The Minister of Health designate, Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye, has stated that he will engage health workers to find ways of reducing the numbers of health professionals travelling abroad to seek greener pastures.
In his first interview after his February 14 appointment, Dr. Okoe Boye emphasized that it is sometimes not about the programs a government or leader implements but rather about engagements and collaborations that go a long way toward significantly impacting the feelings of a social group.
He told Bernard Avle on the Citi Breakfast Show on Citi FM that “Sometimes, it is not the programmes you introduce but the relationships you make and keep, and having the right things in place. When you talk to people, they will know that they have someone who is willing to listen to them and help you achieve your goals. If you make the stakeholders happy and understand what you are about, then you are well on your way to making a mark.”
He further referenced the two major policies President John Agyekum Kufuor implemented that slowed down the exodus of health professionals between 2001 and 2009.
“When Kufour came, there were two major interventions that he put in place and all of a sudden, the immigration of doctors slowed down. He established the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, and before he came, for you to become a specialist, you had to go to Sierra Leone, the Gambia, and others had to go to the UK to be a specialist. Because doctors could not see their way clear in terms of advancing themselves, they had no option than to leave. But once the College was established, it slowed down the immigration significantly. The second was a waiver for importing cars because most doctors said they struggled a lot to own a car, and so a waiver was given, which slowed down the immigration.
“So I will meet them, and when you meet those in the field, they can tell you two, three things that when you put in place, their state of mind and pressure calm down, and I believe it is possible.”
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