College of Physicians and Surgeons admits new fellows, members

The Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons (GCPS) has inducted 345 members and fellows into the college.

They are made up of 292 members, whose induction came off on November 25, and 53 fellows whose induction came off on November 26.

The fellows were made up of 14 fellows by election and 39 fellows by examination and they were from various fields of medical speciality, including internal medicine; paediatric and child health; obstetrics and gynaecology; orthopaedic and tremor surgery and public health.

Also inducted were 11 diplomates from the faculty of anaesthesia and one fellow who received a post-fellowship diploma in colorectal surgery.

The induction came off at the 21st Annual General and Scientific Meeting Fellowship of the college and was on the theme: “Training and retention of health workforce in Ghana".

From one speaker to another, the gathering, made up largely of distinguished members of the medical profession in Ghana and the sub-region, highlighted the growing concern about the exodus of health professionals from Ghana and the sub-region to other developed countries.

The President of the West African College of Surgeons (WACS), Professor Emmanuel R. Ezeome, said health workforce degradation was a challenge facing all nations in West Africa and as a training institution, they believed that it was intimately bound to the economic fortunes of the different nations in the sub-region.

He said as a training postgraduate college, they were convinced that training institutions such as the GCPS could help change the situation by continuing to do what they were already doing and also double their efforts in training manpower for the surgical and physician workforce of Ghana and West Africa.

To the new fellows, Prof. Ezeome urged them to make a conscious decision to remain in Ghana to be part of the solution to the low health indices affecting the country and the rest of West Africa.

The President of the GCPS, Prof. Samuel Debrah, said the theme was a reminder that the brain drain of medical personnel was back to epidemic levels.

He, therefore, entreated the new fellows to resist all attempts to join the trade.

Investment

Prof. Peter S. Coleman of the Liberia College of Physicians and Surgeons called for an urgent need for more investment in health by individual countries on the continent to reverse the brain drain.

He said the implementation of the Abuja Declaration which was done 20 years ago by heads of state, stated that each country should commit 50 per cent of its budget to the healthcare sector.

He said that could be an effective intervention to direct more funding to address the problem by providing health professionals with better salaries and compensation to deter them from migrating to the developed world.

First-class citizens

The Guest of Honour, Dr Sylvia Deganus, urged the new fellows to be the best that they could ever be, be proud Ghanaians and always remain first-class citizens in the country.

The Provost of the College of Health Sciences of the University of Ghana, Prof. Alfred Edwin Yawson, said it was gratifying for the country to train almost all the key specialists needed for its health system locally.

However, he said one of the challenges was the inadequate numbers and inequitable distribution of healthcare personnel across the different levels.