Good afternoon to you all.

Friends from media, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen.

We are grateful that you have been able to honour our invitation at this short notice and have taken interest in our predicament as National Health Student's Association of Ghana (NAHSAG). Our reasons for calling you are simple, and you might have come across them in one way or the other.

Today, we seek an opportunity to tell our own story and to demand from the authorities, in this instance, government, to honour its obligation towards us as health professionals who are ready and willing to offer our services to the state and to its people. 

Health Interns Allowance

Friends from the media, we cannot belabour the issue of the current hardships that everyone is complaining about. And on top of that, we have colleagues who rise up every day, go to work, exposed to nosocomial infections without being paid the meagre allowances they have worked for, while others continue to stay home without hope of being posted to hospital facilities to work and be able to earn income to honour their responsibilities.

Ladies and gentlemen, these interns are under Ministry of Health and as we speak, since September 2021, our members who are currently doing their service, what we call Health Interns i.e. the allied health and some nurses have not been paid their allowances. For 9 months after taking up postings, and picking transport to work as the state requires of us, our colleagues are still without payment of their allowances. We do not think this is acceptable. Very much unfortunate is the fact that the Ministry of Health who should under the plight of the health intern is seeking to move the interns allowance payment to a different agency. We do not want to conclude that the minister of health, professional Account is only interested in his money but does not understand the plight and need to invest in health interns because he is not a health professional. We therefore by this call on the Minister to resolve issues of Health and move other health interns outside the Ministry to the Ministry or he resigns.

2019 Second Batch of Nurses, Physician Assistants and Allied Health Group Not Posted.

Friends from the media, another concern for us remain that, as we speak, we still have the second batch of the 2019 nurses, Physician Assistants and some Allied Health professionals who completed school who have still not been posted. Unfortunately, we had reports of a later batch, some who completed in 2020 being posted based on their relationship with staffs of the ministry or their willingness to pay their way through. We have placed our trust in the system defined by government which logically flows that postings would be done logically and in order of completion of school and service. These instances mean government has closed chapter on recruitments and may only be interested in the posting of the rest of the professionals during election season or none at all.  We call on the authorities to look into this matter, and to ensure that the rest including the 2020 batch are posted immediately.

On Trainee Allowances 

Friends from the media, we are sad to report some very challenging issues with regards to the payment of Nursing Trainee Allowances that were restored by this government. It was a subject of delight when the current administration announced the restoration of the Nursing Trainee Allowances. We thought we would have the maximum benefit of being able to access these allowances to aid in our education and training. Unfortunately, this is turning to be a disappointment. As we speak, the first years who are in the various Nursing Training institutions are owed allowances for 5 months. In addition, those in second and third years are owed 9 months arrears of their allowances. What is more, those currently on rotation are being owed 7-month arrears, even after they completed school and have been on rotation since September 2021. This is equally unacceptable and impacting negatively on the lives of student nurses. 

Pharmacy technologists and PIN challenges 

In this category of our colleagues, they are required to ascertain their pin which makes them eligible for employment. In times past, when they complete their various courses in pharmacy, they register with the Pharmacy Council and get their PINs given to them to work. However, this situation was changed along the way. The new mode is that, even upon completion of the course at school, they are further required to write external exams to be licensed. As we speak, those who completed school in 2020 and have been waiting to write the external exams, have not had the chance to do so. Even though they have shown readiness for the exams, no date has been announced for taking of the exams. This has caused the delay of access to their PINs, making them ineligible for employment. We see this as insensitive to the plight of our colleague pharmacists, and we demand a date is set for them within the shortest possible time. 

Registered Nurse Assistants

Our colleagues in the category of Registered Nurse Assistants, have not been posted since the 2018 and 2019 batches. This equally, is bringing about untold hardships on their lives as they have no means and sources of income after school.

Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen and friends from the media, we would not behave like ostriches. Aside the financial clearances that we await which possible is delayed due to financial issues, we believe that our very output as workers contributing to the economy of this country, would go a long way to improve on the economic conditions of the state. From our salaries, we would pay the appropriate taxes to the state as our contribution to nation building, notwithstanding the lives we would be saving which lives contribute to the economy in their diverse ways.

As a result, we demand from government to speed up the completion of all the health facilities that are under construction some of which have been abandoned to resolve the issues of lack of space in existing facilities which is a contributing factor in the government's inability to post us. Nurses and medical staff only work in hospitals and health facilities. Where government becomes unwilling to provide these facilities, it is the medial staff that suffer due to lack of space. But it does not make economic sense to keep admitting nurses and allied health professionals only to keep them home for years due to unavailability of space. 

In this light, we embrace the efforts of government to build hospitals under the agenda 111 drive. Unfortunately, we do not see any concrete efforts to make these hospitals a reality in within the promised duration. 

Friends from the media, it is our call that:

1. Government ensure that our Health Interns Allowances are paid without any further delay
2. That the 2019 second batch of nurses, Physician Assistants and Allied Health Professionals are posted without any further delay.
3. That Nursing Trainee Allowances arrears are cleared as soon as possible in addition to making subsequent payments regular to meet its intended purpose
4. That an immediate date for examination with the Pharmacy Council is set and communicated to our colleagues Pharmacy technologists to enable them obtain their PINs
5. And that the 2018 and 2019 batches of Registered Nurse Assistants are posted without any further delay.

Thank you for your time.