Engage doctors to avoid needless deaths – Minority to govt

The Minority in Parliament has called on the government to immediately engage the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) and address their concerns to avoid needless deaths.

The leadership of the GMA has given government up to next week Monday to review their expired conditions of service agreement entered into under the Mahama administration or see doctors across the country withdraw their services.

According to the GMA, they will begin by withdrawing services for Out-Patient Departments and subsequently withdraw all services if their demands are not met.

Speaking to Starr News, minority spokesperson on Health, Kwabena Minta Akandor asked President Akufo-Addo to abandon his globetrotting and return home to address concerns of the doctors.

According to the Juaboso MP, the government will be held responsible for any deaths arising from the strike.

“As a matter of urgency, I believe that the President should stop globetrotting and listen to the medical doctors, these are the fundamental issues bothering Ghanaians. You cannot pretend that you have not heard your medical doctors speak and be travelling from country to country…if they decide to strike for an hour, we will begin to lose souls.”

“They (government) is very much interested in the unnecessary things more than the necessary...if it is not going for loans for their own campaigns and it is about the real job of the country, they are not interested,” Mr Akandor told Starr News’ Parliamentary correspondent Ibrahim Alhassan.

Sharing the expectation of the minority ahead of the budget presentation tomorrow, Mr Akandor asked for the government to devote funds in completing all abandoned health facilities started by the Mahama administration and operationalize them as well as revive the ailing NHIS.