Malaria, dental problems prevalent among pupils in Yendi Municipality
A free medical screening held in Yendi in the Northern Region has shown that malaria and dental problems are two of the major health challenges among basic school children in the Yendi Municipality and its surrounding communities.
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Out of a total of 1, 200 class six pupils from 24 public basic schools in the municipality and its environs who took part in the exercise, 98 per cent of them (1,176) were found to have malaria and were provided with treatment followed by dental problems.
Some of the pupils who were diagnosed with cavity problems and needed further attention could not access dental care in the municipality as the Yendi Government Hospital, which serves as the only referral facility for the Eastern Corridor Area of the region, has no dental clinic.
Among the services provided at the health screening exercise were eye, ear, nose and throat (ENT) care to enhance the health status of the pupils.
Organisers and sponsors
The exercise was organised by the Rural Water Development Programme (RWDP) of the Church of Christ (CoC) and the 7As College of Science and Technology (COSTECH), a private basic school, both based in Yendi, and sponsored by the Ghana West Africa Missions (GWAM) of the CoC based in the United States of America (USA).
Apart from the health screening, RWDP–CoC is also providing four boreholes in the municipality, including the Yendi Government Hospital, to ease the perennial water shortage in the area and at the hospital.
At the end of the two-day health screening exercise, the Director of RWDP-CoC and the Proprietor of COSTECH, Mr Nathaniel Adams Jnr, said the exercise was to provide free health care for the class six pupils from the public basic schools in the municipality and its environs to make them more healthy to cope with academic life.
He said the exercise was also to prepare the beneficiaries who would enter the first year of junior high school next academic year to be in good health and have a sound mind to learn and to enhance teaching and learning in public schools in the area.
The leader of the GWAM delegation from the USA, Mr Josiah Tilton, said the programme formed part of the mission’s contributions to promote health care and education in the area and pledged that the mission would make it an annual affair in the area.
Dental health care
The Medical Superintendent of the Yendi Government Hospital, Dr Ayuba Abdulai, later in an interview, said although the facility had no dental clinic, efforts were being made to establish one to meet the dental health needs of the people.
A similar health screening exercise was also held at the Gnani Witches Camp also in the Yendi Municipality for occupants of the camp to help meet their health needs.
Hypertension or high blood pressure was found to be the number one disease among the inmates, followed by eye problems such as cataract.