Accra: Mrs Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo, the President of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), has appealed to the Government to tackle local shortages of nurses and midwives before proceeding with international deployments. She highlighted the pressing shortage of healthcare professionals, particularly those trained in specialized and critical care roles.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mrs Ofori-Ampofo voiced her concerns during the National Dialogue on Global Labour Mobility and Bilateral Labour Arrangements in Ghana held in Accra. The two-day event, organized by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Ghana, aimed to explore how international labour mobility could be leveraged to enhance job creation, skills development, and economic growth in the country.
Mrs Ofori-Ampofo emphasized the need for prioritizing the retention and retraining of health professionals within Ghana. She noted that the current workforce of approximately 140,000 nurses and midwives is insufficient for a population exceeding 35 million. Mrs Ofori-Ampofo also called for stronger collaboration between the Government and health sector stakeholders before deploying nurses abroad, noting that these stakeholders are often excluded from the decision-making process.
She stressed the importance of developing retention strategies to incentivize healthcare workers to remain in Ghana. 'There are serious systemic challenges, which the Government needs to address. And, at the same time, prioritise health workers, knowing that they form the core of the health system,' she stated.
Dr Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo, Minister of Labour, Jobs and Employment, addressed the dialogue, sharing that his Ministry is working on strengthening the governance framework for labour mobility through policy, legal, and institutional reforms. He expressed the vision of establishing a governance regime that respects and protects the rights of Ghanaian migrant workers abroad, aiming to position labour mobility as a strategic national asset to expand opportunities, enhance skills, and support Ghana's economic transformation.