The Member of Parliament for Yendi, Abdul-Fatawu Alhassan, has underscored the need for Ghana to train more specialised health professionals to position the country for global health service exports.
According to him, the majority of health professionals in Ghana are general practitioners, a situation that limits their employability both locally and abroad. He noted that this lack of specialisation contributes to unemployment among health workers, often leading to protests and industrial actions.
Speaking on Breakfast Daily on Channel One TV on Tuesday, October 14, Mr. Alhassan urged the Ministry of Health to prioritise the training of health professionals in specialised fields to support the government’s health export agenda.
“Unfortunately for Ghana, we have spent resources training general nurses. Even though we have the appetite to export, we don’t have the human resource capital because almost all our nurses are generally trained,” he suggested.
He suggested that nursing and medical education curricula should be revised to produce professionals with specialised skills in high-demand areas.
“My first call is that the Health Ministry, as far as the education of our nurses is concerned, should take up the challenge of ensuring that from now onwards, the professionals coming out are trained to specialise in various fields.
“You must specialise in something; you should not just be a general nurse, so that if the nation cannot absorb you, you can be exported. Let’s prepare them for the international market, if there is demand for it,” the MP added.
Mr. Alhassan cited examples of countries that have benefited significantly from exporting specialised health professionals, noting that such initiatives could help reduce unemployment in Ghana’s health sector.
His comments come on the heels of the government’s recent settlement of salary arrears owed to health professionals across the country.
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