The Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) is advocating for the government to allocate 5% of oil revenue to the health sector.
GRNMA argues that dedicating a portion of oil revenue to healthcare is crucial for addressing critical gaps such as disease management, staff retention, and infrastructure upgrades.
The association’s President, Dr. David Tenkorang Twum, stressed that without this investment, the healthcare sector faces a looming crisis due to inadequate attention and resources.
“Bold decisions are necessary to fund our healthcare system. We propose allocating between two to five percent of oil revenue to health,” he asserted.
Dr. Twum also advocated for the continuation of nursing training allowances, citing a recent study indicating that student nurses handle 40% of hospital nursing duties. He emphasized that these allowances recognize and compensate for their significant contributions to patient care.
“It is not just money dashed out to student nurses. A study was carried out in 2014 and we found out that 40% of nursing services that are rendered in our various health facilities are performed by student nurses. So it is a form of compensation for what they do,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Center for Democratic Development fellow on health, Dr Kwame Sarpong Asiedu, has called for the government to commit to the Abuja declaration.
This declaration requires the government to invest 15% of its revenue in health.
This way, the government can invest money to fight and combat diseases.
The latest Ghana Petroleum Holding Fund (PHF) semi-annual report, released by the Bank of Ghana, shows that the country received over $521 million into its Petroleum Holding Fund (PHF) for the second half of 2023.
However, this amount represents a decrease compared to the US$696.82 million petroleum receipts recorded during the same period in 2022.
The report, released in accordance with Section 28 of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011 (Act 815), outlines details of Ghana’s crude oil liftings and the allocation to the Ghana Petroleum Funds.
The total petroleum revenue receipts consist of proceeds from oil liftings, Corporate Tax, Surface Rental, as well as interest on the Petroleum Fund account.
According to the data from the fund’s performance for the second half of 2023, the country secured some $319 million from crude oil liftings between May 2023 and October 2023.
For the period under review, $198 million was received from corporate tax. The taxes were from crude oil liftings by Kosmos Energy, Tullow Oil, and Petro SA.
During the same period, interest from the Petroleum Holding Funds totalled $3.3 million, and income from surface rental was estimated at $112,082.
For the Ghana Petroleum Funds Investments, the nation earned $1.23 billion during the period.
The data also revealed that the Ghana Stabilization Fund received $159 million, and the Ghana Heritage Fund brought in $68 billion.