Indicator 3.c.1 Health worker density and distribution

Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Target 3.c: Substantially increase health financing and the recruitment, development, training and retention of the health workforce in developing countries, especially in least developed countries and small island developing States

Indicator 3.c.1: Health worker density and distribution

This indicator measures the densities of medical doctors, nursing and midwifery personnel, dentists as well as pharmacists per 10,000 population. The indicator also measures the health worker distribution by gender for selected occupations. The occupations are based on the National Occupational Classification [NOC] 2021 Version 1.0 occupation codes as mapped to the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-08).

Calculated by dividing the number of health care professionals working in direct care in each health region or province/territory by population estimates and multiplying by 10,000.

Density of medical doctors = ((NOC: 31101 Specialists in surgery + NOC: 31102 General practitioners and family physicians) / Population) x 10,000.

Density of nursing and midwifery personnel = ((NOC: 31301 Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses + NOC: 31302 Nurse practitioners + NOC: 31303 Physician assistants, midwives and allied health professionals) / Population) x 10,000

Density of dentists = (NOC: 31110 Dentists / Population) x 10,000

Density of pharmacists = (NOC: 31120 Pharmacists / Population) x 10,000