Health Minister, Alex Segbefia, has said medical doctors in the country have no justifications to complain about being unemployed, especially when they have turned down postings to areas they consider deprived.
Responding to concerns raised by doctors over government’s inability to engage new doctors who have completed their housemanship training at the 58th Annual General Conference of the Ghana Medical Association in Ho, the Minister said, medical doctors are among the few workers that are prioritized in terms of recruitment.
He observed that, the challenge however has been that the new doctors refuse posting to certain parts of the country, explaining that most of the doctors prefer postings to urban areas to the rural areas, a situation he described as unfortunate.
“The last placements that were done, we had on average for every region, a one third representation of the doctors that were placed turning down. In other words; when you place 21 doctors in every region we got seven going. But in Greater Accra, we had 100% turnout: we placed 20 and they all turned out :nobody fell sick, nobody complained.
“Now if any those doctors now go around saying they are unemployed then it’s unfair to us. Because we have placed you and got your financial clearance; but you have not gone to where we thought we should place you, and instead you are in Accra,” he lamented.
He therefore encouraged young doctors to be ready to take up postings to places where their services are most needed. This year’s conference was under theme “Cardiovascular Diseases: emerging trends”.
The Special Guest of Honour, Professor John Owusu Gyapong, the Vice Chancellor of The University of Health And Allied Sciences, made a presentation on the disease, which includes high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes among others. He called on the public to adopt healthy lifestyles and avoid excessive smoking and intake of alcohol.
The Volta Regional Minister, Hellen Adjoa Ntosu, also charged the doctors to be dedicated to service, since the health and well-being of the citizens are entrusted in their hands.
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By: King Nobert Akpablie/citifmonline.com/Ghana