Minister of Health commends the Presbyterian Church of Ghana for its track record in health care delivery
The Minister of Health, Hon. Kwaku Agyeman Manu has lauded the Presbyterian Church of Ghana on its role in the socio-economic development of the country over the years in the area of health care delivery.
The Minister made the commendation at the opening of this year’s annual performance review meeting of the Health Services, Agriculture Services, and Relief and Development Services under the Development and Social Services Department of the PCG at the Presbyterian Women’s Centre at Abokobi in the Ga East District of the Greater Accra Region on Wednesday, October 2023.
The meeting is under the theme: “Jesus Christ, the Alpha, and the Omega: Spreading the Gospel through impactful social services”.
He said the Presbyterian Church of Ghana health facilities spread across the country have complemented the government’s efforts at improving quality health care delivery in the country.
The Minister said the fruitful partnership that has existed between the church and the government in healthcare delivery necessitated the construction of a new district hospital at Aburi in the Akuapem South District at the site of the Kom Presbyterian Clinic to replace the existing facility which would be commissioned and dedicated any moment from now.
Mr. Agyemang Manu assured that the government would continue to partner with churches to provide quality healthcare delivery to the people.
The Minister assured the government’s commitment to providing adequate and efficient healthcare facilities and resources for the training of practitioners to offer efficient healthcare in the country.
He said the country’s health system had undergone a major transformation over the past years, and there was a need for adequately trained healthcare workers in the right places to improve the health systems.
The Minister said the Ministry, in collaboration with stakeholders, was making efforts to provide Ghanaians with well-trained health professionals to offer prompt and efficient healthcare services.
Mr. Agyemang-Manu said his ministry is developing a policy to address present and future migration issues in the health sector.
He said the Migration Policy, when finished, would tighten procedures for training, deployment, retention, and reintegration of Ghana’s health workforce to meet local and global demands.
It is also expected to ensure financial and ‘brain gain’ from the overseas deployment of health professionals through beneficial bilateral agreements.
The health minister said the policy was driven by the current health sector migration, a global issue that is not unique to Ghana and has remained a serious challenge affecting the retention of health workers.
Despite the challenges of the health sector, he stated that the ministry has taken steps to improve the training, recruitment, and retention of healthcare workers in keeping with the government’s priorities for the health sector.
The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rt Rev Prof Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante said the church was happy to partner with the government to enhance healthcare delivery in the country.
He expressed gratitude to the government for elevating the Kom Presbyterian Clinic into a district hospital and assured that the Church would continue to support healthcare delivery because it was the first to bring healthcare services to Ghana.
Rt. Rev. Prof. Mante said the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, for the past one hundred ninety-five years, in its quest to be a Christ-Centred, Self-Sustaining, and a Growing Church had used a three-prong approach in its mission work, namely Preaching, Teaching, and Healing.
The Moderator said that the PCG had undertaken a holistic mission by operating under three broad themes: Spiritual, Moral, and Social witness.
In the area of health, the Moderator mentioned that the Church has established 60 health facilities from Health Posts to sub-regional Hospitals that have gained a reputation in specialties across the West African sub-region.
Dr. Peter K. Yeboah, the Executive Director of the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) commended the Presbyterian Health Service as the third largest single health service provider in the country after Ghana Health Service and the Roman Catholic Church.
The Director of Development and Social Services of the PCG, Mrs. Rebecca Teiko Sabah in a presentation said the four-day event will afford managers of the 60 health institutions of the church, the six agriculture stations, and relief organizations the opportunity to take stock of the previous year’s activities and chart a new way forward.
She said the review meeting will also be used to adopt policy decisions aimed at injecting modernization into its activities, as well as share decisions taken at the meeting with policymakers to promote good agricultural and health practices in communities where their facilities operate.
Present at the meeting were Rev. Dr. Abraham Nana Opare Kwakye, the Moderator-elect of the PCG, and Rev. Dr. Godwin Nii Noi Odonkor, Clerk of the General Assembly of the PCG.
Rev. George Larbi
