Accra, Jan 21, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Wednesday appealed to Ghana's developing partners for more assistance in the health sector to reduce the high rate of brain drain.
He said Ghana would need more resources for the training of health personnel especially the College of Physicians and Surgeons to stem the brain drain since many Doctors leave the shores of the country for further studies.
President Kufuor made the appeal when a delegation from the African Development Foundation (ADF) led by Mr Claude A. Allen, Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, paid a courtesy call on him at the Castle, Osu.
The Foundation is a United States Government Agency that supports community-based development programmes in 15 African countries. President Kufuor said Government would use its meagre resources to help improve the health needs of the people and commended the US for her assistance in the provision of funds and retroviral drugs to reduce the effects of HIV/AIDS pandemic in Ghana.
"We also need more assistance in the fight against Guinea worm and Buruli Ulcer infestation in endemic areas in the country", he said. He appealed to the Foundation and other institutions and organizations in the US to take advantage of the Talent Bank being established by the Ghana Embassy in the US to assist Ghanaian professionals to visit home regularly to transfer their knowledge and technical know-how.
Mr Allen said improvement in US assistance to Ghana had been the result of her leadership role and commitment to democracy, freedom and peace.
He said the focus of the Foundation was to assist at the community level since the communities had the potentials to create jobs and improve health care especially for the elderly and the disabled. Mr Allen said the US looked up to Ghana to benefit from the 15 billion dollars Fund it had established for the fight against HIV/AIDS. He said Ghana was not included in the initial beneficiaries because the prevalent rate was low and the method it was using to reduce the pandemic was good.
Mr Allen commended the government for its commitment to eradicate poliomyelitis and pledged the Foundation's assistance toward that end as well as support research on the causes and eradication of Buruli Ulcer in Ghana.
The Foundation has provided support for development in Ghana since 1985 and is currently supporting 14 projects estimated at 23.5 billion cedis.
The delegation during the visit would also evaluate progress toward implementing projects to help Ghanaian entrepreneurs scale up their operations and develop high quality products for sale in international markets.
Last year, the Foundation entered into a five-year strategic partnership with the Government to help the country expand its international trade and investment efforts and to assist Ghanaian entrepreneurs in marketing consumer goods in the United States under the provisions of the African Growth and Opportunity Act of 2000. The two strategic objectives of the Foundation's new programme in Ghana included supporting the development, increased competitiveness and profitability of indigenous small and medium enterprises and increase enterprise participation in trade and investment partnerships with the United States and other countries.
Both the Foundation and the Government has committed about 8.5 billion cedis annually in support of approximately 40 Ghanaian businesses with the aim of creating an active cluster of profitable businesses capable of selling goods widely in Ghana, West Africa and Internationally within five years.
The Foundation has already designed and is finalizing funding arrangements for four projects involving, tomato processing and canning, maize grits production, organic citrus peel and juice processing and bamboo furniture manufacturing.
It would have four additional projects ready for funding later this year.
