Okyenhene worried about mass departure of health professionals to UK, US

The Traditional Ruler of Akyem Abuakwa, Okyenhene Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori-Panin has expressed concern over the recent mass departure of health professionals in the country.

He described this as a medical brain drain for Ghana.

The concerns of the Okyenene were contained in a Newspaper Report by the Chronicle, dated July 7, 2023.

The traditional ruler who was speaking at the 2023 Retreat for the Medical Superintendent Group in the Eastern Region, under the Theme: ‘Enhancing Hospital Management Systems for Improved Health Care Delivery’, highlighted the detrimental impact of this medical brain drain on the nation's health system.

The Okyenhene noted in the report that in 2019, Ghana had approximately 3,236 medical doctors attending to a population of around 30 million, resulting in an inadequate doctor-to-patient ratio that has fallen below acceptable standards.

He indicated that about 86 per cent of all African-educated physicians working in the United States received their training in Ghana, Egypt, Nigeria, or South Africa.

"The sad aspect of this is that the beneficiary destination countries do not pay for the cost of training of African doctors they recruit. One in ten doctors working in the UK comes from Africa. This means that the UK saves an average of 2.7 billion dollars on training costs. This is a big loss to our country", Osagyefo Amoatia said.

Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori-Penin said that the future of Africa's youth does not lie in migration to Europe or America.

He further argued that what is happening with the migration of medical personnel is not collaboration but rather a gradual march toward a humanitarian disaster.

"The US employs half of English-speaking doctors in the world. It wants more. By coincidence, the US wants to employ one million more healthcare workers in the next 15 years - exactly the extra number needed for sub-Saharan Africa, in line with the sustainable development goals", Osagyefo noted.

The Traditional ruler said that he is saddened that the heart of this problem is an unending issue of remuneration.

While the continent has made progress in combating communicable diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, among others, the traditional ruler, observed that there has been a silent rise in lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and respiratory diseases.

“Today, long-considered diseases of the West such as diabetes, cancer, heart, and respiratory diseases, often associated with the urban and affluent in society have crept silently into many corners of Africa. It has remained relatively unnoticed as our government focuses its attention on fighting malaria, HIV Aids, etc.," he emphasised.

These diseases, according to Amoatia Ofori account for 70% of all deaths in the world.

“Our continent sits on a time bomb as it is estimated that within the next decade knowledge that we will have the world's largest international increase in deaths from these lifestyle doctors moving diseases," OKyenhene revealed.

The situation, he said, poses a serious threat to our national economy as it impedes efforts to fight poverty and achieve sustainable development goals.

Despite these challenges, the Okyenhene acknowledged the government's substantial investment in public health. Initiatives such as the establishment of the National Vaccine Institute, Agenda 111 (which aims to build a hospital in every district), the creation of medical drone centres for distributing blood and medicines, the provision of free specialist postgraduate medical training, and the acquisition of over 300 ambulances demonstrate the government's commitment to providing quality and accessible healthcare for the people of Ghana.

NW/OGB

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