Ghana: expatriated Iran doctors to assist health sector

(AGI) - Accra, Jul 28 - Ghana's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hanna Tetteh, has announced that the government of Iran will be sending doctors to Ghana to assist the country in healthcare delivery. The minister, who addressed the media after a closed door meeting with an Iranian delegation led by that country's Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed Zarif, also added that both countries would be cooperating in the areas of agriculture, medicine, education and security. She also announced that 10 scholarships would be given to Ghanaian students studying sciences or any other field of study as agreed by both the Iranian and Ghanaian governments. "We will be looking at the possibility of enhancing our medical cooporation so that we could have Iranian doctors also coming to Ghana to support the healthcare system that exists. He also gave us an indication that we will be having an additional 10 scholarships for students who want to study in the sciences or any other areas where we want to engage with each other. We agreed that we will continue to cooporate and work together closely within the multilateral arena in the UN, within the nonaligned movement, and also within Africa and West Africa. We are very much looking forward to building on our partnership and to make it stronger," Ms Tetteh told journalists. Already, hundreds of Cuban Doctors are posted annually to the West African country to offer health care based on years of arrangements made between the two countries. Should the agreement with Iran takes off, the health sector of Ghana would automatically be enhanced through the services that the Doctors from both Iran and Cuba would be offering to the resource country which has serious health challenges particularly in the rural and peri-urban areas of the country. (AGI) .