Doctors Down Tools Over High Fees Charged For Transcripts

Accra, Ghana (PANA) - Junior doctors, including those doing their internship at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Monday embarked on a strike over the high fees the University of Ghana Medical School is charging for academic transcripts.

The management of the hospital, the biggest in Ghana, held a crisis meeting Monday morning to find a solution.

A source close to the hospital said the management must not be held to ransom over the issue since it falls under the jurisdiction of the education ministry.

According to the source, the doctors sought the intervention of management a week ago.

Over 100 doctors, who were not trained at the hospital, are not part of the strike action. However, the authorities said the strike will hit certain areas like child health, emergency and medical blocks.

The young doctors said the fees for the transcripts have gone up from under 10 US dollars to about 200 dollars.

The medical school's officials said the doctors have been collecting their transcripts and leaving the country for greener pastures.

The increase may be a way of getting them to pay back some of their training fees, they added. The doctors' strike comes on the day university lecturers resumed classes after a one-week long strike to press demands for more pay and better working conditions.

The university lecturers successfully obtained salary increases but have refused to say how much.