Defence Minister Kwame Addo Kufuor on Tuesday appealed to the United States to help the 37 Military Hospital with specialists to work and train doctors locally to curb the brain drain in the country.

He said the Hospital, currently undergoing major renovation and expansion works, was to become part of the National Post-Graduate Medical College and would need specialists to improve the quality of health delivery and the training of students. The expansion works would be commissioned in September.

Dr Addo Kufuor made the appeal when an eight-man team made up of seven students and a lecturer from the United States National War College called on him at his office at Burma Camp in Accra.

The Team is on a three-day visit to Ghana as part of a regional tour to study security strategies in West Africa and consolidate areas of interest between the US and the countries they are visiting. The team has been to Nigeria and Senegal.

Dr Addo Kufuor told the Team that Ghana had an extensive experience in peacekeeping, which other countries could learn from. He stressed that Ghana had cordial and beneficial relationship with the US, saying that the Armed Forces of both countries had learnt and benefited a lot from joint training exercises.

Colonel Gary Wilson, Leader of the Team, said it was in Ghana to learn more about the nation, adding that their interaction with the MOD would also shape the outlook of a strategic policy to be implemented in the US.

The Team had earlier held a closed-door meeting with the Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant General Seth Obeng. It also visited the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping and Training Centre, under construction at Teshie, near Accra.