The UK government has ended the Global Health Workforce Programme (GHWP), a flagship health project supporting six African countries, which ministers had previously hailed as vital for protecting Britain from future pandemics. The decision, confirmed by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), follows a reduction in overseas aid spending from 0.5% to 0.3% of GDP announced by the Labour government last year.
The programme, which funded training and development for healthcare staff in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Malawi and Somaliland, will close at the end of March. Ben Simms, chief executive of Global Health Partnerships, which ran the scheme, described the move as a “genuinely historic decision” that risks the UK ceding ground in global health. The programme had been renewed in 2023 under the previous Conservative government, with then health minister Will Quince emphasising its role in boosting global pandemic preparedness.
In Kenya, one project run by the Power for the People Africa Trust used GHWP funding to train staff addressing gender-based violence and reducing teenage pregnancies and HIV infections in Homa Bay county. Caren Okombo of the trust warned that gains would reverse, and that unchecked infections could cross borders and reach the UK. FCDO minister Chris Elmore stated that with less money, the government must make choices and focus on greater impact, while efforts are made to ensure sustainability of projects beyond the programme's lifetime.
An aid review by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact this week found that budget allocation in recent years was not always based on shared strategic priorities or evidence of value for money. Global Health Partnerships stressed that cutting investment in health workforce development has real human consequences and ultimately costs more in the long run, adding that partnerships require sustained investment and once cut, are difficult to restore.
