Koforidua, Dec. 19, GNA- The Association of Health Service Administrators of Ghana (AHSAG), has commended the government for the improvement in the salaries of health workers and urged the workers of the sector to reciprocate the gesture by increasing their productivity and changing their attitude to work.

This was contained in a communiqu=E9 issued at the end of the 31st Annual General Meeting of the Association, which was organized in Koforidua under the theme: "50 years of health service administration and management in Ghana: achievements, challenges and prospects." The association expressed concern about the current situation where medical doctors in the public sector appeared to have been pitched against all other health workers in negotiations for better conditions of service.

It therefore, recommended a unified workforce to promote better industrial relation and minimize the rampant industrial unrest in the health sector.

The group observed that, with the current changes going on in the health sector as a result of the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and under-funding of the health institutions, management of the health institutions had become more challenging. The association therefore appealed to the Ministry of Health to commit some funds towards staff training and development to enable health managers to continually develop their managerial competence and skills to adequately cope with the challenges of the work. The association called for the amendment of the Ghana Health Service and Teaching Hospitals Act 525 of 1996 to help promote continuum of health delivery in the country.

The group also called for the appointment of District Pharmacists, Health Service Administrators and other professionals to help improve management capacity of the District Health Directorates and give meaning to the decentralization process in the health service. The association observed with concern, the delay in the reimbursement of service providers under the NHIS, the delay in the issuing of membership cards and attempted fraudulent practices by some service providers and schemes and called on the National Health Insurance Council to take urgent steps to address the issue.