Today in History, on 4 January 1958, The Ghana Medical Association(GMA) was inaugurated by Prime Minister Dr Kwame Nkrumah. Charles Easmon was elected as the first president of the GMA.
The Ghana Medical Association(GMA) was the first professional association to be formed in jubilant post independent Ghana. The association was inaugurated by the Osagefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah himself at the Arden Hall of the Ambassador Hotel in Accra on the 4th of January, 1958. On that day, the two existing groups of Medical Doctors in the country namely the Gold Coast Medical Practitioners Amalgamation and the Ghana Branch of the British Medical Association merged to form one strong and united Ghana Medical Association (GMA).
Five years later, on January 4, 1958, the Gold Coast Medical Practitioners Union and the Ghana Branch of the British Medical Association officially ceased to exist having been amalgamated to form the Ghana Medical Association. With an initial membership of forty, the GMA was inaugurated at the Arden Hall of the Ambassador Hotel at Accra by Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President, then the Prime Minister with Charles Easmon as its first President.
Dr Kwame Nkrumah declared at the launch: “I want the GMA to be strong so that the government and the profession can talk to each other and to prosper in the years ahead.” Present at the launch were Mr. A.K. Gbedemah, then Finance Minister; Dr. Eustace Akwei then Chief Medical Officer; Prof. Charles Easmon who was subsequently elected first President of the Association, Dr. J.A. Schandorf, the first Vice-President of the GMA and Prof. F.T. Sai, Secretary. Other members of the first Executive Council of the GMA included Dr. John Brooke David (Treasurer), Dr. R.H.O. Bannerman, Dr. M.A Barnor, Dr. D.B. George, Dr. Susan de Graft Johnson nee Ofori Atta, Dr Silas Dodu and Dr. E.M. Brown.
Since then, the GMA has been significantly influential in the health administration and healthcare delivery in the Republic of Ghana through several initiatives, innovations and interventions