The Ministry of Health (MoH) has recruited 7,551 healthcare professionals to boost Ghana’s health workforce and strengthen quality healthcare delivery across the country.
The figure forms part of the 8,000 financial clearance slots granted to the ministry by the Ministry of Finance in April this year.
The recruited professionals comprise 6,245 nurses and midwives, 771 allied health professionals, 235 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, as well as 300 physician assistants and certified registered anaesthetists.
According to the MOH, a mop-up exercise is expected to begin in the coming weeks, particularly targeting teaching hospitals and specialised institutions, to absorb eligible applicants who were unable to complete earlier recruitment processes.
All newly recruited health professionals are expected to commence work from July 1, 2026.
The Director of Human Resources at the Ministry of Health, Frederick Mensah-Acheampong, disclosed this at a press conference in Accra yesterday aimed at updating the public on the ongoing recruitment process amid a backlog of more than 105,000 unemployed health professionals in the country.
“The Ministry acknowledges the anxiety and interest this recruitment exercise has generated, particularly given the backlog of about 105,000 unemployed health professionals, some of whom have been awaiting recruitment since 2018 and 2019,” he stated.
Mr Mensah-Acheampong said some criminal activities recorded during the recruitment exercise were under investigation to ensure perpetrators were brought to book.
He further assured that the MOH would continue engaging the Ministry of Finance to secure additional financial clearance to recruit more professionals.
“The Ministry will continue to engage the Ministry of Finance to secure further clearance for the benefit of our professionals at home before the end of the year.
The portal will be reopened as soon as additional financial clearance is granted,” he said.
The Director of Human Resources also announced that recruitment of medical officers would begin soon to fill vacancies, especially in rural and deprived areas.
He added that recruitment under the ‘Nurse Assistant Preventive’ (NAP) initiative, a component of the Free Primary Healthcare (FPHC) policy, would also commence soon, targeting about 6,000 volunteers.
The voluntary service initiative seeks to provide financial support and safeguard professionals against potential skill loss while contributing to the success of the FPHC initiative.
“This year, the recruitment of volunteers will cover more than 6,000 prospective professionals who completed school from 2022 to date,” he explained.
Mr Mensah-Acheampong reiterated the ministry’s commitment to addressing gaps in the country’s health workforce.
“Quality healthcare delivery in the health sector depends on effective teamwork across all professional cadres. Our agenda to ensure that underserved districts are adequately staffed with the requisite health professionals is on course.
“Together, we will achieve this objective, which is critical to attaining the country’s universal health coverage (UHC) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets,” he said.
BY ABIGAIL ANNOH
Follow our WhatsApp Channel now! https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q
