By Patrick Biddah
Nurses and midwives in the country, have attributed their massive exodus to other countries to the lack of incentives for their profession.
Some of these incentives, according the nurses, include the inability of government to give tax waivers to nurses for vehicle importation.
The argument of the nurses is further heightened by government giving vehicle tax waivers to medical doctors in the 2024 budget when they have equally been asking for the tax waiver.
Making this revelation yesterday November 21, 2023 during its 16thquadrennial national delegates Congress in Accra , the president of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), Madam Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo, reiterated that nurses have moved out of the country in droves to countries such as Canada , the US, UK, due to lack of motivation and incentives.
According to her, the association drew the government attention and advised that the incentives will stop the exodus, but the advise was not heeded.
Madam Ofori-Ampofo, who goes unopposed in her re-election bid, said a among other things that not only will the vehicle tax waiver reverse the trend for the brain drain, but also an insurance and support for a housing scheme.
Already, she revealed that the association has instituted a number of welfare support system which includes a health fund, flood and fire disaster as well as death benefits for members and spouses but that is not enough to stop them from leaving.
Inspite of all the challenges, she gave the assurance that the GRNMA which has a membership population of about 95,000, will partner government to still deliver on healthcare.
Speaking under the theme:” Investing in nursing and midwifery “, a strategic response to the right to health, the keynote speaker, Prof. Florence Naab who is the Dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery of the University of Ghana, indicated that investing in the nurse means equipping them with the needed resources and tools .
Apart from that, she expressed the view that the Ministry of Health who are the policy makers should engage nurses in taking decisions and not just take decisions and dump on them without their input.
She further called on employers to make it possible for their staff nurses to acquire higher education by giving them study leaves with pay.
But responding to the concerns raised by the nurses and midwives, a representative of the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu , said the Ministry has taken notice of all the concerns.
He announced an award for any nurse who will graduate with MPHIL.
The week long congress will end with the elections of new executives.
Interestingly, all office holders went unopposed with the exception of the Treasurer position which is being contested by Moses Anyigba of the Volta region and Veronica Annan- Jones of the Greater Accra region.
