Recent developments have shed light on a distressing situation within Ghana’s healthcare sector, revealing a significant backlog of unemployed healthcare graduates.
Dr. Kwame Asiedu Sarpong, a Democracy and Development Fellow in Public Health at the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), commenting on the matter posited that the government’s announcement of commencing the employment of nurses, prioritizing those who graduated in 2020 inadvertently highlighted the prolonged unemployment period these graduates have faced.
He pointed out that the prioritization of 2020 graduates underscores the fact that these nurses have been unemployed for nearly four years.
This prolonged delay in employment, Dr Sarpong noted has not only affected nurses but also other healthcare professionals, including doctors and pharmacists.
“Yesterday, the President of the Ghana Medical Association Dr Frank Siribuor pointed out that a main driver of health worker migration in Ghana was the lag time between graduation and employment. He stated that many of these health workers obtain the requisite requirements for the country of their choice during this lag time and pointed out that as a result, almost 50% of all junior doctors who have trained in Ghana in recent years have left the country”.
Dr Kwame Asiedu Sarpong, Democracy and Development Fellow in Public Health at the Ghana Centre for Democracy and Development
The renowned Pharmacist further pointed out that the situation is no different with the Pharmaceutical sector of the country’s health system.
He indicated that Dr. Samuel Kow Donkoh, President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, in a recent statement echoed similar concerns, disclosing that the last time the government employed pharmacists in the Ghana Health Service was in 2020.
This prolonged hiatus, Dr Sarpong stated according to Dr Donkor has left many newly qualified pharmacists without employment, exacerbating the already critical shortage of healthcare professionals in the country.
Dr Kwame Asiedu Sarpong also indicated that his checks with other allied health professionals’ associations indicate that the situation is no different for their members.
He firmly mentioned that there is an alarming backlog of approximately four years of graduated healthcare professionals who remain unemployed.
This widespread unemployment among healthcare graduates Dr Sarpong noted is not only a professional setback for these individuals but also a significant threat to the quality of healthcare services available to citizens.
Government’s False Narrative Exposed
The Centre for Democratic and Development Fellow in Public Health, in a scathing critique of the government’s narrative over the years, condemned propagandists and apologists who have falsely claimed since 2020 that there is no backlog of unemployed healthcare professionals.
He expressed particular disappointment in doctors, pharmacists, and nurses who, despite their professional knowledge, have perpetuated these falsehoods out of extreme partisanship.
Their actions, he argued, compromise their colleagues and undermine the quality of healthcare in Ghana.
“My disappointment with this cohort is that as a result of their extreme partisanship, they are prepared to lie through their teeth whilst compromising their professional colleagues and putting the quality of healthcare citizens receive at risk. How caning can you be? Even foxes have stopped behaving this way”.
Dr Kwame Asiedu Sarpong, Democracy and Development Fellow in Public Health at the Ghana Centre for Democracy and Development
A Call for Accountability and Integrity
Dr. Asiedu Sarpong’s condemnation extended to those who have attempted to discredit voices of truth over the years.
He called on citizens to recognize and reject these propagandists, who prioritize their political parties over the well-being of the country’s healthcare system.
He urged the public to seek out truthful information and avoid being swayed by those who would mislead them for political gain.
“All they care about is their political party and they will even try convincing you that all rivers in Ghana are green in colour’, Dr Sarpong concluded.
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