The District 9104 Rotary Clubs have organised a free health screening exercise for residents of Ada Foah, a coastal town in the Ada East District of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.
The District 9104 Clubs, which are made up of Accra Morning Tide, Accra Labone, Accra Airport East, and Accra South, were supported by other Rotary and Rotaract clubs within the Greater Accra Region.
The free screening and treatment, which formed part of the clubs’ focus on disease prevention and treatment for deprived communities, took care of 800 beneficiaries.
Professor Johnson Kwame Efavi, the Rotarian President of Accra Morning Tide, said the clubs conduct a needs assessment every year to identify communities that require help, and this year, Ada was identified as a community in need of health assistance.
Prof. Efavi stated that the assessment revealed that about 40 percent of inhabitants of some island and inland communities in Ada were infected with bilharzia, a water-borne disease, adding that the Rotary Clubs further conducted a general health exercise to capture those infected with other diseases.
He noted that Ada was a deprived community despite its luxury hospitality industry, revealing that the needs of the people have been overshadowed by the town’s reputation as a tourist destination, creating the impression that the people were okay.
He emphasised that the majority of Ada’s 85,000 population was suffering in diverse ways and needed help, and therefore appealed to corporate institutions to partner with the Rotary Clubs to enable them to do more for the people.
The clubs, he said, identified the need for purified water and light for the Community Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds, suggesting that solar projects could help address these needs.
He commended institutions such as the Ghana Health Services and the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP-University of Ghana) for the laboratory services, and mPharma, Unichem, Phyto-Riker, Pharmanova, OA&J, MGP, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, and Yes Global for the provision of medicines.
Mr. Raphael Kwabena Angmortey, the Public Health Officer in charge of Nutrition, told the Ghana News Agency that the health directorate welcomed partnerships to augment its efforts.
He noted that many people were living with undiagnosed illnesses, and such free health screenings could help identify them.
Mr. Thomas Kattah, the Assembly Member for Teye-Mensah Panya Electoral Area, expressed gratitude to the Rotary Clubs for their timely intervention, noting that many residents did not have the means to travel to health facilities or afford medical bills.
Mr. Kattah emphasised that health screenings were crucial, as many people did not undergo regular medical check-ups.
Some beneficiaries expressed their gratitude for the initiative, saying they need more of such programmes.
