President Akufo-Addo has described as distressing, the refusal by some doctors and dentists to accept postings to deprived areas of the country.

He says the development is hampering effective healthcare delivery in such areas.

Addressing the 60th anniversary of the University of Ghana Medical School (UGMS) on Friday, Mr Akufo-Addo said while government works to improve conditions in such areas, it is incumbent on medical professionals to adhere to their oath.

“The news of doctors refusing posting to these areas is distressing. I encourage all medical practitioners to follow the worthy example of your great forebears who readily accepted postings in the early years, at a time when the national infrastructure was even more harrowing than it is today.

“I am therefore appealing to you, as passionately as I can, to accept postings to accredited regional and district hospitals, where your services are needed most,” he urged.

President Akufo-Addo admitted that the country’s doctor-dentist population ratio currently remains poor, although “our medical schools have got a good reputation and have been training good doctors and dentists who find work with some ease in all parts of the world, the doctor-dentist population ratio in our country still remains unsatisfactory after 65 years of nationhood.

“We currently do not have the right numbers of doctors, dentists and healthcare professionals with the right niche of skills and expertise in our regions, districts and deprived communities, especially for the newly-created regions and districts,” he pointed out.

Mr. Akufo-Addo reiterated his commitment to complete the Agenda 111 hospital project before leaving office.

He added: “It will take time for us to build the Ghana we want. The Ghana of a good road network, good schools available all around the country and satisfactory electricity supply everywhere.

“That is the challenge of our generation. Let us join hands to overcome this challenge and build the Ghana we want. Each one of us has to contribute to this endeavour for no one else will come and do it for us.”

In a related development, it has emerged only 110 out of the over 720 senior high schools in the country have had their students make it to the two traditional medical schools at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and University of Ghana (UG).

A former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof Ivan Addae Mensah, disclosed this in an interview with JoyNews.

“For the period of 2012 to 2020, we have admitted 1,272 to the University of Ghana Medical School, we have admitted similar numbers to the KNUST School of Medical Sciences.

“Of those number of students admitted, they come from just about 110 schools, which means there are 610 schools in this country who have never sent a student to our two medical schools for the past eight years," he highlighted.

Meanwhile, he said the Free SHS is only producing quantity and not quality and ought to be reviewed.

He wants government to involve all stakeholders to relook and rethink the policy in order to make it more sustainable.