Some of the inmates being screened
THE GREATER Accra Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Nurses Association has held a day’s screening for inmates of the female division of the Nsawam Prisons in the Eastern Region.
The exercise, which was held last week, was in commemoration of this year’s World Hearing Day by the World Health Organisation (WHO), and formed part of the association’s maiden regional outreach programme.
Themed “Hearing Impairment: Its Management and Prevention”, the exercise saw professionally trained ENT nurses educate the inmates on some of the causes, effects and dangers of hearing impairments.
The also screened them for cases of ear, nose and throat complications and administered medications to persons who were diagnosed of any of the three cases.
The Chairperson of the Greater Accra ENT Nurses Association, Emelina Afari, stated that her outfit decided to take advantage of the day to create more awareness on the need for clean ears among the public and also give hope to those who may be suffering from any of the three cases.
She disclosed that in line with activities by the ENT Nurses Association at the national level, where they used the day to carry out similar projects to create awareness across the country, they (the Greater Accra Unit) took the initiative to visit the Nsawam Prisons to screen the inmates on hearing problems.
This, she said, was because the inmates do not have access to free healthcare and that they had come to provide such services to them.
According to her, reports from the WHO show that about five per cent of the nation’s population suffer hearing loss. This, she stated, was part of the reasons why they decided to carry out such a project.
Ms. Afari also stressed that there was the need for people to prevent cases of hearing loss since its treatment is difficult and expensive.
She advised against acts of licking the ears during sexual encounters and inserting foreign materials such as pen-tops, pins, match sticks among others, into the ears as “they are harmful to the ear and can cause hearing loss.”
“We have to avoid excessive noise. We have to avoid taking drugs that are not prescribed for us. We have to avoid things that will cause harm to our ears. And we must consult health experts when we notice any problems with our hearing,” she added.
The ENT Nurses Group, Ghana is a specialised group of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA).
By Nii Adjei Mensahfio