Brain drain in health sector: Developed countries unethically taking away our scarce resources – Dr. Nsia-Asare

Developed countries luring health professionals from Ghana, Dr. Nsia-Asare

We are now subsidizing health delivery for advanced countries - Dr. Nsia-Asare

Doctors and nurses are leaving the country in droves – GMA

The Presidential advisor on Health, Dr Anthony Nsiah-Asare, has bemoaned the increasing rate by which doctors and nurses are leaving Ghana to practice abroad.

Speaking at an International Nurses Day event on Thursday, May 12, Dr Nsia-Asare indicated that the developing countries are unethically taking away Ghana’s scarce resources by luring them to fill the gaps created in their health sectors by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He added that the brain drain of health professionals was hurting Ghana’s health sector and rather subsidizing the health services delivery for advanced countries since Ghana uses its resources to train these doctors and nurses, 3news.com reports.

“I think the unethical way that the developed countries are trying to take our scarce health resources of this country is not the right thing to do. Ghana, like other developing counties, is seeing an increase in migration of our professional nurses to high-income countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and other countries as a result of the global shortage of nurses, caused partly by the impact of the coronavirus.

“This trend is quite worrying and it amounts to a massive public subsidy to the wealthier nations, so we are subsidizing their health care system, given the fact that nursing education in Ghana is mainly publicly financed, it also threatens to worsen the nurse-patient ratio and for that matter our ability to accelerate our progress towards universal health coverage which is a top priority of this government,” he said.

Dr Nsia-Asare urged health professionals trained in the country to, like him, stay in the country to contribute to its development, particularly in the health sector.

“Bear in mind that Ghanaians are looking up to you in their quest to maintain their health,” he added.

The Presidential advisor on Health comments come after the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) called on the government to put measures in place to curb the mass departure of health professionals from the country.

According to the General Secretary of the GMA, Dr. Titus Beyuo Titus Beyuo, the brain drain in the health sector is now massive and if the government fails to address it there will be problems in Ghana’s health sector.

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