Health Students Offer Service To Orphanage

From: Stephen Kwabena Effah, Bawjiase
Monday, 01 May 2006

THE University of Ghana Allied Health Students’ Association on Thursday undertook a free medical screening exercise for the inmates, management and staff of Countryside Orphanage at Bawjiase Orphanage in the Central Region.

They also donated food and medicines to the home.

The screening formed part of the activities of the association’s third annual Health Week celebration on the theme, ‘Diagnosis and management of hypertension and cancer – The role of the Allied Health Professional.

About 220 inmates, including the management staff and student interns from Nyaniba Health Care at Tema, were examined for their blood groupings, urine blood pressure, body mass index and breast cancer.

The president of the association, Yahans Kojo De-Heer, said the association decided to reach out to the inmates as they had apparently not enjoyed much support and assistance as other orphanages in Accra.

He described the screening exercise as very successful in terms of the high patronage.
The choice of the theme for the celebration, he explained, was influenced by the increase in hypertension and cancer cases in the country over the last three years.

The rise, he noted, had become common, especially among the youth because of the lack of physical exercises, bad diet, smoking and other, bad habits.

He expressed concern about the lack of educational materials on hypertension and cancer at the health units and said intensive public education would help reduce the incidence of the diseases.

The founder of the orphanage, Emma Boafo Yeboah, commended the students for considering the plight of the inmates but lamented that the running of the orphanage had become difficult as it received little public support.

She said although the orphanage had a primary school, paying its teachers had become a burden and therefore appealed to the Ministry of Education and Sports to support it with teachers.
Ms Yeboah cautioned those who use orphanages to solicit for funds to desist the act.