Speaking at the closing ceremony in Accra hosted by the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Prof Franklyn Manu, Former Rector of the Institute extolled the participants for their determination and commitment for a successful completion of the programme.

The week-long training programme, which started from October 16 to 21 brought together 51 participants from Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Uganda. The programme was funded by Johnson and Johnson, a health manufacturing product in Africa in collaboration with the International School of Management in Senegal, the African Medical and Research Foundation, Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, Global Business School Network and ISM.

Prof Manu emphasised the importance of collaboration in the sub-region to strategise and come out with solutions to health related problems. “It was time Africans placed priority on health care delivery and the need to own and invest in such training programmes by sponsoring it instead of always relying on development partners for support”, he added.

He urged the participants to be Ambassadors of change and share their experiences at their various countries to improve health care delivery. Prof Duku Osei, the Deputy Rector of GIMPA said the Institute had established itself as one of the best institutions in development training, especially in the public and health sectors, and would continue to create a conducive environment for the training programme to gain roots and become sustainable.

He acknowledged the proposal to include advocacy in the course modules and as well increase the numbers of participants in subsequent programmes, pledging to table the proposals to the authorities for discussions. He said discussions must be centered on responding to disaster preparedness and emergency management as a way of addressing any unforeseen situation instead of waiting for the situation to happen before responding.

Professor Anthony Mawuli Sallar, the Regional Director of West African Management Development Institute said the Institute had 225 applications for the programme of which 51 participants were selected. The objective of the programme was to provide various Ministries of health with the needed management and leadership training to implement their shared national health priorities in their respective countries.

Participants were treated to topics such as; human resource management, health system information, social marketing, project management, ethics and corruption among others. Dr Hamza Bawumia, the Class President, thanked all stakeholders for the opportunity, adding that, the programme hadadded more knowledge to their ideas and pledged to impart the knowledge gained to improve health delivery services in their various countries.

Certificates and gifts were presented to the participants while participants from Ghana presented a plaque to Prof Sallar to appreciate his contribution towards the success of the programme.