The Ghana Federation of Allied Health Professionals has called off their nationwide sit-down strike following a meeting with officials of the Health Ministry and the Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Nsiah Asare.
The group said it is calling off the action for two weeks to allow the Ministry to implement the road map they had agreed to.
The decision suggests that they could decide again to vacate their posts if authorities do not honour their obligations as discussed at the meeting.
The Professionals in a statement said, “in the spirit of good faith has suspended the sit down strike with immediate effect to allow for a swift and final resolution of the impasse by 7th June, 2019. The federation shall continue to put pressure on government using every lawful available to us.
The Allied Health Professionals embarked on a nationwide sit-down strike on May 14, 2019 in protest of government’s reluctance to institute a governing board more than two years since the last one was dissolved.
The Ministry of Health had earlier assured the striking professionals that processes were far advanced to have the board set up.
The Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Health, Elorm Ametepe in a Citi News interview said that a list has been given to the Council of State for perusal.
“[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.
The 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).