Joycyln Antwi-Boahen cutting the tape to officially open the renovated clinic
Electronic and home appliance trading company, Kab-Fam Ghana Limited, has handed over the renovated Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) chest clinic to its management.
The company, as part of the renovation exercise, conducted some civil works, repainted the building which houses the chest clinic and donated a 50-inch curve flat screen TV to be installed at the clinic’s OPD for public education.
The Director of Operations at Kab-Fam Ghana Limited, Joycyln Antwi-Boahen, who handed over the renovated clinic to management, said the head of the unit approached the company about the bad state of the clinic.
“So we came, had a look and it was, indeed, in a very bad state, so we agreed to give a facelift to the building,” she said.
Mrs. Antwi-Boahene indicated that Kab-Fam was motivated to help because they saw an opportunity to give back to society.
“As a company, we believe in giving back to the society from the gains of our business because it is the society that helps us to stay in business,” she added.
Mrs. Antwi-Boahene said the company would be adopting the clinic to ensure the other needs like the provision of new chairs for the OPD are met.
The head of the chest clinic, Dr. Jane Afriyie-Mensah, said Ghana is one of the countries endemic with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), which is TB that affects the lungs.
“WHO characterises Ghana as one of the TB endemic countries and our proportion of patients with TB is quite high,” she added.
Ghana is estimated to be detecting about 44,000 TB cases but only about 15,000 are done annually with about 29,000 TB cases going undiagnosed each year. In 2018, the National TB Control Programme recorded 14,582 people with TB disease.
Dr. Afriyie-Mensah explained that the unit sees about 30 to 40 cases daily, adding that most of the people who get affected are from the low socio-economic status.
“Because it is air-borne it is common in areas that are overcrowded, slums and areas with poor ventilation. The TB drugs are free but they have to pay for additional medical care, including blood transfusion and other tests,” she said.
The head of department at the clinic, Dr. Patrick Adjei, explained that TB is a disease that is highly stigmatised, adding that people with TB often do not want others to know they have the disease.
He further indicated that with the support of Kab-Fam, patients would be cared for in an improved environment.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri & Rhodaline Naa Adjeley King