The Minister of Health, Ms Sherry Ayittey on Friday expressed concerned about the urban-rural gap, which deprived rural areas of the services of medical doctors.

She said there was the need to make a difference in the health indices moving out to deliver care in rural areas.

The Health Minister expressed her concern when the Ghana Medical and Dental Council inducted 195 newly qualified medical and dental doctors into the profession.

She noted that about 52 per cent of all doctors were centered in Greater Accra Region whilst the figure increased with the addition of Ashanti, Eastern and Central regions.

“It is sad to state that there are only six Ghanaian doctors serving a population of about a million in the Upper West Region,” she added.

She urged newly qualified medical practitioners to accept postings to rural areas for their housemanship and promised them of a readily available accommodation.

The Health Minister suggested to the district assemblies and stakeholders to consider sponsoring students through the medical and dental schools and see them through postgraduate profession.

Dr Eric Asamoah, Chairman of the Ghana Medical and Dental Council, urged the new practitioners to always abide by the profession’s code of ethics, establish good clientele and put their patients needs first.

He appealed to government to provide human and material resources to make work of doctors more attractive and rewarding.

The 195 medical and dental practitioners were taken through the hypocritical oath to remind them of their duties and what was expected of them.

Dr Angela El-Adas, Director-General of the Ghana AIDS Commission and Dr Linda van Otoo, Greater Accra Regional Health Director, took turns to advise the new doctors.

They urged them to always seek guidance, show humility and respect in the discharge of their duties.