By Samira Larbie, GNA
Accra, June 9, GNA – Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman Tuesday called for a national and multi-sectoral approach to retaining healthcare professionals, stressing that the challenge goes beyond the health sector and is critical to Ghana’s overall development agenda.
Addressing the 2026 Annual Health Summit in Accra, the Vice President said healthcare workers were more likely to remain in deprived and underserved communities when they had access to decent housing, reliable transportation, security, and other essential social amenities.
She noted that although Ghana had made significant progress in training and expanding its health workforce, retaining skilled professionals and ensuring their equitable distribution across the country remained pressing challenges.
“Healthcare worker retention is not solely a health sector challenge. It is a national development imperative,” she said.
Vice President Opoku-Agyemang explained that creating attractive living and working conditions for health professionals required stronger collaboration among ministries, departments, and agencies responsible for housing, infrastructure, transportation, security, and local development. She urged policymakers to move beyond sector-specific approaches and adopt integrated development strategies that would make rural postings more appealing.
“Rural postings, for example, should not primarily be regarded as hardship assignments,” she stated.
She also addressed the growing migration of healthcare professionals, describing it as a reality of an increasingly interconnected world rather than a challenge that could be solved through restrictions alone.
The Vice President advocated strategic interventions, including bilateral labour agreements, ethical recruitment practices, and measures to protect the welfare of Ghanaian health professionals working abroad.
A well-managed migration arrangement, she said, could create opportunities for skills transfer, professional development, and international collaboration, while safeguarding the sustainability of Ghana’s healthcare system.
She commended the Ministry of Health for facilitating migration agreements and exchange programmes aimed at balancing national healthcare needs with the aspirations of health workers.
“I commend the Minister and his team for facilitating managed migration agreements and exchange programmes that seek to maximise benefits for Ghana and our health professionals,” Prof Opoku-Agyemang said.
The Vice President linked health workforce retention to the broader goals of the Accra Reset on Health Sovereignty, which seeks to strengthen domestic capacity, boost local investment, and promote African-led solutions to health challenges.
She emphasised that a resilient and motivated health workforce was essential to achieving universal health coverage and delivering quality healthcare services to all Ghanaians.
Prof. Opoku-Agyeman called on government institutions, local authorities, development partners, and the private sector to support efforts to improve working and living conditions for healthcare professionals.
She stressed that investing in people is just as important as investing in infrastructure.
“A strong health workforce is the foundation of a resilient health system,” she said, adding that Ghana’s long-term health outcomes would depend on its ability to attract, deploy, and retain skilled professionals across all regions.
The three-day Annual Health Summit is being held on the theme: “Building a Resilient Health Workforce to Accelerate the Attainment of Universal Health Coverage.”
Ghana’s health sector has made notable progress in improving access to healthcare services and health outcomes over the years.
However, changing population dynamics, a growing burden of non-communicable diseases, emerging public health threats, and increasing demand for quality care require a workforce that is well-prepared and fit for purpose.
The summit seeks to examine how health sector performance aligns with future health needs and workforce transformation.
It will explore the relationship between health outcomes and workforce availability, distribution, quality, and efficiency and also review sector performance, assess the contribution of health workers to outcomes, identify key challenges and opportunities, and generate recommendations for improving workforce planning, policy reforms, investments, and partnerships.
The goal is to ensure that the right health workers, with the right skills, are available at the right place and time to meet the health needs of the population.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
Reporter: Samira Larbie
Email: [email protected]