Accra, March 12,– Dr Thomas Winsum Anabah, Member of Parliament for Garu, has raised concerns over Ghana’s growing shortage of medical doctors, warning that the situation poses a serious challenge to equitable healthcare delivery in the country.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament, Dr Anabah said many district hospitals and health centres remained critically understaffed despite investments in infrastructure and equipment. He stressed that without adequate skilled personnel, the health system would struggle to fulfil its mandate of delivering quality healthcare.
He noted that although nurses constitute the backbone of the health system, their numbers were still insufficient to meet the country’s healthcare demands. Thousands are trained annually, yet many remain unemployed due to fiscal constraints, while others migrate abroad in search of better opportunities.
Dr Anabah described the shortage of physicians as particularly worrying, noting that Ghana’s physician-to-population ratio stands at 2.66 doctors per 10,000 people, far below the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended minimum of 10 per 10,000 and the global average of 17.2.
According to data from the Ghana Medical and Dental Council, the country currently has about 12,886 registered doctors. To meet the WHO benchmark for a population of about 32 million, Ghana would require approximately 32,000 doctors, leaving a deficit of nearly 19,000.
He cautioned that even if the country trained 900 to 1,000 doctors annually and retained all of them, it would take nearly two decades to close the gap. However, the situation is worsened by the fact that about 35 per cent of locally trained doctors leave the country each year in search of better conditions abroad.
Dr Anabah also highlighted disparities in the distribution of doctors between urban and rural areas. While some urban facilities are relatively well staffed, rural districts such as Garu often depend on only one or two doctors to serve populations of more than 40,000 people.
“This is not simply inconvenient. It places lives at risk,” he said, calling for urgent interventions to address the imbalance.
Beyond the numerical deficit, the MP raised concerns about the well-being of healthcare workers. He cited the 2024 Performance Report of the Medical and Dental Council, which revealed that nine per cent of doctors involved in misconduct cases were experiencing depression, suggesting growing pressure and morale challenges within the profession.
Dr Anabah therefore called for strategic measures to bridge the physician gap, including improved retention policies, better remuneration, and incentives to encourage doctors to accept postings in rural communities.
He urged Ghana to adopt global best practices while tailoring solutions to local realities, warning that failure to act decisively could undermine the country’s healthcare system.
The MP appealed to Parliament to treat the issue as a matter of urgent national importance, stressing that without adequate skilled personnel, Ghana’s healthcare infrastructure would be unable to deliver on its promise of quality service.
GHBUSS
12 March 2026
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