Doctor Brain Drain Ends

-As More Medical Officers Prefer To Stay and Work In Ghana

The seasoned journalist indicated that he has asked for audios and videos of the said "insurrection" training of NPP members by the Serbians which features Mr Afoko addressing the workshop in his capacity as National Chairman, and will soon make them public once he receives them.

However, contrary to this promise, the veteran journalist rather in a series of publications in his paper dubbed ‘War of Attrition’ published pictures culled from the supposed video and purported accounts by some so-called beneficiaries of the “militancy training program.”

Following this development, a source close to Afoko told this paper that “Kweku Baako is more than Chairman’s worse enemy. I don’t believe a true or even casual friend will go about peddling lies about a friend.” Stay tuned

Contrary to claims by the 2016 flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Akufo-Addo that achievements being touted by the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress government are non-existent, a consultant obstetrician and gynecologist, Prof Baffour Opoku has stated that huge investment in the health sector by the government has drastically reduced Brain drain among medical doctors in Ghana.

According to Prof Baffour Opoku, who is also a lecturer at the School of Medical Science at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, brain drain among medical doctors in Ghana has considerably reduced by about 95 percent.

Explaining why Ghanaian doctors now prefer to work in the country instead of joining the bandwagon of seeking greener pasture abroad, Prof Baffour Opoku stated on Ultimate Fm that aside government’s heavy investment in the health sector and doctors now enjoying better conditions of service and better remuneration since the introduction by the NDC government of the single spine pay policy.

He added also that, the introduction of the Ghana College of post graduate studies which offers graduate doctors the opportunity to further studies in the country has also helped to chalk these positive feet.

Prof Baffour Opoku’s statement affirms President Mahama’s recent pronouncement that his government has spent more on infrastructure in the health sector than any other government.

Speaking on Accra-based Uniiq FM as Ghana marked International Youth Day, President Mahama said “this period has seen some of the heaviest investment in health infrastructure. We have spent in excess of $1 billion dollars on health infrastructure alone".

“Regional hospitals, district hospitals…they are too numerous to mention”, he listed.

Amongst the projects being undertaken, he said, are the Ridge Hospital, Police Hospital and the construction of a new teaching hospital at the University of Ghana, Legon, adding that the country’s largest hospital, Korle Bu and the Tamale teaching Hospitals have all been re-equipped.

The President also indicated that the Wa Hospital and the new Military Hospital in Kumasi are being constructed.

He said government has secured funding for the construction of five polyclinics in the Brong Ahafo region, another five in the Western Region, Accra and 10 more in the Central region.

“The investment is phenomenal,” he said adding “the Tepa Hospital is ongoing, Konongo Hospital and Nsawkaw hospital…I mean there are just so many of them that are taking place”.

“We are building also hundreds of CHIPS compounds in rural areas that are hard to reach and we are staffing them with professionals that can help reduce maternal mortality and treat small ailments, there’s so much that is going on,” he added.

But Nana Akufo-Addo has downplayed the president’s achievements, stating that instead of the Mahama government to proffer solutions to the myriad of problems facing the country to lessen the hardship of Ghanaians, government’s only reaction has been to throw a ‘green book’ in the face of Ghanaians, hoping that all the problems will be solved by this

“This book supposedly sets out a record of its infrastructural projects, many of which have turned out to be artists’ impressions and non-existent on the ground. Others are the work of the former NPP government. The ‘green book’ fails to tell Ghanaians why the economy has degenerated so markedly under the management of a government that has received more monies, in terms of revenues, taxes, and loans, than any other government in our history, and what is being done to fix it so Ghana can be put back onto the path of progress and prosperity. The return of the country into the embrace of the IMF is eloquent testimony to the difficulties the Ghanaian people face. Ghanaians are clearly in an anxious mood,” he stressed.