Dr Nana Yaw Boakye and the medical team at Atonsu station taking the people through the medical screening
Residents of six communities in the Asokwa Constituency of the Ashanti Region have benefitted from a free medical screening and medication programme organised by some medical officers at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi.
The medical team, led by Dr Francis Nana Yaw Boakye from the Department of Family Medicine, screened more than 3,000 people on the Republic Day, taking them through hypertension, malaria, diabetes, body mass index and blood pressure screening.
The beneficiaries, who were drawn from communities such as Ahinsan, Asokwa, Atonsu, Dompoase, Atonsu-Bokuro and Chirapatere, were offered education on the importance of healthy living.
They received free medication while those with serious cases were referred to other hospitals for further examination and treatment.
The health outreach programme, according to Dr Nana Yaw Boakye, formed part of their commitment to give back to society, especially the communities in which they grew up. He told DAILY GUIDE that they were worried and saddened by the increasing rate of mortality involving young people, and that many had passed on after contracting preventable diseases such as diabetes.
“What we have realised after follow ups to the pathology’s end is that many of them died of ischemic diseases, diabetes and all those… and we (the medical officers) thought that we all have a role to play to bring the mortality down,” Dr Boakye explained.
He said many of the sudden deaths could have been avoided if detection of the disease had been done early, hence their decision to organise the free medical screening for the communities in which they were raised.
“What we did is to combine our energies to take up the medical care of these people who can’t afford to go to the hospital. We can’t do it all at once and this is why we have begun with six communities,” he added.
Dr Boakye stated that they believe the health screening and medication programme would bring immense value to the beneficiaries.
He admonished people to cultivate the habit of conducting regular check-ups in order to early identify diseases and risk factors to good health.
From Ernest Kofi Adu, Kumasi