On Thursday, July 16, 2026, the Paga Youth Movement (PAYOM) in the Upper East Region did something extraordinary and painful at the same time.
They handed GH¢20,000.00 in cash to Dr Ama Antwiwaa Adu Appiah. Not for winning an award.
Not for performing surgery.
But simply for accepting a posting to Paga Hospital and showing up to work.
They also pledged another GH¢10,000.00 to rehabilitate the hospital’s consulting room.
We should applaud the youth.
And we should be ashamed as a country.
PAYOM is the umbrella youth group in the Kassena-Nankana West District.
They raised GH¢20,000.00 from their pockets to reward Dr Appiah for doing what the state posted her to do.
The numbers tell the story, and it is not flattering.
In 2021, none of the 10 doctors posted to the Upper East Region reported for duty. Zero.
In 2022, only five did.
In 2025, just five out of 26 reported, and most of them chose the Regional Hospital in Bolgatanga over rural districts such as Paga.
For years, rural and border districts in Upper East have been left without doctors.
People travel long distances, often in critical condition, to access care. Maternal health suffers. Emergency cases suffer.
Preventable deaths happen.
This is not about doctors being “bad.”
The system pushes them away: poor accommodation, lack of equipment, professional isolation, and limited career growth.
But the result is the same: communities are abandoned.
Into that vacuum, the Paga Youth Movement, PAYOM, stepped in.
Think about that.
A community had to pool money to make a doctor feel welcome enough to stay.
The additional GH¢10,000.00 pledge is just as telling.
It is for the consulting room — the basic place where patients see a doctor.
If the youth must fund furniture and paint, then what exactly are we budgeting for at the Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service?
In a place where health workers often feel forgotten, community backing can be the difference between staying and leaving.
It is motivation.
Dr Appiah herself understood this. She did not take the honour for herself.
She dedicated it to the nurses, physician assistants, laboratory staff, and orderlies.
That is leadership. She knows healthcare is teamwork.
One doctor cannot run a hospital.
When citizens have to bribe the system with goodwill to get basic services, then the system is broken.
We cannot run a health system on youth fundraisers.
PAYOM’s generosity should inspire policy, not replace it.
The “deprived area allowance” exists on paper. Make it real, timely, and substantial.
To health professionals: we understand the challenges. But Ghana trained you with public money.
Rural service is part of the social contract. Dr Appiah shows it can be done, and done with dignity.
And to all Ghanaians, appreciate health workers.
The GH¢20,000.00 given to Dr Appiah is both beautiful and tragic.
Beautiful because it shows that in Paga, people still believe in community, that young people will sacrifice to keep their hospital running and that a doctor’s presence is celebrated like a national holiday.
Tragic because it should not be necessary.
No community should have to pay a doctor to accept a government posting.
No youth group should be buying chairs for a consulting room.
Let PAYOM’s gift be the last time we need such a gift.
Let the state do its job: post doctors, pay them well, house them decently, equip them properly, and support them professionally.
Until then, we thank the PAYOM. You have shown what patriotism looks like.
You have shown that development starts at home.
To the health authorities, this GH¢20,000.00 should haunt you.
Because while a community was clapping for one doctor who came, thousands of patients were still waiting for the 21 who did not.
