The Ministry of Health has confirmed that more than 100,000 trained health professionals remain unemployed, with discussions underway to send some of them abroad under structured migration agreements with countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Jamaica, and Barbados.

Speaking in an interview on Citi FM on Thursday, May 29, 2025, the Ministry’s spokesperson, Mr Tony Goodman, said the backlog includes nurses, pharmacists, environmental health officers and other allied health professionals who have completed their training and obtained licences since 2021 but have not been employed due to the absence of financial clearance from the Ministry of Finance.

“For five years now, many health workers have remained unemployed simply because financial clearance has not been granted by the Ministry of Finance,” Mr Goodman said. “We are currently dealing with a backlog of about 100,000 professionals.”

Mr Goodman stated that while the health sector needs these professionals, it is not possible to recruit all of them at once.

“We cannot allocate all our resources to salaries. If we do, there will be no money left to build or equip hospitals,” he said.

To manage the backlog, the Ministry has begun arrangements to send some health workers abroad through bilateral agreements.

According to Mr Goodman, four batches of health professionals have already been deployed, and more are expected to follow.

When asked why the Ministry is pursuing overseas placements while many communities in Ghana are understaffed, Mr Goodman said the approach is a response to existing constraints.

“If we recruit everyone but do not provide the logistics and infrastructure they need to work, the outcome will be poor. For those we cannot employ now, migration is a practical option,” he said.

He explained that many health professionals already leave the country through informal channels and often face challenges abroad.

“This kind of migration is structured. It allows for better monitoring, accommodation and eventual return with new experience. It also prevents some unemployed professionals from drifting into activities that are not helpful to society,” he said.

Mr Goodman said the Minister for Health has been in contact with the Minister for Finance in an effort to speed up financial clearance for domestic recruitment.

He noted that a letter was expected before the Finance Minister travelled recently, but it was delayed due to an administrative oversight.

“The Director in charge of compensation at the Ministry of Finance has confirmed that some clearances are currently in progress,” he said, although he did not provide a specific date for the recruitment of the 2021 batch.

He stated that the Ministry will apply a phased, first-in, first-out approach to recruitment based on the year of completion.

Mr Goodman also confirmed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been involved in the discussions on health worker migration, adding that bilateral agreements are being facilitated through that office.

He pointed to challenges from private health training institutions, which he said admit more students than the Ministry can absorb.

“These schools often go beyond the numbers we plan for and later expect the Ministry to employ all their graduates,” he said.

Although a recent World Health Organization (WHO) report listed Ghana among 36 African countries unlikely to meet the 2030 universal health coverage target due to a shortage of health workers, Mr Goodman said the Ministry is trying to address the issue through a mix of recruitment and infrastructure investment.

He added that the Ministry is working on plans to expand access to free primary healthcare, re-equip public health facilities, and establish a 500-bed children’s hospital.