Health Minister Under Fire

Dr. Kwaku Afriyie, the Minister of Health, has been brought under attack by the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) over his lackadaisical attitude towards the negotiations on conditions of service for doctors and other health professionals.

According to the GMA, the unsubstantiated pronouncement, actions and inactionsof the minister have put impediments to the speedy conclusions of the negotiations.

The GMA said this in a press statement issued here in Sunyani, after a two-day extra-ordinary general meeting to deliberate on what they termed as slow pace of negotiations with the government on the conditions of service for all health professionals in the country.

The GMA has therefore given the government an ultimatum of up to October 31, this year to complete the negotiations, else it would advise itself.

Delivering the press statement to journalists, the president of the association, Dr. Jacob Plange-Rhule stated that doctors still maintain that salaries and conditions of service for the health professionals must be improved, government must show commitment to the process of the negotiations with the leadership of the joint health professional groupings.

He added that government should negotiate to conclusion, the full content of the joint proposals submitted to her by the health professionals.

Dr. Plange-Rhule regretted that over two years now, proposals for improved remuneration and conditions of service was jointly presented to the government by the leadership of the health professionals, but up to date, little had been done about it by the government.

The GMA president said health professionals have been patient, understanding and accommodating of the government attitude and approach to resolve the issues once and for all.

The GMA boss stressed that the government has remained evasive and continues to pay lip service to the negotiations.

On the brain drain episode that has plagued the country's health sector for sometime now, Dr. Plange-Rhule said it is due to poor remuneration and conditions of service, and that "compared to the other West Africa countries, their salaries are far better than that of Ghana.

He revealed that currently one can see a Ghanaian doctor working for the other countries in the sub-region, but it is impossible to see any doctor from the sub-region working in the country's hospitals.

Giving statistics of how health workers in the country are declining, Dr. Plange-Rhule stated that in 1996 the doctors and nurses population was 1,154 and 14,932 respectively.

But in 1998 the population had decreased drastically to 1,132 for doctors and increased a little for nurses.

In 2000, the casualty of the brain drain had reduced the doctors to 1,015 and the nurses figure declined to 13,742 and in 2002 it further declined to 964 and 11,325 for doctors and nurses respectively.

Dr. Rhule attributed the decline to poor remuneration and conditions of service, lack of future security, career progression opportunities, inadequate health facilities and attraction of better remuneration and conditions of service in the neighbouring countries and other countries aggravated by the active recruitment by agents of these countries.

The doctors were of the view that despite the government's effort at improving health delivery, infrastructures and logistics in the country, such as building new hospitals and equipping them and the provisions of vehicles would be meaningless, if it continues to remain adamant to the plight of the health workers.

Dr. Rhule announced that last year, alone more that 25 doctors died but could not tell the source of the deaths.

He also touched on the increase of quack doctors who are making many Ghanaians die every day, saying "all is due to shortage of doctors in the system."