Ghana recruits 16,000 health workers for free primary healthcare programme
In Ghana, the government is recruiting 16,000 health workers to implement a free primary healthcare programme intended to help achieve universal health coverage. Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh said this, MyJoyOnline reports.
According to the minister, 8,000 specialists have already been hired and deployed to healthcare facilities in different parts of the country. The authorities are also preparing to recruit another 8,000 workers. Akandoh spoke at an event dedicated to the programme in Fiani, in the Daffiama-Bussie-Issa District.
Work in underserved areas
The minister noted that health workers have begun agreeing to work in underserved areas, including the Upper West Region. According to him, about 20 doctors agreed to postings in the region last year, compared with two in 2024.
Akandoh linked this to a government directive to formalize workers’ employment, add them to the payroll system and pay their salaries within the first month after they begin work. He also said that 13,500 nurses inherited by the government of President John Dramani Mahama had been placed on the payroll and arrears owed to them had been cleared.
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Equipment and home visits
For primary healthcare facilities, 24,000 units of basic equipment have already been distributed, while another 12,000 were scheduled for delivery the following week. In addition, 5,000 kits with basic supplies for household visits were distributed; another 5,000 such kits were expected the following week.
President Mahama said that workers who agree to postings in underserved areas will receive an allowance equal to 20% of their base salary after the required procedures are completed. The programme also provides for the prevention and early detection of non-communicable diseases, including hypertension and diabetes.
Samuel Akoriea, Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, said that during the first week of the programme’s implementation, health workers assessed the condition of more than 54,000 households and carried out more than 12,016 home visits. According to his data, 1,317 vaccinations and child growth-monitoring sessions were conducted, and 675 new cases of non-communicable diseases were identified.
