More than 70,000 health professionals remain unemployed -COHHETI

More than 70,000 health professionals in the country remain unemployed, Miss Margaret Mary Alacoque, the President Conference of Heads of Health Training Institutions (COHHETI) said on Tuesday.

She expressed concern about what she described as “over the overproduction of general nurses and midwives” and worried about the continuous establishment of new nursing training colleges in the country.

Ms Alacoque said this when she addressed the opening session of the 18th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the COHHETI, underway at Abesim, near Sunyani in the Bono Region.

The seven-day conference is on the theme: “Transforming health training for a resilient workforce: specialisation, innovation, and quality assurance.”

Ms Alacoque called for a shift towards specialisation, saying, rather than establishing new health training institutions, there was the need for the nation to concentrate on adequately resourcing the existing ones to operate effectively.

Mr Joseph Addae Akwaboa, the Bono Regional Minister, called on stakeholders to embrace research, technology, and strategic partnerships to transform health training in the country.

He said the future of the nation’s healthcare “lies in blending traditional care principles with modern scientific and technological advancements” and reiterated the government’s commitment to enhance operations of health training institutions.

Mr Akwaboa said the government would improve infrastructure development, tutor recruitment, and regularisation, as well as curriculum reforms in those training institutions to meet global standards.

He gave the assurance that the government would continue to support the training institutions with the required resources and urged COHHETI to collaborate with the private sector and international partners to promote research, internship opportunities, and knowledge exchange.

Source: GNA