The Vice President of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has urged the government to put in place appropriate monetary and non-monetary incentive packages to attract and retain health personnel in underserved areas.
The government, according to Dr. Justice Yankson, has not done enough to ensure that doctors and nurses accept postings in rural areas.
On Friday's Top Story, he stated that "these problems would be amplified" if these incentives were not in place.
"The state is required under our constitution to ensure that the people of Ghana have access to medical treatment." Look, as an employer, you cannot compel a professional or anyone to work for you, and the government must be aware of this.
"Once the state has been ordered to offer the greatest health care for us, the state has a responsibility to ensure that they are able to train, recruit, and keep these professionals," he stated.
The government's inability to attract and retain doctors, according to Dr. Yankson, contributes to some doctors preferring brighter pastures outside the country.
"The fundamentals don't work." You sign a basic employment contract with the employer and it is not executed; you go to work and the facilities that should exist for you to work with are not always available. Sometimes there aren't any opportunities for you to advance your job, therefore we shouldn't isolate ourselves.
He did, however, say that the government has just organized a committee to draft a document of this sort through the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service, and that GMA hopes the document would be completed and implemented to the letter.
President Akufo Addo delivered a speech on Friday at the 60th anniversary of the University of Ghana Medical School (UGMS), in which he criticized the refusal of some doctors and dentists to accept postings in poor areas of the country, describing the situation as "distressing."
The development, according to President Akufo-Addo, is impeding effective healthcare delivery in these communities.
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