Cost of training doctors in Ghana: GMA sets record straight

The actual cost of training a doctor here in Ghana vis a vis in Cuba, and the question of which is more expensive and thus where to put the money, sparked a heated debate between the two leading candidates going into the 2012 elections.

At the IEA Presidential Debate in Tamale on Tuesday, the NPP's Nana Akufo-Addo claimed information put out by the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) on the internet say the cost of training a medical doctor in Ghana for the entire six-year is 30,000 US dollars.

He therefore accused the government of sending 250 Ghanaians to Cuba to be trained as doctors at a cost of 105,000 US dollars per a person.

He thinks the decision was financially imprudent and not strategic. He believed that Ghana would have been better served if that money was channeled into local training institutions.

NPP presidential candidate's submission attracted a sharp rebuttal from President John Dramani Mahama, representing the National Democratic Congress.

The president maintained that the cost of training each doctor in Cuba is just 5,000 US dollars, far below the cost as Nana Addo claimed.

He therefore accused the NPP candidate of “conjuring figures” to misinform the public.

The contrasting figures gave cause to many Ghanaians to wonder which of the two gentle men seeking their mandate to rule from 2013 to 2016 is lying or otherwise.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has clarified its stance on the cost of training doctors in the country.

General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association, Dr. Frank Serebour speaking on Joy FM's Top Story Wednesday said the association early this year sighted a document quoting 50,660 US dollars as the cost of training each doctor in Cuba, a figure they thought was “astronomical”.

Dr Sreboa was however silent on what the association has so far been able to establish as the actual cost, since the figure he insinuated that they "came across" has not been confirmed by the government.

However, he stated that the cost of training a fee paying Ghanaian doctor in the country is $6,000 per a year, running into $36,000 for the entire six year duration.

It would cost a foreigner $7,000 per year to be trained as a doctor in Ghana, he said.

In another development, the pro-NPP pressure group the Alliance for Accountable Governance is challenging the 5,000 dollar figure put out by the President as the cost of training a doctor in Cuba.

They claim to have in their possession, a cabinet memo that pegs the figure at 50,000 Ghana cedis.