Atatürk Project organises health screening
The Kemal Atatürk Project has organised a two-day health screening exercise for head porters, popularly called ‘kayayei’, in Accra.
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The programme was organised in partnership with the Sulemana Memorial Hospital based at Mamobi, a suburb of Accra,during which the disadvantaged girls were screened for various diseases.
Mrs Elizabeth Apedu, a senior nurse at the hospital, supervised the screening.
She stated that most of the girls tested positive for malaria.
She also called on both public and private enterprises to support malaria control programmes with insecticides and organise clean-up exercises in areas populated by ‘kayayei’ to destroy the breeding grounds of mosquitoes.
A foster-mother of the ‘kayayei’, Madam Margaret Abossey, counselled the girls on the dangers of engaging in pre-marital sex.
She stated that "you should consider your situation on the street, and not listen to any man who tries to deceive you. Carrying a pregnancy is difficult, especially for you head porters."
Sanitary pads were distributed to the girls and they were educated on how to use them properly.
The founder of the Kunata Voluntary Organisation, the non-governmental organisation (NGO) that operates the Kemal Atatürk Project in Ghana, Mr Yahaya Alhassan, said the Atatürk facility would be located in the Fu community at Salaga in the Northern Region and would give needy girls purposeful education as part of the organisation's plans to stop the movement of girls down south in search of work.
The programme is also aimed at enhancing the growing relationship between Ghana and Turkey.