GMA urges govt to address economic situation to prevent brain drain

The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) is urging the government to expedite action aimed at addressing the worsening economic situation in the country to reduce the brain drain in the health sector.

The Association says doctors and other healthcare workers are leaving the country in droves as a result of the local economic conditions as well as a surge in demand for their services abroad due to the ravaging effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking to Citi News, General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association Dr. Titus Beyuo appealed to the doctors and other healthcare workers not to leave the country as it works with government for better conditions of service

He further charged government to be more deliberate in salvaging the economic conditions.

“It’s unfortunate we find ourselves here, but let’s stay in the country and work together instead of getting out of the country. If you relocate and change your entire path, or quit the service, that is a permanent solution you have created for what seems to be a very temporary problem. So let us try to be committed and hopeful with correct leadership, management at the helm of affairs in the country and at the health service, hopefully, we will overcome this. But government must be more deliberate at it and not let this go lightly,” the General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association said.

In May 2022, Dr. Beyuo expressed concern that the Agenda 111 project had failed to take into account the issue of human resources in the health sector.

“Agenda 111 [initiative] appears to be disconnected from the HR policies of the Ministry of Health, and that is a fundamental worry. As we speak, doctors and nurses are leaving this country in droves. Brain drain has returned in full swing,” Dr. Beyuo said in an interview on TV3 in May 2022.