Junior doctors threaten nationwide strike over 10–14 month salary arrears

Tensions within Ghana’s health sector continue to escalate as the Junior Doctors Association of Ghana (JDA) has announced plans to withdraw its services beginning Tuesday, 7th October 2025.

According to the association, more than 200 junior doctors have been working for between 10 and 14 months without receiving salaries. In addition, several medical officers who were previously on the government payroll have had their salaries halted without explanation.

The group further revealed that over 800 medical officers have been awaiting posting for the past one year and four months, a situation they describe as unacceptable.

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In a statement dated 2nd October 2025 and signed by the National President, Dr (Med) Louis Ata Nkrumah, the JDA lamented that despite repeated engagements with the government and goodwill demonstrated by its members, no meaningful solutions have been provided.

The association has therefore directed its members to take the following actions:

• Withdraw all outpatient services from Tuesday, 7th October to Thursday, 9th October 2025.

• Withdraw emergency services effective Friday, 10th October 2025 until further notice. However, inpatients will continue to be managed until discharge, though no new admissions will be accepted.

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The JDA stressed that it would no longer tolerate what it described as the continued exploitation of junior doctors. It further noted that responsibility for any disruption in healthcare services rests with the Ministry of Health and the Government of Ghana.

This latest threat comes on the heels of a protest by the Coalition of Unpaid Nurses and Midwives on 2nd October in Accra. The group, made up of nearly 7,000 health workers, is also demanding the payment of salaries after working for close to 10 months without compensation.

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Although about 6,500 of their colleagues were paid in April 2025, thousands remain without pay despite repeated appeals.