Many patronise Graphic Clinic free health screening exercise
More than 600 people patronised this year’s annual health screening exercise by the Graphic Clinic and it partners at Adabraka in Accra last Saturday.
The exercise, which formed part of the corporate social responsibility of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), was described as the most patronised and one of the best-organised of the five previous exercises.
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Supported by MedGraph Laboratory, Serepa Dental, SynLab and Gokals Optical, patrons were screened for malaria, diabetes, sugar levels, blood pressure, Hepatitis, eye and dental diseases, anaemia and other health conditions.
They also received free consultations and drugs.
Patronage
Although it was billed to start at 8 a.m., by 6:30 a.m. people had already shown up to take advantage of the free service.
And by 9:30 a.m. when the screening for sugar had ended, about 200 people had been covered.
The Corporate Communications Manager of the GCGL, Emmanuel Adjei Arthur, said the exercise was the company's way of giving back to the people of Adabraka.
"We believe that if we should survive as a business, the people who patronise our business and give us peace to operate must also survive. The way to go about this is share our profit with them by ensuring they have good health," he said.
Mr Arthur added that the approach to this year's exercise was on preventive health care.
Partners
A volunteer medical officer, Dr Rosemary Akuamoo, who was a member of the general consultation team, said she was glad patrons opened up about their health conditions.
As a result, she said, the team was able to refer those who needed follow-up care to appropriate health facilities for further treatment.
She advised people with chronic diseases, such as hypertension and diabetes, to regularly take their medication, adding that "with the introduction of the health insurance policy, they can go to any health facility and receive treatment regularly".
A laboratory technician of MedGraph Laboratory, Henrietta Budu-Manuel, described the exercise as very successful, saying all those who showed up were screened.
"All the tests done were instant. Once we detected anything, the doctor was at hand to advise on what to do," she said
The Corporate Salesperson for SynLab Ghana, Enock Ofosu Nyantakyi, said he was glad the facility joined the exercise after seeing the publication.
"I am glad to see the turn-up. Being a diagnostic centre, and in partnership with the Graphic Clinic, we offered the needed laboratory services," he said.
The Specialist Dentist of Serepa Dental, Dr Kwame Frimpong Boateng, also said it was a good decision to get on board because it turned out that “people do not take their oral health seriously”.
"Ideally, everyone is supposed to see the dentist twice a year for routine check up, scaling and polishing. Being part of the exercise was a way of creating that awareness and educating people on the need to take oral health seriously,” he said.
The Business Development Manager of Gokals Health Options, Samuel Yeboah, said the exercise helped the people to know their eye status early enough.
He said most patients had cataract and glaucoma cases, as well as dimming of the eye, which was associated with the aged.
Views
Solomon Brako, a patron, said as an ardent reader of the Daily Graphic, he got to know about the exercise in the paper.
"I haven't been sick in a long time but when I read about the free exercise, I decided to take the opportunity to check on my health as a preventive measure," he said.
Another patron, Perpetual Tetteh, expressed appreciation to the GCGL for organising the exercise, saying: “There are many people out there suffering from all kinds of sicknesses but who do not know their condition due to financial problems. We are so grateful.”