First set of Ghanaian healthcare workers arrive in Jamaica

The first set of Ghanaian healthcare workers to arrive in Jamaica will be deployed to regional health authorities across the island after landing last night. 

The government welcomed the Ghanaian healthcare workers as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen the country's healthcare workforce and support the delivery of quality services. 

Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton confirmed that the 43 nurses arrived at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, following the signing of a Bilateral Health Cooperation agreement between both countries earlier this year.

He said the agreement should eventually see 400 healthcare workers being deployed to Jamaica, characterizing it as “an important step forward in what has been announced in the past, which is to help to develop local capacity through initiatives like the Byron Scholarship.”

He stressed that, where the specialist nurses or doctors are not available in Jamaica, “we would exercise our options to engage our friendly foreign partners, and in this case, South-South cooperation through an MoU with Ghana and Jamaica.”

Noting that “this is a first” and “will not be the last,” he promised that the process will be carefully managed, “and hopefully will see the integration being smooth.”

Dr Tufton added that progress is being made in other areas as well, with additional arrangements being made for specialists from overseas.

 “We have MOUs now with India. We have a technical delegation that's coming from the Philippines and also an MOU signed with Nigeria. And all told, what this will mean is, again, more collaboration through South-South cooperation because we have a problem, we have a challenge.”

He said Jamaica does not have the enough specialist nurses, “and we just can't train them fast enough to fill some of the gaps in the system,” which renders it necessary to pursue that option.

“As we build out more hospitals, provide more beds, more operating theaters, more ICU, whether it is at Western Child and Adolescent, Spanish Town, or otherwise, we are going to need the personnel,” he explained.