The Ministry of Health has launched the public health workforce strategic plan to guide the restructuring of the human resource of the public health workforce.

The Deputy Health Minister, Madam Tina Mensah, who launched the plan on Thursday in Accra, said the document would address some weaknesses in the health workforce, particularly recruitment, workforce distribution, staff development, employee motivation, human resource information and employee migration.

She further stated that projections were made using a population health need-based epidemiological approach, that considers the existing healthcare needs such as disease burden, age, required package of health services and products of the health workforce.

"On the global front, the launch of this document today, inches Ghana closer to a higher score for the Health Workforce Strategic plan in the Joint External Evaluation, The Ministry of Health is delighted to see the launch of this very important and timely document," she added.

She noted that Ghana's Universal Health Coverage target was fully achieved, adding that, "this Health Workforce Strategic Plan, is consistent with the country's vision to ensure that Ghanaians enjoy healthy and productive lives in a healthy environment."

Madam Mensah was hopeful the five-year document would guide health service training institutions, the Ghana Health Service, Veterinary Services Directorate, Environmental Health Services Directorate and the Ministry, to know how many health workers should be produced to ensure optimal health for the people.

She pledged the Ministry's commitment to ensure that the targets laid in the documents would be reviewed and tracked annually as recommended by the Joint External Evaluation experts and towards ensuring the Vision of the Ministry.