Accra (Greater Accra) -- The government has acquired a $5m loan to provide vehicles for all categories of health professionals in the country. The loan which is to be a revolving fund, has already been approved by Parliament.

President John Kufuor, announced this in a speech read on his behalf at the opening of the 44th Annual General Conference of the Ghana Medical Association (GM) in Accra on Friday. It was under the theme “Continuous quality improvement in health care”. He said the move was to make the conditions of work of medical personnel much more conducive and to stem the tide of he exodus of health personnel.

President Kufuor maintained that given the current state of affairs I the country, medical personnel could not be paid enough to merit their services and reminded them that their profession was a calling that essentially shared a sense of mission akin to priesthood. “I am not suggesting that your reward should be in heaven or some such glib clich?. You deserve to be paid honest wages for the honest work and the great service that you render society”.

“The challenge I am throwing to you is to recognize and accept your leadership role in the nation’s efforts to transform itself socially and economically for the better. This role can never be quantified in terms of money. It enjoins you to sacrifice,” he noted.

The President enjoined medical personnel to stay in the country adding that “if you accept this challenge and stay on as part of the leadership of the country, government will be responsive to your ideas and any constructive criticism you might have”.

He said he considered medical personnel as part of he leadership of the country and stated that they do not have to shirk their responsibilities to the country and the people for greener pastures else where.

‘Ask yourself who should turn Ghana around when you make a living abroad? No nation has ever been developed by outsiders. We need your skills and dynamism to transform the economy to make the country a better place for all to live in”, he maintained.

President Kufuor stressed on the importance of preventive health and said it was sad that Ghana continued to spend more than 60 per cent of its health budget on preventable diseases.