02/12/2025
✍️🏿👌🏽
Should Doctors Be Forced to Accept Postings?
A Public Health Reflection:
Across Ghana, the conversation about medical doctors declining postings, especially to rural and underserved districts continues to intensify. Northern Ghana in particular is largely affected; yet women and children continue to be the hardest hit.
But at Star Goals MHC, our field experience through the operations of SG Mobile Health Care offers one clear truth:
People do not run away from work.
They run away from neglect.
Instead of enforcing postings through threats, warnings, or sanctions, Ghana must confront the deeper systemic issues that make certain regions less attractive to live and work in.
From our work in communities across Northern Ghana, we see firsthand that:
Some districts lack modern health infrastructure
Basic amenities remain unevenly distributed
Living conditions and safety vary sharply
Healthcare professionals face isolation without proper support systems
In such an environment, forcing professionals is not sustainable.
Building equitable systems is the way to go.
What Ghana Needs Instead of Force is:
To encourage doctors and critical service providers to serve in rural areas, the solution is simple:
1. Invest in deprived districts
2. Upgrade health facilities and equipment
3. Improve housing, transport, and incentives
4. Strengthen public-private partnerships
5. Create a safe, supportive environment for staff
6. Develop systems people are proud to work in
At Star Goals MHC, our commitment remains:
Bridging healthcare gaps.
Strengthening rural health systems.
Supporting government to deliver accessible, people-centered care.
We remain open to collaboration with the Ghana Health Service, District Health Directorates, and development partners to achieve a fairer, stronger, and more resilient health ecosystem for all.
..to be continued...
By: Latif Mumuni Kansanaa (Msc. Health Entrepreneurship can. Health and Policy Advocate)
Image Credit: Ghana’s Community Health Officers and Community Health Volunteers
Ghana’s Community Health Officers and Community Health Volunteers
