Hole-in-heart, kidney conditions, brain surgery, cancers amongst others still remains as serious health conditions which requires very specialized services/care and huge fees when ever they develop. It is always unfortunate when persons involved end up begging for funds on air and live on national televisions so they could save themselves or their poor wardens.
The incidence of this has kept the rise in areas such as the rural areas and the earlier the redress the better. Goodnews it is then as the Upper East Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has launched a Health Foundation Fund dubbed the “Tertiary Health Foundation Fund” in Bolgatanga.
Founder of the Foundation and the Regional Director of Health Services of the Upper East, Dr John Koku Awoonor-Williams, said it was worrisome that majority of the people in the Region were not able to have access tertiary health care such as hole-in-heart, kidney conditions, brain surgery and other specialized services and blamed the situation on poverty would consider “cases that require huge volumes of money and specialty”.
“It is sad that less than 1 per cent of persons ever referred with tertiary health complications from the region to Korle Bu or Komfo Anokye actually went there. Of the number that actually make it to these facilities only a fraction successfully accessed the services, the majority end up returning to their homes with their conditions to aggravate and to die subsequently”.He said.
Dr Awoonor-Williams said he had to part with his personal money of 3,500 Ghana cedis together with some contributions from the staff of the Directorate to cater for a four year old, Wepare Moses Ayigoni, a hole-in-heart patient whose parents could not afford to pay for the surgical operation at Korle Bu this year and said another one and half year girl had reported to the directorate with a similar case.
“There are a lot of children with such cases whose conditions are worsening and they need help. For example, there are many women with fistula cases which are very expensive to treat and these categories of people need to be helped”.
Dr Awoonor-Williams said it was a disgrace that in the 21st century, Ghana which is endowed with a lot of natural resources such as oil, bauxite and gold, should allow its sick children to be parading on Television networks asking for support to undergo surgical operations.
Mr Robert Ajene, one of the trustee members of the Fund, entreated people in the region, particularly the indigenes and those outside the region to contribute to the fund and reiterated that it would alleviate the suffering of the deprived who cannot afford to pay huge amounts of money for their health needs.
The Foundation has a seven member trustee chaired by the Regional Director of Health Service. It has an account number, “9011010143126” with the Ghana Commercial Bank with an account name “Upper East Tertiary Health Foundation Fund”.
GNA/GhanaHealthnest.com
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