In low-income countries, the availability of doctors and nurses is approximately what fraction of that in high-income countries?

• A. One-half
• B. One-quarter
• C. One-tenth
• D. One-third

Answer: (C)

Global health workforce availability varies dramatically by country income level. In many low-income countries, the number of doctors and nurses per person is far below that in high-income countries, reflecting a substantial shortage of health workers. The best choice captures this large disparity by saying health workers are about one-tenth as available in low-income countries as in high-income ones. Put differently, if high-income countries have roughly a couple of doctors per 1,000 people, low-income countries often have around a tenth of that density. This order-of-magnitude gap explains why the one-tenth figure is the most accurate representation. The other fractions would imply much smaller differences that don’t align with the well-documented workforce shortages in low-income settings.