AngloGold takes healthcare to doorsteps of Obuasi residents
Mining firm, AngloGold Ashanti (AGA), Obuasi Mine, is redesigning its health intervention to residents in its catchment areas with a new approach dubbed: "Mini-clinic initiative."
It involves taking the clinic to the doorstep of residents and dealing with specific health needs of communities.
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Subsequently, about 1,000 residents of Nhyiaso in the Obuasi Municipality have benefited from the project, with the mining firm addressing major health needs of the people in the area.
The initiative is part of the company's socio-economic plan to promote frequent health screening in rural communities, amidst concerns of a possible spike in HIV, Hepatitis B and COVID-19 cases.
The initiative is being rolled out in collaboration with the AGA Health Foundation and the Obuasi Municipal Health Directorate with support from the Otumfuo Foundation.
People's life matter
The Stakeholder Engagement Superintendent of the AGA, Edmund Oduro Agyei, said it was the priority of the company to put people's health in its host communities first to ensure a healthy community, adding "people's life matter."
He said the AGA Health Foundation was to provide quality healthcare not only to the mine employees and dependents but also to the people of Obuasi and neighbouring communities.
Mr Agyei assured the AGA's continual support to host communities to ensure a sustainable future.
The Senior Manager, Environment, of the AGA, George Owusu Ansah, said the AGA’s malaria control programme remained a flagship health intervention, which was making a significant socio-economic impact not only in Obuasi but in Ghana as a whole.
He said the AGA's 16-bed capacity maternity block, which was handed over to the Obuasi Government Hospital recently, had positively contributed to improving maternal and child healthcare to the people of Obuasi.
Mr Owusu Ansah assured that the initiative will open a new frontier of bringing quality healthcare to the doorstep of its host communities.
He encouraged the people to take advantage of the initiative and present themselves for screening each time the clinic got to their area.
Diseases
Residents were screened for HIV, hepatitis, toothache and oral health, hypertension, diabetes, eye, COVID-19 among others.
The Principal Medical Officer, Occupational Health of the AGA Health Foundation, Dr Justin Dakora, urged the mine to leave the communities better than it met them.
He encouraged the people to visit the hospital regularly to ensure their health was in better shape.