Many health facilities in the Upper East Region are unable to meet the requirement of having one nurse and midwife on site as a result of a shortage of critical health staff.
The Upper East Regional President of the Union of Professional Nurses and Midwives of Ghana (UPNMG), Apandango Mohammed Musah, during the Unions regional conference in Bolgatanga on February 21, said the shortage is not just a matter of numbers, but a matter of distribution and opportunities for Nurses and midwives.
He said many of their colleagues are in urban areas and a few other regions while rural and remote regions like the Upper East Region operate with fewer nurses and midwives, doctors and skilled clinicians per population.
There are about 4000 nurses and midwives currently in active service in the Upper East Region which is inadequate to correspond with the nurse-patient ratio.
Reports indicate that over 74,000 trained health workers including nurses and midwives remain unemployed, with this number potentially rising to 180,000 by 2028 if the situation is not addressed.
According to the Ghana Health Service’s 2024 and 2025 reports, institutional maternal mortality increased significantly, indicating that efforts to save mother’s lives have stalled rather than accelerate. The coverage of skilled delivery, a crucial indicator of maternal care, declined from over 60.6% in 2023 to 55.3% in 2024 and continued into 2025, a sharp reversal that should concern the public.
“We train health professionals, but we do not always provide opportunities for them to serve here in the Upper East Region where they are most needed. This situation fuels Ghana’s healthcare brain drain, as skilled professionals seek opportunities in urban areas and overseas, leaving behind overstretched colleagues and placing greater strain on health facilities that are already struggling.
And when nurses and midwives are forced to work without fair compensation, incentives for rural service, or safe working conditions, the result is lower morale, industrial actions, and compromised patient care”, Apandango Mohammed Musah said.
Touching on the security situation in the region, the President of UPNMG raised questions; “what does this mean for delivering critical health care in the Upper East Region, especially in environments where insecurity, resource limitations, and geographic inequalities compound one another?”
“Our nurses and midwives must not only be trained, but they must also be employed, fairly compensated, and supported throughout their career developments. The backlog of unemployed nurses and midwives must be urgently addressed with sustainable funding commitments to absorb these professionals into the Ghana Health Service and its agencies, especially in underserved regions like the Upper East region.
The government must show commitment in the implementation of the rural deployment incentives as contained in the signed COS agreement. Also ensure the equitable and better distribution of Nurses and Midwives in the region and the country as a whole. It cannot be that the majority of skilled health workers are concentrated in urban regions while rural communities go without safe deliveries and emergency care,” he said.
The UPNMG has therefore tasked stakeholders to ensure that all healthcare workers, especially those in precarious or insecure districts in the region, have better protection, safety, and support and that health workers everywhere deserve environments where they can serve without fear and with the resources necessary to do their jobs effectively.
In response to the concerns of UPNMG on shortage of nurses and midwives and working under security situation, the Upper East Regional Minister, Donatus Akamugri Atanga, who is also the Chairman of the Regional Security Council, has assured the Union of Government’s protection to all health workers working in the region and that the region is working hard to ensure health workers find the Upper East Region attractive to work and accept postings.
“There must be a conscious effort by the Government to ensure that equity is going to grow. I take note of that, and I assure you we will articulate with the support of my Members of Parliament. This Upper East Region has delivered 15-15 for the ruling government, and any call from the region will be treated seriously. So, all that you have raised here, we have taken note of them and will ensure that they are relayed to our Members of Parliament,” the Minister said.
“We talk about the protection of nurses or health workers, because without protection, nobody would like to be providing services at the peril of his or her own life. And I can assure you that the RECSEC, which I am the Chairman, and the various MUSEC and DISEC, and their Chairmen, who are the representatives of the President at those various levels, will ensure that we provide the necessary protection to all workers within our jurisdictions, for you to be able to deliver your services to the good people of this region”, Donatus Akamugri Atanga added.
The UPNMG in the Upper East Region has a total of 1,689 nurses and midwives as its members out of the over 4000 nurses and midwives in the region.
By Tanko Mohammed Rabiu
