The Minority in Parliament has condemned the government’s handling of the ongoing strike by laboratory workers, urging prompt solutions to safeguard the healthcare needs of Ghanaians.
Speaking to the press in Parliament on Thursday, June 20, Ranking Member of the Health Committee, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, stressed the importance of resolving the standoff quickly to ensure essential healthcare services are not disrupted unnecessarily.
“The government must move with alacrity because the importance is on the life of the people.”
“So I’m not going into the merits and demerits of why they are going on strike at the moment, but any reasonable government will engage them and ensure they return to their hospitals,” he stated.
The ongoing strike has raised concerns about the potential impact on healthcare services across the country, with many calling for a swift resolution to ensure that essential medical services are not further disrupted.
Akandoh also expressed concern about the current state of healthcare facilities, noting the significant challenges already facing the sector.
He pointed out the alarming rate at which health workers leave the country due to economic conditions, exacerbating the existing issues in healthcare delivery.
“Already, we have a lot of challenges in our health facilities. Health workers are fleeing from this country because of the economic conditions we find ourselves in.”
“When they take their salaries, they cannot do anything with it. From 2021 to 2023, we have lost not less than 69,000 health workers in this country,” he said.
Akandoh painted a grim picture where patients are forced to wait for hours due to the shortage of healthcare professionals.
“Today, if you go to the hospitals, you wait for hours because there is hopelessness in the system. There is so much hassle in the system. That is what the government must respond to.”
“The Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to health, so the government must respond to the needs of the lab workers,” he stressed
Akandoh charged the government to take immediate action to address the demands of the striking laboratory workers.