Otumfuo fights for doctors

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has charged government to quicken action in implementing the agreed conditions of service for medical doctors in the country to help boost the provision of healthcare.

Considering the important roles that doctors play in the provision of healthcare in the country, Otumfuo stated that it is important that the concerns of doctors are addressed to help avert unnecessary industrial actions.

The Asantehene made the call in a statement read on his behalf during the 59th Annual Conference of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), which was held at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Kumasi on Friday.

Otumfuo also stressed the need for the general working conditions of doctors, particularly the facilities within which they work and the equipment they use to work with, to be improved to meet acceptable standards.

He was of the view that doctors and other health workers in the country in general would be motivated to work to the best of their abilities if their working conditions and the environment they work in are improved.

Otumfuo, who spoke on a wide range of pressing issues in the health sector, also charged the appropriate authorities, notably government, to give maximum attention to mental health issues in the country.

In the face of rising cases of mental disorder, the King stated that the days when mental health was relegated to the background should be a thing of the past, stressing that mental health needs to be prioritised now.

DCOP Dr Ebenezer Ewusi-Emmim, President of the GMA, charged the government to expedite action in the implementation of the agreed condition of service for his members, stressing that the GMA would work to claim what is due them.

On his part, Dr Akwasi Osei, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Mental Health Authority (GMHA), sternly warned government to resist pressure to legalise the use of marijuana in the country.

According to him, research has shown that drug abuse is the major cause of mental disorder in the country, indicating that legalising the use of marijuana could prove suicidal for the country in the fight against mental disorder.