Some of the residents going through the screening
About 300 residents from Kpando in the Volta Region have benefitted from free medical screening and other healthcare services.
The medical screening which was conducted by African Health Now, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), is part of the NGO’s rotational free healthcare services to provide primary healthcare and access to primary healthcare information to women and children in sub-Saharan Africa.
The beneficiaries were given free blood pressure, blood glucose, hepatitis B tests, free medical consultations and prescriptions, while those with high blood pressure and high glucose were given free drugs that could last them for, at least, two weeks.
Those with advanced medical cases were, however, advised to go and see a doctor as soon as possible to get proper care and medication.
Nana Eyeson-Akiwowo, Founder of African Health Now, in an interview with DAILY GUIDE disclosed that their programmes are based around creating mobile clinics and creating community partnerships with local hospitals and clinics to provide people with free access to care so “we can get more preventative care rather than reactionary care”.
She said the goal is to see a healthier Ghana “in a space where people have the ability to take care of themselves. The basic necessity is what is really hard for people and health is not a privilege that you can have when you have money, it is something that is universal and everyone should have access to good primary health care,” she added.
Nana Eyeson-Akiwowo(middle) with residents of Kpando
Some of the beneficiaries who spoke to DAILY GUIDE commended the organisers and hoped it would be done frequently.
A 75-year-old beneficiary, Madam Regina Tulasi, who has been living with a neck and waist pain after she fell down a week ago and was relying on self-medications, could not hide her excitement after she had received the screening and prescription.
“I fell down last week at home and I have been having severe neck and waist pains, but because I don’t have money to go to the hospital I just bought some pain killers. But now that I have come for the screening I have been given prescription and they told me to go to the hospital for further tests,” she revealed.
Gibril Abdul Razak, Kpando
gbabdulrazak@gmail.com