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Cost analysis of health workforce investments for COVID-19 response in Ghana.
Asamani, James Avoka; Ismaila, Hamza; Okoroafor, Sunny C; Frimpong, Kingsley Addai; Oduro-Mensah, Ebenezer; Chebere, Margaret; Ahmat, Adam; Nabyonga-Orem, Juliet; Christmals, Christmal Dela; Nyoni, Jennifer; Kuma-Aboagye, Patrick.
  • Asamani JA; Health Workforce Unit, Universal Health Coverage Life - Course Cluster, World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo Asamanij@who.int.
  • Ismaila H; Office of the Director-General, Ghana Health Service - Headquarters, Accra, Ghana.
  • Okoroafor SC; Health Workforce Unit, Universal Health Coverage Life - Course Cluster, World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo.
  • Frimpong KA; Health Financing and Investment, World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, Accra, Ghana.
  • Oduro-Mensah E; Ga East Hospital, Ghana Health Service, Accra, Ghana.
  • Chebere M; Human Resources Division, Ghana Health Service, Accra, Ghana.
  • Ahmat A; Health Workforce Unit, Universal Health Coverage Life - Course Cluster, World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo.
  • Nabyonga-Orem J; Health Financing and Investment Unit, Universal Health Coverage - Life Course, World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo.
  • Christmals CD; Centre for Health Professions Education, North-West Unversity, Potchefstroom, North West, South Africa.
  • Nyoni J; Health Workforce Unit, Universal Health Coverage Life - Course Cluster, World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo.
  • Kuma-Aboagye P; Office of Director-General, Ghana Health Service, Accra, Ghana.
BMJ Glob Health ; 7(Suppl 1)2022 05.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1896053
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic had multiple adverse impacts on the health workforce that constrained their capacity to contain and combat the disease. To mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the Ghanaian health workforce, the government implemented a strategy to recruit qualified but unemployed health workers to fill staffing gaps and incentivise all public sector health workers. This paper estimated the cost of the new recruitments and incentives given to health workers and presented lessons for health workforce planning in future health emergencies towards health systems resilience. Between March and November 2020, 45 107 health workers were recruited, representing a 35% boost in the public sector health workforce capacity, and an increase in the recurrent public health sector wage bill by about GHS103 229 420 (US$17 798 176) per month, and about GHS1.24 billion (US$213.58 million) per annum. To incentivise the health workforce, the government announced a waiver of personal income taxes for all health workers in the public sector from April to December 2020 and offered a 50% additional allowance to some health workers. We estimate that the Government of Ghana spent about GH¢16.93 million (equivalent to US$2.92 million) monthly as COVID-19 response incentives, which translates into US$35 million by the end of 2020. Ghana invested considerably in health workforce recruitment and incentives to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in an almost 37% increase in the public sector wage bill. Strengthening investments in decent employment, protection and safety for the health workforce using the various resources are helpful in addressing future pandemics.
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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: COVID-19 / Health Workforce Limits: Humans Country/Region as subject: Africa Language: English Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: Bmjgh-2022-008941

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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: COVID-19 / Health Workforce Limits: Humans Country/Region as subject: Africa Language: English Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: Bmjgh-2022-008941