The President of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Professor Ernest Yorke, has highlighted the persistent challenges preventing newly posted medical doctors from reporting to underserved areas, calling for urgent government intervention to provide both incentives and adequate facilities.
The concerns come after the Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, granted newly assigned doctors an additional week to report to their duty stations following what he described as an “alarming” nationwide refusal to take up postings.
Mr. Akandoh revealed that initial reporting figures were “not encouraging,” with seven out of every ten newly posted doctors failing to report.
The situation is particularly acute in the Upper West and Upper East regions, which recorded no arrivals as of Friday, November 28.
Prof Yorke noted that while many doctors are willing to take up their posts, issues related to remuneration, incentives, and working conditions discourage them from reporting to deprived areas.
“The situation is a classic chicken-and-egg scenario, which can go either way. There could be an incentive leading to the sacrifice, or we can have the sacrifice leading to the incentive, or we can do both at the same time. I would go for the latter,” he said.
“We are calling on our members to continue sacrificing and accepting postings, but we are asking that the government appreciate their acceptance.”
Prof Yorke emphasised that postings to deprived areas should come with appropriate incentives.
“If you go to a developed place and if you accept postings to a much more deprived area, there is an incentive for you. It has been done elsewhere, and it is doable here as well,” he said, adding that the Ministry of Health already has a document called the Deprived Area Incentive, developed by the GMA, which is yet to be implemented.
He further cited limited opportunities for post-graduate training in these regions, sometimes requiring doctors to pay significant sums to become specialists.
Beyond manpower, Prof Yorke stressed the need for adequate medical facilities, pointing to the unfinished projects under Agenda 111.
“It is not just the human manpower that is needed; it is also the facilities to work with. Can we partner with private persons to complete these facilities so that we can get them running?” he asked.
According to Prof Yorke, while posting acceptance rates in Greater Accra, Central, and Ashanti regions have been satisfactory, the rest of the country continues to face critical shortages.
He urged the government to engage in dialogue with the public to find practical solutions that would ensure medical care reaches deprived communities.
