The Deputy Minister for Health, Hon Tina Gifty Mensah has launched the Public Health Workforce Strategic Plan on the theme ‘Building a Resilient One Health Public Health Workforce in Ghana’ to better respond to emerging public Health Threats.
The Public Health Workforce Strategic Plan will provide prompt access and the highest quality health services through equitable deployment and retention of qualified workforce in Ghana’s human, animal and environmental health.
Hon. Tina Mensah in her address said, the Ministry collaborated with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and innovation, and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to develop this document to guide the country on its health workforce needs. She said the Public Health Workforce Strategic Plan is a five-year document which presents a road map that would guide the restructuring of the Human resource of the public health workforce and ensure that the Universal Health Coverage target is fully achieved, using the One Health Concept by 2030.
“The document would support in addressing some weaknesses in the health workforce, particularly recruitment, workforce distribution, staff development, and employee motivation and employee migration,” she added.
Dr Patrick Kuma Aboagye, the Director General of Ghana Health Service (GHS) in his statement commended the timeliness of the Strategic plan since there was no document guiding the inter-sectoral collaboration.
“Practically, Covid-19 made us implement the Public Health Strategic Plan even before the launch, and I believe that this document will guide the inter-sectorial collaboration and once we have been doing it unknowingly because of Covid, we should not wait for any public health emergency before we think of bringing other health sectors who have a stake in addressing public health issues” he added