The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu says his outfit is seeking financial clearance from the Finance Ministry to commence the recruitment of nurses and midwives who completed their training in 2017 and 2018.
According to the Minister, the recruitment is part of a grand agenda by the Health Ministry to employ 53,000 nurses and midwives across the country.
Mr. Agyemang-Manu made these known at Issa, the capital of the Daffiama-Bisie-Issa district of the Upper West Region during a visit by President Nana Akufo-Addo to the area.
“We are aware of the current unemployment situation the previous government created. That is why the President upon assuming office started a process to get our nurses employed. So far we have recuited in the process up to 2016.”
“We are in talks with the Finance Ministry to give us further clearance to employ the 2017 and 2018 barges. We are hoping that by the end of this year, we will employ up to 53,000 nurses nationwide,” he noted.
The Health Minister said the government is in talks with Germany and other countries to export nurses and other health personnel to those countries.
He further added that the government is in the process of paying all arrears owed health service providers under the National Health Insurance Scheme in the country by the middle of September this year.
Mr. Agyemang-Manu charged Ghanaians to rally behind the government to bring the needed development to the country.
According to him, ” a vote for the opposition NDC is a vote for the scraping of the nurses training allowances and other flagship initiatives by the NPP. They will come and tell you they will restore it but if you vote for them they will scrap it”.
The Minister and other high profiled government officials will be joining the President on Sunday to commission the new ultramodern Upper West Regional Hospital.