The Deputy Health Minister-designate and Member of Parliament for Akim Oda in the Eastern Region, Alexander Akwasi Acquah, has proposed a strategy to address the issue of unemployed nurses by suggesting their training and exportation to generate funds for the country.
Amid concerns raised by
stakeholders about health professionals leaving Ghana due to unfavourable
working conditions, a December 2023 report by the Ghana Health Service revealed
that 3,688 health personnel had departed the country in the last three years.
In an interview on Eyewitness
News on Citi FM with Selorm Adonoo on February 16, 2024, Mr Acquah
emphasized that Ghana possesses numerous nursing training institutions capable
of training and shaping more unemployed health professionals. Exporting them
could provide a means to generate funds for national development.
He noted that despite
the demand for individuals entering the nursing field and the existence of
institutions capable of training them, the quota system poses a challenge.
While recognizing the government’s efforts in employing many nurses, Mr Acquah
highlighted that there are still unemployed nurses, leading to the proposal of
exporting them.
Mr. Acquah urged the
reconsideration of the quota system, advocating for its removal to allow for
the training and exportation of more students. This, he believes, would not
only reduce unemployment levels in the country but also contribute to
generating revenue.
“We have Nurses today in
Ghana who want employment. As a politician, as someone on the health committee
and someone who has links to many hospitals, you have a lot of people coming to
you that I want the job. I mean they’ve finished school, postings have not
come, government is not able to place all of them even though the government
has done so well.
“This government has
employed so many people, the backlog has been cleared up to this point but we
still have some few nurses at home. So if these have been trained and packaged
well, and they are taken out, we have a lot of people, because we have a lot of
training schools now and we have a lot of people who want to enter into the
Nursing profession because not everyone wants to go the university and the
other training institutions.”
Source: Citinews
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