Minister of Health, Dr Kwaku Agyeman-Mensah, has said Ghana’s urgently needs specialised care from health professionals with unique skills to handle the trend of non-communicable diseases.

This is because the pattern of the disease burden is gradually moving from a largely communicable to predominantly non-communicable disease system. “With increasing life expectancy, the challenges of degenerative diseases are becoming more prominent and this calls for specialized nurses and midwives who will not only manage such diseases but also help transform societal behaviour to adopt healthier lifestyles,” the Minister said.

A statement issued by Rector of Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives (GCNM), Dr Florence Naab, and copied to the Ghana News Agency, over the weekend, quoted the Health Minister as having made the remarks at the inaugural, induction and matriculation ceremony of the College in Accra.

GCNM is a new statutory professional academic college, established to promote specialist education, continuous professional development, and postgraduate nursing, midwifery and related programmes and contribute to the formulation of policies to improve health outcomes.

Dr Agyeman-Mensah said it was the responsibility of the nation to ensure that capacities of nurses and midwives were built in order to place them well to respond appropriately to individual and community total health needs.

He welcomed the establishment of GCNM and challenged the College to produce specialist nurses and midwives who would take a global and systems-level approach to improving patient outcome.

He gave the Ministry’s assurance to ensure that the appropriate recognition and incentives were given to products of the College.

A Professor of Nutrition at the University of Ghana, Matilda Steiner-Asiedu, noted that the non-availability of more specialised nurses and midwives made it difficult for Ghanaians to access quality healthcare.

She said, the diverse symptoms of diseases worldwide required nurses and midwives who had upgraded themselves in the specific fields of managing diseases. Prof. Steiner-Asiedu urged the management of GCNM to be abreast of current literature on nursing and midwifery and to collaborate with other institutions to facilitate effective teaching and learning at GCNM.

The president of the College, Dr Jemima Dennis-Antwi, stated that the curricula for the various programmes would accord students of the College, the unique opportunity to develop the theoretical and practical acumen needed to be effective and efficient clinicians and managers.

The College is currently running six programmes under the Nursing Division, covering Neuroscience, Paediatrics, Accidents and Emergency, Palliative, Oncology and Haematology, and two programmes under the Midwifery Division, which are Neonatal Intensive Care and Women’s Health.

Three hundred and thirty Foundation Fellows of the College were inducted, whilst 36 nurses and midwives were admitted into various residency programmes of the College.

The College’s website: www.gcnm.edu.gh was also launched.

GCNM is a new college established to promote specialist education, continuous professional development and postgraduate nursing, midwifery and related programmes, and contribute to the formulation of policies to improve health outcomes.

It is established in line with the Part Three of the Specialist Health Training and Plan Medicine Act 833, 2011.