2023 health sector under review II
The Health Page brings you the 2nd and final part of the health sector under review for 2023.
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July KBTH performs first kidney transplant
A team of health professionals at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) performed kidney transplants on two patients, the first of such operation by a local team in the country.
The Ghanaian team, including specialist doctors, nurses and anaesthetists, performed the procedures on July 4 and 5, last year, and the patients, both of them males, are currently recovering at the facility.
Each surgery cost $21,000. The surgeries were sponsored by the First Sky Group, an indigenous private company.
The breakthrough will save patients a great deal as many of them had resorted to either India or South Africa for such surgeries which cost more than $250,000.
August GHS introduces initiative to improve primary health care
A NEW initiative to improve primary health care and quality of services for better outcomes has been introduced by the Ghana Health Service (GHS).
Under the programme dubbed, Network of Practice, a group of existing public, private and faith-based health facilities at the sub-district level, and within a catchment area, would be interconnected through a district health centre where each of the facilities would provide holistic and quality primary healthcare services.
The facilities would include infirmaries, maternity homes, laboratories, sickbays, pharmacies and community-based health and planning services (CHPS) compounds.
The initiative is expected to boost delivery of universal health coverage by 2030 and reduce preventable deaths.
September Asikam to get international children's cancer research centre
The sod was cut for the construction of a multi-purpose 100-bed international children's cancer research centre at Asikam, near Kyebi, in the Abuakwa South Municipality in the Eastern Region.
The $250-million project, being spearheaded by the Wish4life Foundation for childhood cancer, is expected to be completed within two years to improve patient access to beds and quality care at the centre.
The project which is expected to bring together qualified doctors from abroad and Ghana, is to boost the treatment and care for childhood cancer patients in the various communities in the country and the West Africa sub-region.
The three-storey building will include consulting rooms, wards, a cafeteria, a playroom, meeting rooms, laboratory, places of convenience, washrooms, among others.
The facility will be constructed with support from donors, including financial institutions, Siemens Healthcare, Elekta, Milliman, Novartis, Bontobox and Ofori Panin Fie.
Health Workforce Migration Policy
The migration of skilled nurses and midwives from Ghana has become a pressing issue, with an estimated 3,000 professional nurses leaving the country in the first quarter of 2022.
The Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) reports that approximately 500 nurses leave the country for developed countries every month, citing wage disparities and sub-optimal working conditions as key factors.
In response to this trend, Health Workforce Lead at the World Health Organisation (W.H.O) Africa Region, Dr James Avoka Asamani, has suggested the development of a health workforce migration policy to curb the exportation of trained healthcare professionals.
October Korle Bu performs bladder repair surgery
A team of Urologists at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, led by the Head of the Department of Surgery, Professor J. E. Mensah, successfully performed a complete bladder repair surgery for an 18-year-old boy.
In a procedure known as Bladder Exstrophy Epispadias Complex Surgery, the team closed the bladder and abdomen and repaired the urethra and outer sexual organs of the boy because they were not well formed.
Apart from the bladder, the patient's penis was also not well formed and, therefore, had to be corrected through the operation.
The rare abnormal congenital procedure needed to be performed just after birth but due to financial difficulties, the young man suffered silently until Doctors for Africa Group, an NGO, stepped in to help.
November Korle Bu reopens Renal Unit
The Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) reopened the Renal Unit in November for the treatment of kidney and other related diseases to out patients after it was closed to outpatients on May 22, 2023 due to increasing operational costs and debts.
The reopening gave hope to many people living with various kidney conditions due to the hospital’s comparatively lower charges.
On behalf of the management, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the hospital, Mustapha Salifu, told the Daily Graphic that the reopening followed engagements with the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu.
K’Bu Cardio Centre celebrates Prof. Frimpong-Boateng
THE National Cardiothoracic Centre (NCTC) at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital organised a dinner in honour of celebrated Ghanaian heart surgeon, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, whose exemplary leadership and vision led to the establishment of the centre in 1989.
The occasion was graced by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the hospital, Dr Opoku Ware Ampomah, and the Director of Medical Services of the hospital, Dr Frank Owusu Sekyere.
Also in attendance were workers at the centre, including the pioneering staff made up of consultant cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons, residents, anaesthetists, pharmacists and nurses.
Dr Brookman-Amissah honoured
Former Minister of Health, Dr Eunice Brookman-Amissah, was internationally recognised for her work in the area of abortion care.
A former Ghana’s ambassador to the kingdom of the Netherlands, she received the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize, for her work in reducing preventable maternal deaths from unsafe abortions in Africa at a gala event in Stockholm, Sweden.
December
Midwife wins top prize at Health Service Awards
A Senior Midwifery Officer at the Tokurano Health Centre in the Krachi East District in the Oti Region, Egbeegbe Anagbonu, was awarded the best health worker at the Ghana Health Service (GHS) Excellence Awards.
The awards ceremony recognised 66 facilities and individuals for their outstanding contribution to healthcare delivery in the country.
The awards comprised 18 General Staff Awards, 14 Leadership Excellence Awards, 18 Institutional Awards and 15 Special Awards for development partners and Organisations that contribute to healthcare delivery in the country.
Present at the ceremony were the First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, and the Deputy Minister of Health, Tina Mensah.
Mrs Akufo-Addo commended the country’s healthcare workers for their commitment and dedication to healthcare delivery.
Tax break kick off will reduce sanitary pad prices
Local manufacturers of sanitary pads have assured the public that the prices of the items will reduce once the zero tax policy on the product starts in January 2024.
The Managing Director of Sunda Ghana Industry Park, Michael Ye, and that of Fay International, Jeanine Hage-Ali, who gave the assurance, expressed the hope that with the scrapping of the taxes, sales would increase and that would lead to the employment of more people.
