Afoko embarks on medical outreach in U/E Region
A consultant Urologist at the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH), Dr Akis Afoko, has begun a medical outreach programme at the Upper East Regional Hospital at Bolgatanga.
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The programme which would also be extended to the Wa hospital in the Upper West Region aims at bringing specialist health care services to the doorstep of patients in the two regions.
It will also enhance the transfer of knowledge and skills to health personnel in the beneficiary hospitals.
Dr Afoko intends to expand the programme to include the training of house officers and medical students
Specialisation
Dr Afoko, who is also a senior lecturer at the Medical School of the University for Development Studies (UDS), told the Daily Graphic that he intended to encourage more young doctors, particularly specialists, to join in the outbreach programme which, according to him, had many benefits including helping to attract young medical professionals to deprived communities.
"It is something that we can do even though I might not get extra income for the services. It is a way of contributing my quota to enhancing health care delivery in the beneficiary regions," he indicated.
Dr Afoko further pointed out that the programme would save most patients the trouble of having to travel to the TTH to access specialist health care delivery in urological cases.
Diseases
According to him, the common diseases he had so far identified included enlargement of the prostate gland, prostate cancer, bladder cancer, kidney cancer in adults and children, cancer of the penis, kidney and bladder stones, male infertility, erectile dysfunction and malformation of the male genitals in children, among others.
He further stated that Urethral strictures (narrowing of the exit of urine from the bladder through the penis) were also identified.
Appreciation
Two beneficiaries of the programme, Mr Emmanuel Kpeungu 73, a retired educationist, and Mahama Ayoo expressed appreciation to Dr Afoko and his team for their intervention.
While Mr Kpeungu was diagnosed with Advanced Prostate Cancer with Metastasis to the backbone thus affecting his nerves, Mr Ayoo suffered chronic cough and hernia.
Mr Kpeungu, who became bedridden because of his condition, can now walk with the aid of a walking stick after receiving treatment and specialist care from Dr Afoko.
With the programme, Mr Kpeungu will no longer have to travel to the TTH to see Dr Afoko for further medical screening.
Background
The Bolgatanga Regional Hospital has 17 medical doctors out of which five are specialists and 12 are medical officers.
The greatest challenge the hospital - and for that matter, the region, is facing is inadequate doctors and specialists.
The Upper East Region suffered a major setback in 2013 when all its Cuban Doctor Brigade left leaving behind only one Cuban surgeon.
There are only three x-ray technicians serving the region with a population of about 1.2 million, with inadequate specialists such as radiologists, pharmacists and biomedical scientists.