The Health Page brings you the 2nd and final part of the health sector under review for 2023.
July KBTH performs the first kidney transplant
A team of health professionals at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) performed kidney transplants on two patients, the first such operation by a local team in the country.
The Ghanaian team, including specialist doctors, nurses and anaesthetists, carried out the operations on July 4 and 5 last year, and the patients, both men, are currently recovering at the facility.
Each operation cost $21,000. The surgeries were funded by First Sky Group, a domestic private company.
The discovery will save a lot of patients as many of them had fled to either India or South Africa for such surgeries costing more than $250,000.
August GHS introduces initiative to improve primary health care
A NEW initiative to improve primary health care and service quality for better outcomes has been introduced by the Ghana Health Service (GHS).
Under the program called Network of Practice, a group of existing public, private and faith-based health facilities at the sub-regional level and within a catchment area will be interconnected through a regional health center where each of the facilities will provide holistic and quality primary care services health.
The facilities will include infirmaries, maternity hospitals, laboratories, hospitals, pharmacies and community-based health and planning service (CHPS) associations.
The initiative is expected to boost universal health coverage by 2030 and reduce preventable deaths.
September Asikam to acquire the international research center for children’s cancer
Ground has been broken for the construction of a 100-bed multi-purpose International Children’s Cancer Research Center at Asikam, near Kyebi, Abuakwa South Municipality in the Eastern Region.
The $250 million project, spearheaded by the Wish4life Children’s Cancer Foundation, is expected to be completed within two years to improve patient access to beds and quality care at the center.
The project, which is expected to bring together qualified doctors from abroad and Ghana, is to enhance the treatment and care of childhood cancer patients in the various communities of the country and the West African sub-region.
The three-storey building will include consulting rooms, wards, cafeteria, games room, conference rooms, workshop, convenience spaces, restrooms, among others.
The facility will be built with the support of sponsors including financial institutions, Siemens Healthcare, Elekta, Milliman, Novartis, Bontobox and Ofori Panin Fie.
Health Workforce Immigration Policy
The emigration of skilled nurses and midwives from Ghana has become a pressing issue, with an estimated 3,000 professional nurses expected to leave the country in the first quarter of 2022.
The Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) reports that about 500 nurses leave the country for developed countries every month, citing wage disparities and suboptimal working conditions as key factors.
In response to this trend, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Africa Regional Health Workforce Director, Dr. James Avoka Assamani, has proposed the development of a health workforce migration policy to curb the export of trained health professionals.
October Korle Bu performs bladder reconstruction surgery
A team of Urologists at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, led by the Head of the Department of Surgery, Professor JE Mensah, successfully performed a complete bladder repair operation on an 18-year-old boy.
In a procedure known as Complex Urethral Exstrophy Surgery, the team closed the bladder and abdomen and repaired the boy’s urethra and external genitalia because they were not well formed.
In addition to the bladder, the patient’s penis was also not well formed and therefore had to be corrected through surgery.
The rare congenital abnormality was supposed to be performed immediately after birth, but due to financial constraints, the young man suffered in silence until the Doctors for Africa Group, an NGO, stepped in to help.
November Korle Bu reopens the Renal Unit
Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) reopened the Renal Unit in November for outpatient treatment of kidney and other related conditions after it was closed to outpatients on May 22, 2023 due to rising operating costs and debts.
The reopening has given hope to many people living with various kidney ailments due to comparatively lower hospital charges.
On behalf of the management, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the hospital, Mustapha Salifu, told the Daily Graphic that the reopening followed engagements with the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu.
K’Bu Cardio Center honors Professor Frimpong-Boateng
THE National Cardiothoracic Center (NCTC) at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital hosted a dinner in honor of renowned Ghanaian heart surgeon Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, whose exemplary leadership and vision led to the establishment of the center in 1989.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the hospital, Dr Opoku Ware Ampomah, and the Director of Medical Services of the hospital, Dr Frank Owusu Sekyere, graced the occasion.
Also in attendance were staff at the centre, including pioneering staff consisting of consultant cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons, residents, anaesthetists, pharmacists and nurses.
Dr. Brookman-Amissah was honored
Former Minister of Health, Dr Eunice Brookman-Amissah, was internationally recognized for her work in the area of ​​abortion care.
A former Ghanaian ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, she received the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize, for her work in reducing preventable maternal deaths from unsafe abortion in Africa at an event in Stockholm, Sweden.
December
Midwife wins top prize at Health Service Awards
A senior obstetrician at Tokurano Health Center in Krachi East District in Oti District, Egbeegbe Anagbonu, has been awarded the best health worker at the Ghana Health Service (GHS) Excellence Awards.
The award ceremony honored 66 facilities and individuals for their outstanding contribution to healthcare delivery in the country.
The awards included 18 General Staff Awards, 14 Leadership Excellence Awards, 18 Institutional Awards and 15 Special Awards for development partners and organizations that contribute to healthcare delivery in the country.
Present at the ceremony were the First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, and the Deputy Minister of Health, Tina Mensah.
Mrs. Akufo-Addo commended the country’s health workers for their commitment and dedication to health care delivery.
The start of the tax break will reduce sanitary napkin prices
Local manufacturers of sanitary napkins have assured the public that the prices of the items will come down once the zero tax policy on the product starts in January 2024.
The Chief Executive Officer of Sunda Ghana Industry Park, Michael Ye, and Fay International, Jeanine Hage-Ali, who gave the assurance, expressed the hope that with the removal of taxes, sales will increase and this will lead to employment for more people.