John Dramani Mahama, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has put forward a novel solution to tackle unemployment among health workers, particularly nurses, by advocating for their deployment to other countries.

Mahama argues that exporting nurses to foreign nations would be a more advantageous approach compared to allowing them to remain jobless in Ghana.

During his tour of the Savannah Region, Mahama engaged with student nurses, highlighting the imperative of ensuring gainful employment opportunities for nurses upon completing their training.

To operationalize this strategy, he proposed the establishment of a dedicated unit within the Ministry of Employment tasked with recruiting nurses who meet the requisite standards for international deployment.

“We aim to bolster the production of health workers and nurses, employing as many as possible domestically while simultaneously entering agreements with other nations to dispatch our nurses for fixed-term contracts. Thus, under the Ministry of Employment, we envision a specialized unit responsible for sourcing and vetting nurses to ensure they meet the standards required for international hospital placements,” Mahama elucidated.

Mahama’s proposal underscores a proactive approach to address both domestic unemployment concerns and global healthcare demands, potentially offering new avenues for career opportunities for Ghanaian nurses while contributing to the healthcare systems of other countries.