Doctors elect new executives

Sunyani (B/A), Nov. 6, GNA - Dr. Francis Adu-Ababio, a Lecturer at the University of Ghana Dental School, Korle-Bu was elected the new President of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) for the next two-year period.

A statement issued by the National Secretariat of the Association after the election for a seven-member new national executive committee in Sunyani as part of programme during the 47th Annual General Conference, named Doctor Kofi Asare, Ashanti Regional Director of Health Services as the new Vice-President.

Other executive members were, Dr. Kwabena Opoku-Adusei who retained his position as General Secretary, Dr. Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey, Assistant General Secretary, Dr. Rhoda Manu, Treasurer, while Doctor Miriana Taylor and Dr. Kwabena Boateng Boakye were elected ex-officio members. Professor Yaw Adu-Gyamfi who did not seek re-election becomes the Immediate Past President and a Member of the National Executive Council. Commenting on the exodus of medical doctors to greener pastures at the maiden press conference of the new national executive, Dr. Adu-Ababio wondered why such personal action by some medical doctors should seemed to raise eyebrow in the country even though the practice was not peculiar only to members of the Association.

He noted that the brain drain news had become part and parcel of the economic behaviour of some professional workers in the country in general and explained that it was all due to the difficulty honest workers in the country were facing to make ends meet.

Dr. Adu-Ababio asked: "Why should the same Ghanaians who criticize brain-drain with special reference to the medical circle remained silence when some footballers in the country ran to seek laurels outside the shores of Ghana?"

He chipped a question amid laughter: "As professional footballers why their behaviour also not be termed "leg-drain" because their individual clubs missed their presence on the field at home during national league matches."

Asked to elaborate on the Association's Communique calling on President Kufuor to recognize road traffic accidents and indiscipline on our roads as a national disaster, especially with regards to operation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Dr. Adu-Ababio said, treatment of a broken hip alone could attract as much as four million cedis hence government should consider road accidents as a national priority to save the sustainability of the Scheme through careless behaviour of drivers.

There was an allegation that since the commencement of operations of the Scheme in September, the year, some doctors and nurses at the Sunyani Government preferred giving prompt care to patients who had not registered for the Scheme for spot-cash to those armed with registered insurance card.

Dr. Adu-Ababio promised to hold a debate on the allegation at the appropriate time within the Health Service since the situation, if true, could not only be in Sunyani Regional Hospital.