Ghana is in dire need of qualified rheumatologists to address the increasing rate of autoimmune diseases and conditions.

Presently, there are only three such doctors across the country. A rheumatologist is a doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating musculoskeletal diseases and systemic autoimmune conditions affecting the joints, muscles, tendons and bones.

The Provost, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Prof. Alfred F. Yawson, who made the call, suggested a “national call to action” to expand more effort in training such specialised doctors and highlight the effects of the conditions on the livelihoods of people.

He said due to the limited number, some patients, over the years, had been wrongly diagnosed by non specialists, with some even being treated multiple times for malaria .

Prof. Yawson was the guest speaker at a ceremony to commemorate World Arthritis Day, held last October 12th 2025 in Accra, on the theme: “It’s is not Just Joint Pain.”

It was organized by the Rheumatology Initiative a non-governmental organization (NGO) that aims to raise awareness, research, educate and advocate for persons living with Autoimmune Rheumatic conditions such as Lupus and Rheumatoid arthritis and launch an innovative mobile App RHEUMACONNECT to bridge the gap in care.

The day is marked annually on October 12 as a global awareness event, established in 1996 by the International League of Associations Against Rheumatism ILAR to highlight the impact of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) worldwide.

Prof Yawson hinted that due to the lack of specialists, it could take up to four years before Autoimmune musculoskeletal diseases could be correctly diagnosed. 

He said the umbrella of diseases that cause arthritis,  such as rheumatoid arthritis and other related conditions, were part of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD), also known as silent killers, but are often given less importance.

The provost said the economic loss as a result of such illnesses, on the health care system, was huge, especially because  women between the ages of 30 and 50, because they were mostly affected. 

“The total economic impact can be substantial, with one estimate putting the cost at around 5.75 percent of GDP.

“We were made to believe that rheumatic conditions were not common in Africa, so the zeal to train doctors in that area was not there,” he explained.

Solution

To solve the shortage of such doctors, the provost said a number of postgraduate doctors, also known as resident doctors were being trained to fill the gap.

“Hopefully, in the next three years, we could have seven more to join the three. Even that is still inadequate. We need to make it a national project to train more to save people from such chronic back, joints and other pains,” he said.

By Daniel Kenu