People undergo free surgery in Tamale
Samuel Duodu
Health
About 300 people in the Tamale metropolis have benefitted from free health screening and general surgery at the Tamale Central Hospital.
Some of the conditions the surgeries repaired included hernia, goitre, fistula, lumps and bumps on the skin, fibroid, burns, injuries and tumors.
The week-long exercise ended last Saturday with the free distribution of wheelchairs, mattresses and other items to those in need of them.
The health personnel also attended to a number of people with hearing and vision impairments albinos, physically challenged and mentally handicapped persons.
Christ to the Rural World, in collaboration with the National Reconstructive, Plastic Surgery and Burns Centre of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and the Tamale Teaching Hospital, carried out the exercise.
The Christ to the Rural World is the rural outreach ministry of the Charismatic Evangelistic Ministry, led by Rev. Steve Mensah.
Need for support
The Director of the Burns Centre, Dr Opoku Ampomah, who led the team of doctors to perform the surgeries, said about 300 patients were screened, while about 150 of them underwent surgery.
He said hernia was very common in the region because most people were farmers and did very hard work.
Dr Ampomah urged benevolent organisations and the government to support the health institutions and their personnel in the Northern Region because there were challenges such as lack of manpower and infrastructure to provide adequate health delivery services for the people.
The initiative
A representative of Christ to the Rural World and Principal Medical Officer of the University of Ghana Health Service, Rev. Dr Emmanuel Tsegah, said the initiative was also to meet the social responsibility of the church to help the poor and share its resources with them.