Narrative review: Continuous professional development training programmes in Africa and their limitations

Continuous professional development (CPD) represents a cornerstone in the advancement of professional skills and knowledge across various sectors. It is globally recognised as a transformative process that unlocks potential, increases capacity, and fosters personal growth. This narrative review article aimed to understand how the CPD training programmes for laboratory professionals are implemented and sustained in Africa. A narrative review was conducted where a comprehensive search was conducted across PubMed, Embase, and web searches for white and/or grey literature, facilitated by a custom Python script. A combination of keywords, truncations, and subject headings targeted four key themes: Continuing professional development (and related terms), laboratory professionals, African countries, and aspects of implementation and scoring. The search was restricted to articles in English published from 2009 to 2024. While the actual training needs and gaps for CPD programmes are widely known, the actual implementation of CPD has remained a challenge. In the past, CPD training programmes have been implemented to address the lack of skills and the insufficient and skewed distribution of these health workers. This approach is not sustainable and has led to some challenges with coordination, quality assurance, and regulation. Each country has its unique context and training needs; therefore, CPD needs to be more coordinated and tailored so that professionals are given the right training for their needs.

Addressing training gaps for laboratory professionals in Africa will require a well-structured, coordinated and tailored approach that will deliver a continent-wide CPD programme.