By Amoako Kwame
The Ministry of Health has announced the recruitment of 6,245 nurses and midwives out of 6,500 available positions under a nationwide employment exercise aimed at strengthening primary healthcare delivery, particularly in underserved communities.
The recruitment forms part of the government’s broader free primary healthcare programme and is intended to deploy trained health professionals to areas facing severe staffing shortages in order to improve access to essential health services.
In total, the Ministry of Health received financial clearance from the Ministry of Finance to recruit nearly 8,000 health professionals, despite an estimated backlog of about 105,000 qualified but unemployed health workers across the country.
In addition to the recruitment of nurses and midwives, the exercise led to the hiring of 771 out of 900 allied health professionals, 235 out of 250 pharmacy professionals, and 300 physician assistants.
Addressing a press conference in Accra, the Director of Human Resources at the Ministry of Health, Frederick Mensah-Acheampong, said that although about 87 nursing positions in northern districts remain unfilled, the recruitment process has been highly competitive due to the large number of qualified applicants.
He added that the exercise is being conducted in line with the government’s primary healthcare policy, which prioritises preventive care, community-based services and the strengthening of healthcare delivery, especially in underserved areas.
“We have received financial clearance from the Ministry of Finance to recruit about 8,000 health professionals. The Ministry acknowledges the anxiety and interest these recruitment exercises have generated, particularly given the backlog of about 105,000 unemployed health professionals, some of whom have been awaiting recruitment since 2018 and 2019,” he said.
