The Presidential Advisor on Health, Dr. Anthony Nsiah Asare, said government will introduce what he called hardship allowance as an incentive to cater for health professionals accepting posting to the remote areas of the country
This he said is part of the Agenda 111 package that seeks to increase the health infrastructure and quality health delivery under the leadership of the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo
He indicated that finding health professionals to populate government’s Agenda 111 hospitals is top on their priorities list for the government, adding that the policy will also solve the situation of the ongoing brain drain depriving the nation of its much-needed professionals to man the health sector and various other sectors of the country.
Dr. Nsiah Asare was speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile Saturday August, 2021 and monitored by Mynewsafric.com.
He explained that “I have a very strong belief in my heart that a doctor working in Accra should not receive the same salary or the same remuneration as a doctor working in my village. The fact being that the doctor working in Accra during his spare time may have some private hospitals where they can go and practice”.
He added that special packages are available for facilities located in remote areas to entice the professionals to move there, adding that the ongoing brain drain is occasioned by concerns about job satisfaction, job security, and remuneration
“So if you have a decent accommodation, you have what we normally call a hardship allowance or rural allowance or hard-to-reach area allowance, and then the doctor having somebody who is supporting him or her and also he can also do postgraduate even which is decentralised at where he’s working now that we have digitization of e-health, the person can also have support from seniors and specialists in other hospitals,” he added.
According to him, in the plan being formulated for the Agenda 111 hospitals, all these concerns are being seriously considered, and provisions are being made to address them adequately.
“Every health professional who is asked to move to a place or is posted to a hospital will like to go to a place and get maybe a place where he’ll put their head. And the other thing is that also the remuneration which comes with it”.
He stated that when the Agenda 111 hospitals are completed, all these concerns would be addressed to encourage health professionals to move to the facilities.
“And I am sure the ministry is looking at it and will go to finance for approval and get that top-up salary, and he can sit at wherever he is,” he said.
