NPP has employed 54,000 nurses so far – Dep. Health Minister

Deputy Minister of Health, Alexander Abban has said 54,000 nurses and midwives have been employed since the New Patriotic Party (NPP) came into office in January 2017.

According to him, the government is still working to absorb a number of unemployed nurses.

His comment is a response to the minority’s condemnation of alleged harassment of some graduate unemployed nurses and midwives by the police during their picketing at the Ministry of Health on Monday.

Mr. Abban says the embargo on public sector jobs that existed prior to the NPP’s coming into office, is largely to blame for the backlog of unemployed health professionals.

“I can say on Authority that, about 54,000 nurses [had been employed]. All the recruitment we have made over the period had to do backlog that was left from 2012 to 2016. We all know and we have to freeze public sector employment. And for that reason, from 2012 to 2016 not a single soul from within the health sector working group was employed.”

Despite the government’s continuous ’employment claims’ members of the Graduate Unemployed Nurses and Midwives Association are always picketing at the Ministry of Health (MoH) to demand their immediate employment.

The latest protest took place last Monday where the nurses accused the police of harassing and intimidating them.

The group said the action was taken because they haven’t had any positive response from the ministry regarding financial clearance for their employment.

About six of the unemployed nurses, including a person with a disability, who took part in the picketing on Monday were arrested and are reportedly being processed for court.