The Ministry of Health (MoH) is taking proactive steps to mitigate the mass emigration of healthcare professionals to other countries and its impact on Ghana, according to the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu.
He acknowledged that the migration of health workers was a global issue but highlighted that the MoH’s Human Resource Policy Direction aimed to bolster mechanisms for the training, deployment, retention, and reintegration of healthcare personnel to meet both local and global demands.
Kwaku Agyeman-Manu made these remarks during his participation in the Meet-the-Press series in Accra, where he provided an overview of the Ministry’s progress in delivering quality healthcare services.
It’s worth noting that the General Secretary of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), Dr. David Tenkorang-Twum, had revealed that a significant number of nurses were seeking approval from the GRNMA Secretariat to seek better opportunities abroad.
In response to this, Minister Agyeman-Manu explained that the Ministry was actively engaging with local and international frameworks for healthcare workforce deployment and reintegration. Additionally, they were collaborating closely with the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations to streamline migration policies, addressing present and future challenges.
These efforts, the minister emphasized, would enable Ghana to reap both financial and intellectual benefits from the international deployment of healthcare workers through mutually advantageous bilateral agreements.
“Government started managing migration in small quantities from Ghana to Barbados. So the new strategy is that, we will engage those who need some of our nurses to see how best we would allow them go and work,” he said.
Speaking on some achievements chalked by the ministry, he said the establishment of a Vaccine Institute in Ghana, represented a significant advancement in regional healthcare, “This initiative stands out as the second institute in West Africa and the sixth across the entire African continent”.
“In August 2023 the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) was designated as a Regional Centre of Regulatory Excellence in Vaccines Regulatory Oversight in Africa by African Union Development Agency — New Partnership for Africa’s Development,” he said.
The Food and Drug Authority (FDA) has achieved the designation of a World Health Organization (WHO) Prequalified Quality Control Laboratory. According to the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, this designation highlights the FDA’s commitment to enhancing vaccine regulatory capabilities in African regulatory bodies. He emphasized that this achievement aligns with the President’s vision to position Ghana as a vaccine manufacturing hub for the continent.
Minister Agyeman-Manu revealed that the FDA’s Drugs Laboratory, part of the Centre for Laboratory Services and Research, has become the first in the ECOWAS region to attain this status. With this recognition, test results issued by this laboratory will be globally acknowledged, opening doors for locally produced medicines to access international markets and supporting the facilitation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Discussing Ghana’s roadmap to achieving universal health coverage by 2030, Minister Agyeman-Manu stressed the government’s focus on improving access to high-quality healthcare services and reducing preventable maternal, adolescent, child mortality, and disabilities.
He also outlined the Ministry’s mandate to enhance the health status of all residents in Ghana through effective policy formulation, resource mobilization, and monitoring and evaluation. The vision of the health sector, he noted, is to have a healthy population that contributes to national development and the growth of a local health industry. This vision can be realized by promoting health and well-being and ensuring access to quality healthcare for all Ghanaian residents.
Regarding the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Minister Agyeman-Manu mentioned that the total enrollment has reached 17.2 million annual active members, representing 54.5% coverage of the population, just below the 57% target.