Brain drain: over 4,000 nurses left Ghana from January-July 2023 – GRNMA

The Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) has revealed that more than 4,000 members have left the shores of the country to seek greener pastures in European countries between January and July of 2023.

The association noted that the main driving force for the massive brain drain is the poor emoluments and general conditions of service of nurses and midwives in the country. It lamented that government after government has failed to improve the conditions of the service of nurses and midwives in particular and health professionals in general.

The association, however, conceded that the issue is not limited to Ghana alone as in the West African sub-region, nurses and midwives are migrating to developed countries for better conditions of service.

“The truth of the matter is that our salaries in Ghana as nurses and midwives are not the best. But I also know that it is not only Ghana. Within the sub-region, within Africa as a whole, it is the same issue…So this issue about the movement of nurses from Ghana is actually not affecting only Ghana. Go to Nigeria. Go to Ivory Coast. Go to other countries. They are leaving. They are leaving because the salaries and other conditions of service are not the best,” the President of the GRNMA Perpetual Ofori Ampofo said in an interview with Citi News Thursday.

A massive exodus of health workers – mainly nurses, midwives and doctors – are leaving in droves to Europe and North America to seek greener pastures. The phenomenon is leaving health systems in these developing countries worse off as they struggle to replace them.