Motivate health workers to stay - Addo-Kufuor

Page 17, Feb 22, 2008
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Member of Parliament (MP) for Manhyia, Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, has said that although Ghana has performed creditably in the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), there is still the need to motivate doctors and nurses to stay and work in the country.
He said until that was done, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) would still lack the requisite workers to implement this laudable policy to benefit ordinary Ghanaians.
Dr Addo-Kufuor, who was contributing to the ongoing debate of the President’s State of the Nation Address presented to Parliament on February 14, 2008, said the over 9,000,000 registration, representing 48 per cent of the country’s population in a relatively short time was a laudable achievement.
The MP noted that there were some European countries which started the scheme more than 50 years ago, but had not achieved the results that Ghana had achieved.
He, therefore, suggested to the government to put in the necessary measures to enable local drug manufacturers to collaborate with their foreign partners, so that most of the essential drugs prescribed under the NHIS could be manufactured locally to make them cheaper.
On the Judiciary, Dr Addo-Kufuor called for the abolishing of the legal vacation period, describing the concept as a colonial legacy.
He noted that it would be better for individual judges to apply for their annual leave, while others work to ensure continuous operation of courts.
On education, the MP said the institution of the Capitation Grant, the School Feeding Programme (SFP), the numerous infrustructural development, among others, had helped to increase enrolment in schools.
What remained to be done is the proper motivation of teachers to enable them offer their best for the success of those laudable programmes.
Dr Addo-Kufuor praised the Kufuor administration for laying the right foundation for others to build on to enable the country achieve its dream of achieving a middle-income level by 2015.