A medical outreach team currently on a visit to the Upper West Region is calling for greater motivation from government to attract health professionals to rural Ghana. The team pointed out that people outside the cities will continue to be denied proper care until the state adequately compensates and incentivizes doctors to stay and work there. The group, known as APRIDEC, is led by renowned surgeon, Prof Francis Abatanga of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi. He suggested that doctors and other professionals who work in deprived communities be paid higher in addition to other baits to guarantee their services. Upper West Region is one of the deprived regions, with only 17 doctors manning 174 health facilities. None of the facilities has a specialist. APRIDEC Medical Outreach team, on Friday, performed 64 surgical operations in Tumu and Nadowli District Hospitals as well as the St Joseph Hospital at Jirapa. The team has also identified a backlog of surgical cases waiting for attention. A worried Prof. Abatanga said government must confront the challenge head-on. He wanted special attention paid to training of young doctors to improve healthcare delivery. “Upper West is more deprived than other regions with only 17 doctors in the hospitals here. And it’s always one man’s station so we need to motivate doctors. If you tell a young doctor go to Upper West, maximum 3 years, there is a chance of allowing you to further your education somewhere and train as a specialist, with support from the region, so that when you finish you come back and serve the region for another five years. I think that many doctors will take it,” Prof Abatanga explained. The former head of Surgery Directorate at the KATH maintained: “Financially, If you allow doctors who are working in deprived areas to get more than those who are packed in Komfo Anokye for example - in Komfo Anokye there are so many there; we are fallen over each other - that this is the motivation I have for you, come you would be financially motivated, I’m sure many people would come.” Prof Abatanga called on key stakeholders in healthcare to actively get involved in the discussion for motivation for health workers. “The regional directors, district directors, and the assemblies can then come in. Imagine there are some doctors who are sent to deprived areas; they get there, no accommodation. They hang around, hang around after a month or so, why would I continue hanging around when I know if I go to a different place, I would get accommodation? So the motivation should be national,” Prof Abatanga reiterated. The APRIDEC Medical Outreach team is expected to offer specialized services to over 500 people suffering from hernia, fibroid and goiter, among others.