Accra, Oct. 2, GNA - Dr Kwaku Afriyie, Minister of Health on Thursday said the migration of health professionals to seek greener pastures in the developed countries was threatening healthcare delivery in the country. Addressing an International Meeting of the Joint Learning Initiative Working Group on Africa, in Accra, Dr Afriyie said various measures instituted by government to reduce the tide such as the introduction of financial incentives, creation of opportunities for local post-basic and specialists training in the country and abroad had not helped much to stop the migration. "I must admit that the financial rewards and conditions of service in the countries Ghanaian professionals drift to are much more attractive than what we could afford," he said.
The meeting, which is sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation and the World Bank, would look into the problem of migration of health professionals from Africa and identify strategies to complement governments' efforts in solving it. The Minister said since any successful implementation of health programmes depended on the quantity and quality of human resources, government would not relent in its efforts to pursue pragmatic policies within its limited resources to address the Sector's human resources problems.
Dr Afriyie asked the participants to come out with strategic options that could help address the human resource problem. He said: "We need to look at issues of funding human resources for health, making sure that our development agenda and investments into health infrastructure and service expansion are linked clearly to human resources requirements including their motivation and retention." Dr Ken Sagoe, Human Resource Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), said a decentralized system of recruitment and promotions within the health service was one way to boost staff morale and increase productivity. He said the often long and difficult recruitment and promotion procedures under the current centralised system in the Service were a major disincentive to qualified health professionals taking up appointment with the Service.
Dr Sagoe, who presented the national overview on how to improve working conditions of health professionals, said a comprehensive reward package for health professionals, improved pensions and a housing loan were some other incentives that could help improve health care delivery in the country and stem the migration tide. Professor Gilles Dussault, Senior Health Policy Specialist at the World Bank, said unless countries in Africa came out with clear programmes aimed at creating opportunities for the development of health professionals the trend would continue.
