By Belinda Nketia
Jefferson Asare, Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), on July 11, 2025, highlighted on the GTV Breakfast Show the harsh working conditions faced by nurses and midwives in rural and underserved areas across Ghana, explaining how they navigate dangerous terrain and endure challenging environments to provide essential healthcare.
He explained that despite enduring dangerous terrain and working under emotionally and physically demanding conditions, many of these healthcare professionals are forced to pay out of pocket when they suffer work-related injuries.
Jefferson Asare noted that while allowances like commuted overtime and on-call facilitation, which would help motivate those risking their lives to deliver vaccines and other essential services in remote communities, exist on paper for all public health sector workers, many nurses and midwives do not actually receive them.
“Is it too much to ask for just 10% of our basic salary as an incentive for those who work in these harsh conditions? Is it a crime to be a nurse in Ghana?” he questioned. “We’re asking for the bare minimum that will allow us to be emotionally and psychologically ready to care for Ghanaians.”
He also described how the situation is compounded by the fact that nurses and midwives must pay for their own treatment when injured on duty.
“Even in the same hospitals where other government agencies have their care covered, we have to pay for ours ourselves,” Asare pointed out.
Reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic, he recalled how nurses and midwives were celebrated as heroes, yet many of the allowances promised to them were never paid. “Up to now, nurses who contracted COVID-19 had to pay for their own treatment,” he said.
He described this reality as “emotional torture” that pushes healthcare workers to the brink, even as they continue to prioritize patient care. “We sacrifice a lot, and what we’re asking for is peanuts. But Ghanaians are emotionally blackmailing us,” he said, adding that the union was deeply disappointed that the government had not made any budgetary arrangements to support these frontline workers.
“We’re breaking our backs to save lives in this country,” Mr. Asare concluded, calling for urgent action to address the neglect and motivate nurses and midwives to keep serving.
