The Ministry of Health has announced that 6,245 nurses and midwives have been successfully recruited out of 6,500 available slots under the recent nationwide recruitment exercise aimed at strengthening primary healthcare delivery, particularly in underserved communities.
The recruitment forms part of the government’s broader free primary healthcare initiative, which seeks to deploy trained professionals to areas with critical staffing gaps to improve access to essential health services across the country.
Overall, the Ministry received financial clearance from the Ministry of Finance to recruit about 8,000 health professionals amid a backlog of approximately 105,000 unemployed but qualified health workers nationwide.
In addition to the nurses and midwives, the exercise also led to the recruitment of 771 out of 900 allied health professionals, 235 out of 250 pharmacy professionals, and 300 physician assistants.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra, the Director of Human Resources at the Ministry of Health, Frederick Mensah-Acheampong, explained that although about 87 nursing slots remain unfilled in some northern districts, the process has been highly competitive due to the large number of qualified applicants.
“We have received financial clearance to recruit about 8,000 health professionals from the Ministry of Finance. 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.
Mr. Mensah-Acheampong noted that the recruitment exercise is guided by the government’s Primary Healthcare policy, which places emphasis on preventive care, community-based services and improving healthcare delivery in deprived areas.
He further disclosed that a mop-up exercise will be conducted in the coming weeks to absorb eligible applicants who were unable to complete the recruitment process.
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