The Ministry of Health has indicated that there are plans to constitute a governing board for the Allied Health Professions Council.
According to the Ministry, it has submitted a list of names to the Council of State for consideration and hopes to receive a response soon.
This response comes at a time when a nationwide strike by Allied Health Professionals has left scores of people stranded at various public health facilities as they cannot access services such as laboratory and radiology services.
The Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Health, Elorm Ametepe in a Citi News interview urged the professionals to return to work as the board will soon be inaugurated.
“[The proposed list] has been submitted to the Council of State so they are doing their background check and any other thing they have to do before it is given back to the Ministry to inaugurate the board. I cannot really give timelines. What I know is that, it is an effective council and they are doing their work and they will come out with the list. I don’t think there will be any delay. We are appealing to them to resume work while the council of state work on the list and we also take the steps to ensure that the board is inaugurated,” he said.
Ghana Federation of Allied Health Professions’s strike is to protest the nonexistence of a board for their Council 29 months after the previous one was dissolved.
Their other justification for the strike was that nothing has been done with regard to the non-inclusion of the Allied Health Professionals in the proposed amendments to the Governing Boards of Ghana Health Service and Teaching Hospital Act, 1996 (Act 525).
Professionals who are part of the strike include the Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists (GAMLS), Ghana Physiotherapy Association (GPA), Ghana Society of Radiographers (GSR), Ghana Optometric Association (GOA), Ghana Dietetic Association (GDA) and the Ghana Association Of Prosthetics And Orthotics (GHAPO).
The others are, Ghana Health Information Management Association (GHIMA), Ghana Society Of Medical Physicists (GSMP), Ghana National Association Of Public Health Technical Officers (GAPHTO), Ghana Association Of Community Mental Health Officers (GNACMHOS), Ghana Para-Dental Association (GPA), Oral Health Professionals Association Of Ghana (OHPAG) and Opticians Association Of Ghana (OAG).
Some more members are the Health Promotion Association Of Ghana (HPAG), Nutrition Association Of Ghana (NAG), Ghana Environmental Health Officers Association (GEHOA) and Speech Therapy & Audiology Association Of Ghana (STAAG).