Provide accomodation for health workers

The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has called on District, Municipal and Metropolitan Assemblies to provide decent accomodation for health workers posted to deprived areas in the country. The GMA noted that there had been a skewed distribution of health personnel, especially with regards to the posting of doctors to some parts of the country, particularly the three northern regions and said the lack of accomodation was one of the factors accounting for this. The GMA made these calls in a six point communique issued and signed by its President Emmanuel Adom Winful and General Secretary Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey at the end of its 51st Annual General conference in Tamale on Sunday. The Conference was on the theme: "Towards a better health care for Ghana: the human resource challenges and solutions". The GMA also called on the National Health Insurance Authority to regularly review the tarrifs on drugs, while ensuring the propmt reimbursement of claims submitted by service providers. The Association said this would avoid compromising quality care delivery to the schemes clients. Government has also been call to resource Health Training Institutions and to continue to support all post graduate training programmes within the health sector. The Communique also entreated the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons to streamline its programmes to avoid making the deprived areas more deprived. It noted that over the years, training programmes of the two institutions had been concentrated in the teaching Hospitals to the neglect of other health institutions. The statement called on the two institutions to place more emphsis on the district and community rotation of its practitioners to ensure that learning and delivery of services go together. The GMA also urged government to reconstitute and inaugurate as a matter of urgency the Board and Council of the Medical and Dental Council and the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons respectively to enable them execute their lawful mandate. The GMA has also assured its commitment to engaging government on the Fair Wages and Salary Commission to finalise the draft condition of service document and to implement it with special emphasis on the interest of doctors serving in deprived areas.