Health Minister, Alex Segbefia says government will retain Cuban doctors who have completed their rotation in order to reduce the pressure in quasi-government hospitals as the ongoing strike by doctors enters its third week.

He said the doctors were bound to leave the country but will be made to stay and assist until the issues with the public doctors are resolved.

The minister was speaking at a press conference to outline government’s emergency plans to deal with the effects of the strike  by doctors.

“As we work to protect lives and restore normalcy, we are also retaining all the Cuban doctors who have completed their rotation and were programme to leave for Cuba.”

Mr Segbefia said plans are also underway for about 177 more Cuban doctors to come and assist in healthcare delivery in the country.

According to him, some retired doctors have also agreed to return to work.

He mentioned that the services of other foreign doctors will also be sought as government works frantically to reduce load on the few doctors currently at post.

The Minister pleaded with the doctors to return to work for negotiations to continue because “we cannot just go and fix a document and give to the doctors, it must go through a process, so stop the strike action and let us negotiate”.

He said the Ministry and government will do everything in its power to ensure that lives are not lost as a result of the strike.

Members of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) have embarked on a strike to demand improvement and codification of their conditions of service.

The doctors had said they will resign en masse after two weeks if government failed to provide them with conditions of service but decided to remain on strike upon expiration of the deadline.

Government has described the doctors’ strike as illegal and asked them to return to work in order for negotiations to resume, but the doctors have refused.

They say they will only return to work after a document detailing their conditions of service is signed.