Over 500 graduates inducted into Allied Health Professions Council

• 2021 Allied Health graduates induction ceremony was held on November 10, 2021

• Registrar charges graduates to go out and excel

• Minister of Heath says government is committed to allied health education

More than 500 students from the 2021 Allied Health Schools graduating class were on Wednesday, November, 10, 2021, inducted into the Allied Health Professions Council of Ghana.

The ceremony held at the Accra International Conference Center, saw the graduates with Bachelors of Science in Dietics, Health Information, Nutrition Occupational Therapist and Respirational Therapist, being administered with the AHPC oath.

In a word to the over 500 graduates who were inducted at the ceremony, Registrar of the Allied Health Professions Council, Dr Yaw Opoku urged them to use their one-year mandatory National Service to acquire additional skills and knowledge that will aid them pass the Council’s Professional and Licensure Examination.

“It is my fervent hope that as you leave here today as graduates of allied health professions, you would work together with other health professionals to build a very strong health care team that will place the welfare of the clients and the Ghanaian population above all other interests.

“Finally, please be guided by a true sense of brotherliness, sense of nationhood and help build Mother Ghana to the state we can all be very proud of. Please you should endeavor to limit the use of strike actions and picketing as means to getting your grievances resolved,” he added.

While commending the government for its support, the Registrar tabled two requests including one which is seeking for government to establish an Allied Health College. The other seeks to convert the existing allied health programmes into six-year duration programmes which will lead to the awarding of doctorate degrees.

“We request for the commitment and support from the Ministry of Health to the Council, in its bid to phase out the current 4-year bachelors of allied health programmes to be replaced with the 6-year professional doctorates. Prof. Chairman, it is significant to note that Ghana Government, through the Ministry of Health, has rectified these programmes developed by the West African Health Organization (WAHO).

“The introduction of two of the programmes, namely, Doctor of Optometry and Doctor of Medical Laboratory Sciences have been confronted with several challenges. It is our hope and prayer, that the Ministry will give equal recognition and support as has been done for similar programmes, for example Doctor of Pharmacy programme,” Dr Opoku stated.


On his part, the Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, who was the special guest of honour, in his address, emphasized the role of allied health professionals in health care delivery.

Relating the role of allied health professionals to the theme of the event – “Effective Management of COVID-19: The Role of the Allied Health Professional,” Mr Agyeman Manu said members of the Council by their work, constitute an integral part of Ghana’s team of professionals that managed the COVID-19 pandemic

“There is no doubt that allied health professionals continue to play very important roles in health care delivery in the country. And whether Ghana can succeed in achieving total control of the pandemic will depend on the collective efforts of all health professionals but talking in particular, those of you in the allied health profession. All the testing are done by the allied health professionals and they constitute a key part of a multi-disciplinary team in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mr Agyeman Manu said in a statement read on his behalf by the Chief Director of the Ministry, Mr Kwabena Oko-Afari.

The Allied Health Council is a statuary body established by an Act of Parliament, Health Professions Regulatory Bodies Act, 2013 (Act 857, Part One) to regulate the training and practice of Allied Health Professions in the country.

With a vision to ensure the availability of highly trained and competent allied health professional in the country, the Council from its inception is charged with an objective to ensure the highest standards in the practice of allied health professionals.

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