The Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has admitted that the government cannot meet the expectation of employing all 74,000 unemployed health professionals by 2026, despite earlier optimism about large-scale recruitment in the sector.
Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme, the Minister clarified that while expanding job opportunities remains a key part of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s broader development agenda, claims that all unemployed health workers would be absorbed within the next year are “simply untrue.”
“The assurance is that it is the President’s ambition to create more opportunities for everyone, including unemployed graduates,” Mr Akandoh said. “However, to claim that all 74,000 health professionals will be employed by 2026 is simply untrue.”
The Minister explained that although government is committed to addressing unemployment in the health sector, the scale of the challenge and current budgetary constraints make it impossible to resolve overnight.
“It will be very difficult, and that is the truth, but we will work towards it gradually,” he noted.
Mr Akandoh revealed that the Health Ministry is exploring “managed migration” and international partnerships with foreign health systems as part of a broader strategy to create employment pathways for Ghanaian-trained health professionals.
“We will look at managed migration, export some professionals, and the government will try to devise ways to gradually employ others,” he said.
He stressed that the issue requires a realistic and phased approach, balancing the need for more jobs with fiscal discipline and the government’s limited wage bill.
The minister’s comments come amid increasing discontent among unemployed and unpaid health workers. On October 2, 2025, nearly 7,000 nurses and midwives under the Coalition of Unpaid Nurses and Midwives staged a protest in Accra over 10 months of unpaid salaries.
The protest, which began at Efua Sutherland Children’s Park, saw demonstrators march to the Ministries of Finance and Health, where they submitted petitions demanding immediate payment and job placement.
Ghana’s health sector has, in recent months, been rocked by waves of industrial actions, including strikes and demonstrations by health professionals over delayed postings, salary arrears, and inadequate logistics.
Despite these challenges, Mr Akandoh maintained that the government remains committed to gradually resolving the employment crisis in the health sector, emphasizing that “no one will be left behind.”