The Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has indicated that the government will train at least 1,000 specialised nursing students every year as part of efforts to address gaps in the country’s healthcare workforce.
Speaking at the joint matriculation ceremony for the Specialised Nursing Programme on Thursday, June 25, the Minister said the initiative is aimed at strengthening the health sector by building advanced skills among nurses while also expanding opportunities for healthcare professionals.
He noted that the programme, which is expected to be extended to other training institutions nationwide, forms part of broader efforts to respond to persistent shortages in specialised medical skills.
According to him, although Ghana has a large pool of trained health professionals, the system continues to face critical gaps in specialised areas.
He explained that these deficiencies often become more evident in international agreements, where partner countries demand highly specialised skills that are in short supply locally.
“I inherited a sector with over 100,000 trained professionals, yet there were significant gaps. The specialised skills were lacking,” he said.
The Minister stressed that leadership must focus on solving practical challenges, questioning why the country cannot expand training to meet both domestic and international demand for specialised healthcare workers.
He added that despite initial doubts and criticism, the programme has gained strong support and is now set to scale up.
“We are determined to train not less than 1,000 students every year. This is just the beginning, and it shall be replicated in other institutions,”he added.
