356 Benefit from Lions Club health screening
Three hundred and fifty-six members of the Shia community, near Ho, in the Volta Region, have benefited from free health screening organised by the Tema Supreme Lions Club.
The screening was sponsored by Leinad Services Ltd and supported by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) - Ho and the Shia Health Centre.
Advertisement
Services rendered included general health checks, malaria tests, eyes test and the provision of spectacles, blood sugar level tests and blood pressure checks, prescriptions, counselling and pharmaceutical services.
According to the President of the Supreme Lions Club, Mr Christopher Apawu, the decision to carry out the health screening exercise was because they had realised that Shia had only a health post.
He added that "most people here are farmers and do not get time to go to hospital for health-related checkups."
Mr Apawu said during the screening exercise that the club set out to impact lives and to help the needy in the community as their core mandate was to help the less privileged and to serve communities.
He added that they did not go to well-developed communities but rather deprived communities to help them as part of their core mandate.
Reported cases
"The most reported cases from the screening exercise are malaria, hypertension, diabetes and hepatitis," Dr Gideon Abusah from the Ho Teaching Hospital said.
He added that malaria vaccines had been administered but the most serious cases such as diabetes, hypertension and hepatitis were referred.
An optometrist, Dr Hope Denyo, said glaucoma, cataract, pterygium and dry eyes were the symptoms discovered during the eye screening.
He said the community members had those sight problems because most of them were farmers, while age was also a factor.
A beneficiary of the exercise, Ms Leticia Gasu, expressed gratitude to the club, adding, "At first I was scared to get screened but after going through the process, I am fine."
The Shia community also benefited from free registration and replacement of the NHIS card.