Accra , May 15, GNA - The Ministry of Health (MoH), has expressed happiness that more doctors are being produced to swell the population of health professionals for better and safe health care to alleviate pains and suffering among ordinary people.

“It gives me a great relief to know that another batch of qualified doctors is being made available to the Ministry of Health and the health sector to add to the limited number of health professionals in the system,” sector Minister Mr Alex Segbefia said on Saturday.

He told the fresh medical professionals: “I asked you to join the other health professionals to fulfil our primary objective of alleviating pain and suffering and to promote good health among our people.”

“For some time now our focus has been to ensure that we produce the right numbers of health staff required for safe and effective health care delivery and occasions like this, it gives us the encouragement that our objectives will be met sooner rather than later,” he added.

Mr Segbefia was speaking at the induction of 125 newly qualified medical doctors in the Medical and Dental Council, after going through five to seven years training in various aspects of medicine.

He described their induction as “an initiation exercise” which would expose them to the realities on the ground as they practise their profession in various parts of the country.

“I believe that although your training in school prepared you to be able to handle even the most difficult challenges as doctors, the period of internship, has adequately prepared you for the rigours of professional life,” he said.

He highlighted the important role of medical and dental health development in the country and encouraged them to develop themselves and chart their log career path, which could only be limited by their attitudes and decisions.

He reminded them that they are joining the health sector at the time that their predecessors have raised standards in service delivery with sector posting significant performance that showed resilience in the health system.

He said the challenge is for them to make ensure they maintain “this high level of dedication and to build on the achievements of your senior colleagues”.

Mr Segbefia said the sector is also riddled with some challenges which they ought to be aware, adding: “Already as members of the health care team the responsibility of ensuring optimal patient care is quite a daunting task.”

Diseases, which a few years ago were thought to be alien in some parts of the world are now becoming common, he said, while patients who some time ago would be satisfied with whatever prescription a doctor wrote would now want more information and even question the rationale for taking certain decisions.

“There is currently a significant third party involvement in the form of the national health insurance scheme, this will give a non-technical person the authority to challenge your judgement, all these development that we need to prepare for and confront as professionals,” he said.

The Minister also encouraged the newly qualified doctors to accept postings to rural districts, saying “your presence will not only ensure that people in these deprived communities receive quality medical care but will also further contribute enormously towards the success of our policies and programmes”.

All the 125 doctors came from the University of Ghana School of medicine and Dentistry and foreign trained who took and passed the council’s registration examination.

The foreign-trained practitioners schooled in Russia, China, Ukraine, Belarus and Cuba.