Many Doctors Are Leaving Ghana Due To Poor Working Conditions – GMA

Vice President of the Ghana Medical Association, Dr Justice Yankson has lamented the rate at which well trained doctors and other medical professionals are leaving Ghana for greener pastures.

Dr Yankson said Ghana was losing many competent, well-trained health care professionals due to the poor economic conditions in the country, according to a report by Myjoyonline.com.

He disclosed that many of his colleague doctors had already left the country or were planning to leave.

“We keep seeing numbers in professions that ideally we think is absurd but that’s the reality. You go to work and you overhear professionals discussing their exit – either they are preparing themselves or in the next couple of days they may be leaving and you see it all the time,” Dr Yankson was quoted by myjoyonline.com.

Data from statista.com show that there were 3,236 doctors in Ghana in 2019. However, the United Kingdom alone has 3,395 doctors of Ghanaian origin, according to a document by the House of Commons Library.

In 2020, Ghana was ranked 14th in Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of doctor to patient ratio. Ghana has a 1:10,450 doctor to patient ratio which is below the World Health Organisation recommended 1:1,302.