More than half of Walloon municipalities are still facing a shortage of general practitioners, according to the latest official census by the Walloon Agency for Quality of Life (Aviq).
Out of the 252 Walloon municipalities, excluding the nine German-speaking ones, 132 were still dealing with a lack of doctors in 2024, as revealed by Aviq and reported by Le Journal du Médecin.
Despite this ongoing shortage, the number of active general practitioners in Wallonia increased by 346 between 2016 and 2024. Last week, Sudinfo highlighted the same upward trend for Namur province, based on Aviq’s data.
Only Luxembourg province experienced a decline during the same period, losing 18 general practitioners over eight years.
Meanwhile, the demographic profile of general practitioners has shifted, with Aviq’s census showing they are younger.
However, the proportion of doctors aged 65 and older, who are likely to retire soon, has seen a slight increase since 2016.
