Over three thousand residents of Konongo-Odumase and its environs in the Ashanti Region have benefited from a free medical outreach programme initiated by the Konongohene, Nana Batafo Akyeampong Nti, and the Queen, Nana Twumwaa Asantewaa Bankoni.
A 25-member medical team from the United States of America provided free medical care for the Konongo-Odumase community for a period of one week. Residents with eye problems, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, diabetes, asthma, ulcer, among others, were treated free of charge during the one-week period and also provided with various drugs to improve their health.
Those with eye diseases were also provided with spectacles. About 2,500 pairs of spectacles were distributed to residents to improve their sight.
The medical officers, who were visiting Konongo-Odumase for the second time since 2007, have decided to adopt the twin community of Konongo and Odumase to offer free annual medical services to the people to improve their health to enhance economic ventures and improve their standard of living.
The medical team, led by Dr Eugene A. Nwosu of the Goodness and Mercy Foundation, has already donated a quantity of medical supplies to the Konongo Government Hospital to enhance quality delivery of services.
The team has also donated a quantity of hospital beds and other facilities, such as X-ray equipment, bed sheets and curtains, to the hospital as part of its outreach programme.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, Dr Nwosu noted that the outreach programme was in line with the objectives of the Goodness and Mercy Foundation, an NGO, which strove to provide medical services free of charge for people in the West African sub-region.
He said the team first visited the sub-region about four years ago and that the visit took it to Ajali in Nigeria. It later decided to venture into Ghana as a result of the interest shown by some traditional rulers.
He said the decision to adopt Konongo-Odumase for an annual outreach programme during which the team would provide free medical services for the community also stemmed from the immense interest shown by Nana Nti and the Nana Twumwaa Bankoni.
Dr Nwosu pointed out that the outreach programme had benefited the people very much because apart from the medical supplies and equipment donated to the hospital to facilitate quality delivery of health services, it also afforded members of the team the opportunity to address the health needs of the people, some of whom were very complicated and needed surgery.
" Some of the patients come here thinking that they are very healthy, but during examination, we detect that they have complications in their blood pressure which need prompt medication," he noted.
He pointed out that the medical supplies the team brought down were of tremendous significance because apart from making it possible for it to provide efficient and effective health care for the community during the outreach programmes, "we always leave large quantities for the management of the Konongo Government Hospital to be used to treat patients who go there on a daily basis".
Dr Nwosu commended the traditional rulers of Konongo for the interest shown in support of the health needs of their people and assured them that the outreach programme would be invigorated as the years went by.
He, however, urged the Ghanaians, especially the affluent, to support the needy by sponsoring similar programmes.
No comments:
Post a Comment