Here is how many nurses have left Ghana since August 2023 – GRNMA president

She stated that about 6,000 nurses have left Ghana in search of greener pastures.

She added, “We have been collating the numbers from August last year till date.”

According to the President of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo, this number have fled Ghana in search of better opportunities.

Speaking on Accra-based TV3’s Hot Issues programme on Sunday, March 31, she said some of these nurses left the country with reasons of poor salaries.

Ofori-Ampofo said “When we had to send student trainees to these rural areas, you would see first-hand the trouble people have to go through just to provide service or live in such areas, and it hasn’t changed over the years. It is still the same.”

She further informed TV3’s Keminni Amanor that some nurses are recruited to work in mud houses with these nurses refusing to accept postings to such rural areas.

Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo also took the opportunity to ask for help for the health sector, which needs more improvements in infrastructural development, than just drones for medical supplies.

“The health sector needs more improvement than just drones. We need to improve and ensure that the equipment we need and the medications we need are always available. The storage systems are available.

“If they were there and you had storage to ensure that you keep those medications at the right temperatures or the blood at the right [place], why would you need a drone to deliver it from somewhere else?” she quizzed.

She also noted that “When you talk about the health system, it needs to be a more coordinated effort with all sectors. So, transport or road networks, housing, utilities. All those things, everything needs to work together for the good of the community in which Ghanaians are living.”