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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Sylvia Arthur

‘It’s a timebomb’: Ghana grapples with mass exodus of nurses as thousands head to the west

A double line of nurses holding diplomas superimposed ona map of Ghana and the Atlantic Ocean
Tens of thousands of nurses are unemployed, yet the country’s hospitals remain overstretched. Illustration: Alamy/Joe Plimmer/Guardian pictures

When Bright Ansah, a nursing officer in Accra, goes searching for colleagues who have failed to show up for a shift at the overstretched hospital where he works, he knows where to look. “When you see ‘In God we trust’ on their WhatsApp status, that’s when you know they’re already in the US,” he says.

The motto of the US has been co-opted by Ghanaian medical professionals who are leaving the west African nation in droves. Many believe their faith has finally been rewarded when, after years of planning, they reach the promised land of the well-equipped, well-resourced hospitals of the US.

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