BY: News Desk | Voltaonlinegh.com |
The Medical and Dental Council (MDC) of Ghana has officially sealed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ghanaian Doctors and Dentists Association UK (GDDA-UK). This monumental agreement was inked at the 18th Annual Health Conference of the GDDA-UK in London on October 7, 2023.
The primary goal of the MOU is to streamline the registration process for members of the GDDA-UK who are keen on contributing to Ghana’s healthcare system. These contributions include training both undergraduate and postgraduate doctors and dentists, providing specialist and sub-specialist healthcare services, and collaborating on health research projects within Ghana.
The conference was inaugurated by Dr. Pamela Abban Ohene Djan, the Executive Secretary of GDDA-UK, who played a pivotal role in making this MOU a reality. During the conference, Dr. Divine Ndonbi Banyubala, the Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council (MDC) of Ghana, and Dr. William Kedjanyi, President of GDDA-UK, formally signed the agreement.
The MOU comes as a solution to several years of discussions between the GDDA-UK executives and the Council. It addresses the challenges associated with the credentialing and licensing process for UK-based Ghanaian physicians, as well as other doctors interested in contributing to training, specialty and subspecialty services, including organ and tissue transplantation procedures and health research collaboration.
One of the most significant advantages of the MOU is the expeditious and cost-effective process it offers, reducing the registration costs by fifty percent. Furthermore, in certain exceptional cases, it provides a waiver for specific examinations for select UK-based physicians. These streamlined procedures will be available exclusively to members of the GDDA-UK and will help the organization fulfill its founding mandate of providing educational and faculty support to the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons.
The signing ceremony was attended by distinguished guests, including Ghana’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, H.E. Papa Owusu-Ankomah, Hon. Dr. Nana Ayew Afriye, Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, and several notable figures from the healthcare and academic sectors.
Dr. Kedjanyi emphasized that the MOU will simplify the registration process for GDDA-UK members and enable them to offer high-quality specialist and sub-specialist medical and dental services while supporting academic activities. He expressed gratitude to all key individuals and organizations that contributed to making this significant achievement possible, marking it as a long-awaited milestone for Ghana’s healthcare system.
Dr. Banyubala, the Registrar of MDC Ghana, highlighted the Council’s commitment to decentralizing doctor and dentist training across regional and district hospitals to address inequities in distribution and access to specialized services.
H.E. Papa Owusu-Ankomah praised the event as a vital component of the government’s agenda to engage the Ghanaian diaspora in national development. He expressed gratitude to all parties involved and urged the GDDA-UK executives to work diligently to ensure that the MOU achieves its intended outcomes.
Source: www.voltaonlinegh.comÂ
