medical, pharmaceutical, allied health, nursing and midwifery disciplines.

According to him, the organisation had also developed training manuals for community-based health workers and trainers, alongside a regional training plan to support the implementation of harmonised curricula.

Pitche said WAHO had provided financial support to member states implementing the curricula and offered scholarships to health workers in specialties experiencing critical shortages.

He added that the organisation had developed a regional work plan to motivate and retain health workers in rural communities and areas with difficult terrain.

The director-general highlighted WAHO’s Engaging Medical Experts in the Diaspora (E-MED) programme, designed to address workforce gaps through short- and medium-term expert support.

He said the programme would also support the training and retraining of health professionals and enable diaspora experts to mentor colleagues across the region.

Pitche called for closer alignment of national accreditation standards with regional and global priorities, alongside stronger inspection systems to ensure continuous monitoring and compliance.

He urged stakeholders to explore digital tools, including accreditation management systems, to streamline assessment processes, improve transparency and strengthen institutional oversight.

He also emphasised the need for safe and conducive clinical training environments to ensure students acquired the practical skills and competencies required for effective healthcare delivery.

Pitche said the regional framework should establish common approaches to professional regulation, educational preparation and clinical practice, including clearly defined scopes of practice for generalist and specialist nurses and midwives.

He challenged participants to develop competency-based accreditation criteria that would strengthen nursing and midwifery professions and support the movement of qualified health professionals across ECOWAS member states.

He said the framework should also encourage accreditation and networking among health facilities, including hospitals, laboratories, training institutions and research centres, to strengthen regional cooperation.

Pitche expressed appreciation to the Nigerian Government for hosting the workshop and supporting WAHO’s efforts to improve health workforce development across West Africa.

He urged participants to produce a robust and harmonised accreditation framework to improve nursing and midwifery education and contribute to stronger, more resilient health systems across ECOWAS.

Also speaking, Senegalese President Bassirou Faye called for harmonised nursing and midwifery training programmes across ECOWAS member states to improve healthcare delivery and facilitate the movement of health professionals.

Faye, represented by Prof. Awa Coll-Seck, a Senegalese infectious disease specialist, said harmonising training programmes and accreditation criteria would address inconsistencies arising from the increasing liberalisation of nursing and midwifery education.

He said WAHO had developed training modules for nurses and midwives, which had been tested, implemented, evaluated and revised, with the revised programmes currently being implemented.

According to him, common standards for authorising and accrediting training institutions would ensure that nursing and midwifery programmes met acceptable quality requirements across the region.

Faye said the initiative was particularly important to Senegal, which currently holds the ECOWAS presidency, adding that harmonised programmes would support the regional body’s vision for nursing and midwifery education.

He said common training standards would facilitate the movement of nurses and midwives between member states while helping address differences in workforce availability and unemployment across countries.

Faye said that some countries trained more nurses and midwives than their health systems could absorb, while others faced shortages of qualified personnel.

He said a common framework for training programmes and institutional accreditation would help ensure the availability of competent and committed nurses and midwives capable of delivering quality healthcare services.

Faye described nurses and midwives as frontline health workers who often served as the first, and sometimes only, point of contact between communities and the healthcare system.

He said investing in quality training based on performance standards would strengthen the capacity of these professionals and improve access to quality healthcare across West Africa.(NAN)

Edited by Abiemwense Moru