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Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the Minister of Health, has reassured Ghanaians that the Government will not dismiss any nurse or midwife recruited after December 7, 2024.
He said the Ministry, the Ghana Health Service and Catholic Health Association of Ghana had not terminated the employment of any health worker. “We are committed to building and sustaining the health workforce,” he said. Mr Akandoh gave the assurance at the opening ceremony of the maiden African Nurses and Midwives Confederation conference, organised by the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association in Accra.
He pledged to support them with all their logistical needs to facilitate their work and improve on healthcare delivery. Mrs Perpetual Ofori Ampofo, the President of GRNMA, said the Association had taken the minister’s word for it, hoping that no dismissal of its members would happen. “We are taking his word for it, and we hope that nothing of such nature will happen,” she said.
“We have also given him the assurance that as a professional association in the trade union, we will continue to partner with the Ministry of Health to ensure that the health priorities of the Ministry are achieved.” The five-day conference, which ends on February 24, 2025, saw 17 African countries participating. It is on the theme: “Nurses and Midwives, Fostering Health for all in Africa”.
Mrs Ampofo said nurses and midwives contributed significantly to the economic development of countries and, as such, nations must continue to invest in them to create the desired impact. “Whether it’s in education, clinical practice, research, rehabilitation, preventive healthcare, whatever it is, we are ensuring that the population is healthy. And for that purpose, it should reflect on how we are also remunerated in terms of the output of our work,” she added.
“This is what we need to look at, and the assurance we can give Ghana as a nation is that we, as nurses and midwives, are positioned to give our very best.” Mrs Ampofo said the logistical needs, motivation in terms of career progression, and study leave, among others, also positioned them to be able to upgrade their knowledge and skills to support Ghana’s health agenda.
She encouraged nurses and midwives to believe in the strong leadership they had, willing to fight their cause always and asked for the needed support so that, together, they could achieve the desired outcomes. The African Nurses and Midwives Confederation seeks to ensure that African countries come together as a regional body to work, network, and influence health.
Source: GNA
