Veep acknowledges measures to stem brain drain

Cape Coast, Nov 21, GNA - The Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, on Thursday said the government had acknowledged that the enhancement of post-graduate programmes in the country would help stem the brain drain crisis.

He said the problem of ageing lecturers still working at the country's universities could be solved if more young graduates were trained to join the teaching staff in those institutions instead of their pursuing courses abroad.

The Vice President said these in an address read for him at the 10th anniversary celebration of the Graduates Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG) at the University of Cape Coast (UCC).

Alhaji Mahama stated that government was determined to ensure that the universities were encouraged to expand their post-graduate programmes by designing and introducing new ones that are demand driven and market oriented.

Therefore, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports had made the upgrading of lecture halls, libraries and laboratories the priority in the utilisation of the GETFund monies allocated to the tertiary institutions, he said.

Alhaji Mahama said the Ministry was considering requests by tertiary institutions for higher grants and bursaries for developing these facilities and enhancing research work.

He urged the academic boards of the universities to introduce newer approaches to teaching that would make graduates to establish their own enterprises and consultancy services.

Alhaji Mahama said: "Post graduate education has to be seen as crucial and an integral part of the universities and should therefore be given the requisite support and growth."

He said the link between industry and the universities had also been weak and called for closer ties between the two entities to enable industry utilise the many research, reports and other findings by the universities which have been on the shelves for so long.

Professor Naana Opoku Agyemang, Dean of graduate studies of the UCC, suggested that a percentage of the GETFund be put aside to support post-graduate studies.

The National President of GRASAG, Nana Owusu Banahene, noted that the bill on the funding of tertiary education, currently before parliament, would not be in the interest of graduates since it would limit access to graduate education.

Help solve Africa's brain drain crisis - WHO urged

Accra Nov. 21, GNA - The Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, has called on the World Health Organisation (WHO) to initiate an international dialogue to resolve the mass exodus of Africa's health workers to the developed world, at a time when new diseases are emerging on the continent.

He said, "Indeed there is an urgent need to start an international dialogue on the issue, and I would urge the WHO not only to initiate this discussion but also, steer it to a conclusion, which would be mutually acceptable to Africa and the developed countries as well as the health personnel".

Vice President Mahama was speaking at a Dinner in honour of the delegates attending the WHO's Executive Board Retreat, in Accra.

Dr Jong-Wook Lee, Director-General of WHO, some Directors from the organisation's headquarters, six Regional Directors and Representatives of countries constituting the 32-member Executive Board attending the three-day meeting, were at the dinner.

Ghana, like most African countries, is battling with an acute problem of brain drain in the health sector. The number of doctors has declined from 1,154 in 1996 to 964 in 2002. There are many district hospitals that do not have a single doctor to take care of the health needs of the people, he said.

Vice President Mahama stressed the need to find innovative means of training and retaining health personnel for Africa to contribute towards the development of their countries.

He said apart from dealing with HIV/AIDS, which has become the "pinnacle" health problem, Africa is still grappling with communicable diseases, which the developed world has successfully contained, plus lifestyle diseases like hypertension, cancer, psychiatric and nutrition disorders hitherto associated with the developed world.

Poverty, illiteracy and ignorance had worsened Africa's plight, he noted, and called on Africa's developed partners to help the continent out of her predicament.

He said African governments were making strenuous efforts to improve the quality of health and increase the accessibility of the services to the people, but their efforts would yield limited results without external assistance.

In Ghana for instance, the Vice President said the government has introduced the National Health Insurance Scheme to increase accessibility of the poor and vulnerable to health care, in addition to increasing the health budget and improving infrastructure.

Dr Lee accepted the challenge and promised WHO's help in addressing the issues raised and thanked Ghanaians for the "exceptional hospitality" accorded the delegates.

HIV/AIDS and the Brain Drain are high on the agenda of the Retreat, the first to be held in Africa and outside Geneva since WHO was established in 1948.

Awards were presented to the WHO and members of the Board, which has Dr Kwaku Afriyie, Minister of Health, as Chairman.