The Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, says government is intensifying efforts to strengthen Ghana’s health workforce, with about 16,000 health workers currently under consideration for deployment this year.

He said 1,500 of them have already been processed as part of efforts to improve staffing levels, particularly in underserved communities.

Speaking at the 2026 Annual Health Summit in Accra, he expressed concern over persistent staffing gaps in hard-to-reach areas, revealing that in 2024, only 12 medical doctors accepted postings to eight underserved regions.

According to him, government is taking steps to address the challenge through expanded specialist training, with the decentralisation of postgraduate medical education already underway.

He further noted that basic nursing training has also been scaled up, with 475 nurses currently in training and plans to train about 1,000 nurses annually.

Mr Akandoh stressed that the focus is not only on increasing numbers but also on developing new cadres of health professionals to respond to the rising burden of non-communicable diseases.

Additionally, he disclosed that government has awarded 30 PhD scholarships to strengthen capacity within the health sector and improve service delivery.