President Akufo-Addo (seated left) addressing the delegation
A group of Ghanaian physicians and surgeons in North America have expressed their commitment to come back home to help the country with the experiences and skills they have acquired abroad.
They have formed an association called the Ghana Physicians and Surgeons Foundation of North America and are preparing to come back home to help improve healthcare delivery.
The leader of the foundation, Prof. Elijah Paintsil, led a delegation to the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday to discuss their intention with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
The delegation also shared the foundation’s suggestions to help improve the healthcare system in the country.
Prof. Paintsil indicated that there had been several meetings on the decision for the medical professionals abroad to come home and indicated that members of the foundation had expressed their desire to come home.
He said though some of the physicians, like himself, were trained with taxpayers’ money, they left the country based on some reasons but did not disclose those reasons.
He said irrespective of the issues that led them to develop their careers abroad, they were ready to come back home to serve their country.
According to Prof. Paintsil, Ghana can do better in healthcare, and indicated that the foundation had world-class medical practitioners to help improve healthcare delivery in the country.
“I think Ghana can do it. We want Ghana to again take on its leadership role to be the first country to really have a modernised healthcare to even attract cross border people from all over the world.”
“Mr President, the reason we are here is not only to share a vision but also to let you know that we’ve thought of solutions. How we can engage the private sector to make this vision a reality,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo, on his part, welcomed the decision of the delegation and noted that he had no difficulty in accepting their offer and the concept, considering the statistics on the impact of Ghanaian doctors in the United States.
He said it would be of immense help if a common vehicle could be found to bring together all the synergies involved in the concept proposed.
President Akufo-Addo gave the assurance that the government would help facilitate the proposals by introducing the foundation to the right stakeholders so they could also contribute their quota to health delivery in the country.
President Akufo-Addo said his administration had demonstrated its commitment to improve healthcare by settling the huge debt that brought the National Health Insurance Scheme to a near collapse.
By Yaw Kyei
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