By Jones Anlimah
The Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has disclosed that government is considering a review of admissions into nursing training institutions as part of measures to address the growing backlog of unemployed health professionals.
The Minister made the disclosure during a courtesy call on Asogli State before the launch of the Free Primary Healthcare Programme in the Volta Region.
According to Mr. Akandoh, Ghana currently faces a situation where the number of nursing students admitted annually far exceeds the rate at which government can absorb graduates into the public health sector.
“We must begin to analyse our admissions into our nursing training colleges. What’s the point if we are training more and we cannot recruit them?” he questioned.
He revealed that government inherited approximately 105,000 trained health professionals without employment, describing the situation as a major challenge for the sector.
The Minister noted that nursing and midwifery training institutions admit between 34,000 and 35,000 students every year, while available employment opportunities are unable to match that output.
“We are admitting 34,000 to 35,000 students every year, but the rate at which we absorb them is not commensurate with the admissions. So government is reviewing that,” he stated.
Mr. Akandoh acknowledged that any move to reduce admission numbers may attract criticism but maintained that difficult decisions are necessary to address the long-term sustainability of healthcare employment.
“I know I will receive the backlash. I know people will say I am reducing admissions and giving quotas, but it is up to all of us whether to continue on that tangent or reduce the numbers and invest in recruitment,” he said.
The Minister disclosed that government has already recruited thousands of health workers and is pursuing labour mobility agreements with countries including Jamaica and St. Kitts and Nevis to create employment opportunities abroad for qualified Ghanaian health professionals.
He stressed that government remains committed to recruiting additional healthcare workers but must do so within available financial resources.
“The truth of the matter is that you cannot recruit when you don’t have financial provision for them,” he noted.
The proposed review is expected to form part of broader discussions aimed at balancing training capacity with labour market demands in Ghana’s health sector.
