Dr. Mark Kurt Nawaane talking to journalists at Logre Clinic
About 120 constituents in the Nabdam Constituency in the Upper East Region who hitherto were living with hernia and hydrocele cases can now go through live without the pain and humiliation associated with their conditions.
Since the beginning of January 2020, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Nabdam Constituency, Dr. Mark Kurt Nawaane, a medical doctor, has performed surgeries on persons with hernia and hydrocele cases at the Nangodi and Logre clinics in the Nabdam District.
The Nabdam Constituency MP’s annual free medical outreach programme started two years ago, which is aimed at bringing free medical care to the constituents, especially the poor.
According to Dr. Nawaane, hernia and hydrocele cases abound in the area, and he is determined to help those with the disease to live a normal life.
“Many of the beneficiaries wouldn’t have been able to pay for the surgery and would have continued living with the pain. This is just my contribution to help the people of my constituency and over the past two years, and many people have benefitted from it,” he said.
He explained that even though hernia is among the list of diseases and health conditions covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), patients are usually made to pay a top-up to cover the full cost since the tariff allocated for hernia by the NHIS is not adequate.
Dr. Kurt Nawaane disclosed that many of the patients had resorted to drinking alcohol to reduce the pain.
“I have learnt that many of them originally were not drinking alcohol and did not even like it, but they started because they needed to ease the pain associated with hernia. Also, those who couldn’t farm or engage in any serious economic activity can now do so. At least they can make some money to support themselves and their families,” he stated.
The beneficiaries expressed their gratitude to the MP for coming to their rescue.
FROM Ebo Bruce-Quansah, Logre