Employment in the health sector
The labor force in Ghana mainly includes people aged 25 years and older. The continuous decrease of unemployment in the country coincides with the rise of employment in the services sector. The public health sector retains the highest number of employed individuals, as opposed to private healthcare institutions. In 2020, more than 50.9 thousand people were recruited into public health. Among these, nurses and allied health professionals, including administrative and executive officers, were the largest in number and represented more than 90 percent of the total health labor force. Moreover, as of 2021, the staff in human health and social work amounted to more than 26 thousand, of which the majority were women.Health infrastructure and expenditure
Health service facilities in Ghana encompass teaching hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, regional and district hospitals, polyclinics, health centers, and community-based health planning centers. The country was forecast to have nearly 370 hospitals as of 2022. Basic healthcare facilities, especially clinics and health centers, are concentrated in urban areas. In all, the number of beds available for patients admitted into health facilities was projected to reach nearly 29.2 thousand in 2022.Governmental health expenditure covered over one percent of Ghana's GDP in 2018. With dominating public healthcare services in the country, domestic private spending accounted for 48.7 percent of the total health expenditure as of 2018. Overall, expenses in the health sector are mostly in response to infectious and parasitic diseases as well as noncommunicable diseases.
