Dr. Anthony Nsiah Asare, Presidential Advisor on Health, has unveiled a comprehensive plan to tackle the alarming brain drain of Ghanaian health workers fleeing the country.
Dr. Asare emphasized that the government is diligently addressing the underlying causes driving health professionals away (push factors) while simultaneously strengthening incentives and opportunities (pull factors) to retain top talent in Ghana.
Accordingly, he announced that, as part of its comprehensive reforms, the government has abolished fees for postgraduate medical education, making specialized training more accessible and affordable for doctors.
“No doctor pays fees for postgraduate studies anymore. We have streamlined the postgraduate system to ensure that all the cumbersome processes that were making the procedure difficult for people who wanted to enroll at the Ghana Postgraduate College have been removed”.
Dr. Anthony Nsiah Asare
Dr. Asare further revealed that the government intends to increase the number of training sites, thereby decentralizing the system, promoting regional accessibility, and offering healthcare professionals more opportunities for career progression and specialization.
To tackle the economic drivers of the brain drain, Dr. Nsiah Asare emphasized the importance of stabilizing the foreign exchange rate, a key factor influencing the financial attractiveness of staying in Ghana versus seeking opportunities abroad.
He pointed out that stabilizing the foreign exchange rate would make local salaries more commensurate with global rates, thereby reducing the allure of higher earnings abroad and encouraging health professionals to remain in Ghana.
Dr. Nsiah Asare also announced a collaborative effort with the private sector to provide residential accommodations for healthcare workers stationed at various facilities, aiming to improve their overall well-being and job satisfaction.
He expressed enthusiasm for private sector partnerships, citing interest from investors to support the government in building residential facilities for doctors, similar to the model used for judges’ accommodations, with the goal of creating a ‘medical village’ adjacent to each hospital.
Gov’t To Introduce Incentives For Rural Doctors
Furthermore, Dr. Anthony Nsiah Asare announced that the government plans to introduce incentives for doctors serving in rural areas, aiming to entice more healthcare professionals to practice in these underserved regions and address the disparities in healthcare delivery.
Dr. Nsiah Asare emphasized that the government’s efforts to improve social amenities in rural areas, such as schools and road infrastructure, will not only enhance the quality of life for healthcare professionals posted there but also make their work easier and more sustainable.
“These are some of the things we are putting in place to make sure that they are happy in addition to promotion. If we do all these, what happened during the early 2000s and 1994 will not be repeated”.
Dr. Anthony Nsiah Asare
He pointed out that in 1994, the government took proactive steps to stem the tide of doctor emigration by introducing incentives like additional duty hours allowances, thereby encouraging them to stay and serve in the country.
Dr. Nsiah Asare added that unfortunately, these incentives were later abolished because some health professionals failed to fulfill their obligations, making the program cumbersome to manage and ultimately leading to its discontinuation.
For years, prominent individuals in Ghana, including health experts, have voiced concerns about the alarming rate of medical brain drain, highlighting the need for urgent attention to address this critical issue.
In a single year, 2023, Ghana lost approximately 4,000 skilled nurses and midwives to foreign countries in search of more favorable working conditions, underscoring the severity of the brain drain phenomenon.
The 43rd Annual General Meeting of the Society of Private Medical and Dental Practitioners (SPMDP) focused on the alarming trend of brain drain in Ghana’s health sector, pledging to play a vital role in reversing this trend.
The SPMDP also called on the government to fulfill its responsibility in retaining healthcare workers, emphasizing the need for collective action to address this critical issue.
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