Effective January 2024, all medical doctors in Ghana will be using the prefix; Doctor (Med) whilst dental surgeons will have Dr. (Dent) against their names.
This was contained in a communique issued by the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) at the end of their 65th Annual Conference in Takoradi.
The three-point communique, read by the President of the Association, Dr. Frank Serebour, at a press conference made demands for the health of health workers, optimisation of their mental wellbeing and changing the designation of medical doctors and dental surgeons from January, 2024.
Dr. Serebour said they are demanding a truly accessible healthcare which is clearly free, be compensated adequately for all the hazards they face and have their pensions secured. They also called for adequate logistics and enabling environment.
“Our work exposes us to several hazards coupled with long and stressful working hours with its negative impact on our health. We end up suffering from various forms of infectious and non-communicable diseases.
“The poor working conditions and the inadequate compensation for our work compounds the situation.
“Health workers essentially continue to pay out of pocket when we require healthcare, sometimes in clear contravention to what our conditions of service stipulate.
“Health workers have to be protected from workplace hazards, be given a truly accessible healthcare which is unambiguously free, be compensated adequately for all the hazards they face and have their pensions secured,” he cited from the communiqué.
On the change of designation, Dr. Serebour explained that the doctor title has currently become common. The result is the increasing reports of unscrupulous individuals exploiting the situation to at times cause harm to patients. Their decision is therefore to ensure the safety of the patient is protected.
“Many individuals currently use the title doctor without any clear distinction. This makes it increasingly difficult for patients to identify who a medical doctor or dental surgeon is.
“It comes as no surprise that there are increasing reports of some unscrupulous individuals exploiting the confusion and in extreme cases, causing harm to patients,” he said.
The conference was on the theme, Advancing Universal Health Coverage, Who Cares for the Health Worker.
By Ewurama Smith|ConnectFM|Onuaonline.com
