Kwaku Agyeman-Manu (4th left) with dignitaries at the event
A legislation to regulate the process of treating infertile couples, with special focus on alternative medication, will soon be drafted and laid before parliament, Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, has hinted.
The draft legislation when passed is expected to streamline activities of health professionals and help improve access to awareness, safe, and effective fertility care in the country.
The sector minister was speaking at the launch of the ‘Merck More Than A Mother’ campaign in Ghana by the Merck Foundation, the philanthropic organisation that aims to improve the health and well-being of people and advance their lives through science and technology.
The campaign, which is being spearheaded by First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo, would support government to define policies that increase access to fertility care while addressing the issue of stigma.
It also has the objective of providing medical education and training for healthcare providers and embryologists. So far, four health professionals under the ‘Merck Africa Embryology’ programme have been trained in the field of infertility in the country.
Mr. Agyeman-Manu lauded the support of Merck Foundation in training health professionals in the specialised area of embryology, adding that it would augment the small number of specialists in the field.
The sector minister, however, disclosed that as part of efforts to increase medical specialists in the country, government would institute a free post-graduate training for all resident medical officers pursuing specialists’ programmes at the College of Physicians & Surgeons.
“This is being done for Ghana to produce enough specialists to enable the country to become a medical tourism hub in the sub-region, as well as meet global health agenda, but I think a lot of people are not aware of this,” he observed.