Parliament approves GH¢15.2b for Health Ministry, GH¢8.7b to be spent on salaries

Parliament has approved an amount of GH¢15 billion for the services of the Ministry of Health for the year 2024.

The Ministry is expected to prioritize the production, deployment, and retention of the health workforce through labor market analysis and focus on the local production of anti-snake venom and other vaccines, with the newly created National Vaccine Institute as its first step towards local vaccine production.

The Health Ministry also aims to complete and commission ongoing capital projects in 2024.

The Chairman of the Health Committee of Parliament, Dr. Ayew Afriyie, expressed concern over the significant allocation for staff salaries and other compensations and called for measures to reduce the high attrition rate within the health sector.

“Mr. Speaker, the Ministry has approved a budget of GH¢15.2 billion. Out of this amount, GH¢8.7 billion was allocated for compensation. Almost 70 percent goes to human resources and compensation. If the health sector continues to spend more than 70 percent of its budget on human resources, then we are going nowhere.”

“Also, it is interesting to note that there is an interesting revelation as far as attrition is concerned because health professionals are leaving and so the Ministry should be up and doing with its clearance to recruit new staff.”