By Peter Agengre
Upper East Regional Minister Donatus Atanga Akamugri has expressed determination to establish a medical school in the region, citing staffing challenges driven by security concerns and limited professional opportunities that discourage health professionals from accepting postings.
“You rightly pointed out why people are refusing posting to this area. Basically, the fact that it is an economic factor, and some other issues, it is about the way they are brought up and certain perceptions about the region and how people also become familiar with the area.
“So if we address this issues by making sure that we provide a training center, like the medical school, that is going to take off in the region, and people brought up here are trained, one thing is that, they will disabuse their minds,” he said.
While on a working visit to the Upper East Regional Hospital, the Minister disclosed that he had earlier met with the Vice Chancellor of the C.K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences (CKT-UTAS) to discuss plans to establish a medical school at the university. He believes this will help address the persistent shortage of healthcare professionals in the region.
“And apart from that, when they (medical doctors and health professionals) come to the Upper East, what are the opportunities for them to further. People will come to this place and then if you come here as a medical person and you have no institution where you can upgrade your knowledge, it also goes a long way to serve as a disincentive and it will discourage the people from accepting postings to this area.
“So if we are bringing up a facility like a medical school where professionals in the health sector will have an opportunity to gain more knowledge, we will in a way provide a solution to the shortfall of health professionals in the region.”
The Minister also highlighted the region’s vulnerability during the recent nurses’ strike, stressing that a medical school would not only train local professionals but also attract healthcare investments and create a more conducive environment for health sector development.
“We are worst hit by the nurses strike because we do not have many of the private sector players in this sector. If we were to have many of such private sector players, at least it would be minimal because people would have the alternative. If the central government one is not working, I would go to the other area. But they are countable and it is even in the regional capital you are taking about,” he stressed.
Upper East Regional Health Director, Dr Braimah Baba Abubakari, commended the minister for the initiative, stressing that he is already in touch with the university’s management to ensure the smooth take-off of medical programmes at the school.
