The Deputy Health Minister-designate and Member of Parliament for Akim Oda in the Eastern Region, Alexander Akwasi Acquah, has proposed a strategy to address the issue of unemployed nurses by suggesting their training and exportation to generate funds for the country.
Amid concerns raised by stakeholders about health professionals leaving Ghana due to unfavourable working conditions, a December 2023 report by the Ghana Health Service revealed that 3,688 health personnel had departed the country in the last three years.
In an interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM with Selorm Adonoo on February 16, 2024, Mr Acquah emphasized that Ghana possesses numerous nursing training institutions capable of training and shaping more unemployed health professionals. Exporting them could provide a means to generate funds for national development.
He noted that despite the demand for individuals entering the nursing field and the existence of institutions capable of training them, the quota system poses a challenge. While recognizing the government’s efforts in employing many nurses, Mr Acquah highlighted that there are still unemployed nurses, leading to the proposal of exporting them.
Mr. Acquah urged the reconsideration of the quota system, advocating for its removal to allow for the training and exportation of more students. This, he believes, would not only reduce unemployment levels in the country but also contribute to generating revenue.
“We have Nurses today in Ghana who want employment. As a politician, as someone on the health committee and someone who has links to many hospitals, you have a lot of people coming to you that I want the job. I mean they’ve finished school, postings have not come, government is not able to place all of them even though the government has done so well.
“This government has employed so many people, the backlog has been cleared up to this point but we still have some few nurses at home. So if these have been trained and packaged well, and they are taken out, we have a lot of people, because we have a lot of training schools now and we have a lot of people who want to enter into the Nursing profession because not everyone wants to go the university and the other training institutions.”
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