A US-based not-for-profit organisation headquartered in Ghana, the Amazing Grace Children’s Foundation (AGCF), has organised a medical outreach with the aim of promoting maternal and infant health.
The medical screening took place at Jamestown and Odorkor-Otaten in the Ablekuma South and the Ablekuma North municipalities, respectively, in Accra from January 7-9, this year.
The AGCF undertook the exercise in collaboration with the Greater Accra branch of the Paediatric Society Of Ghana.
During the exercise, about 1,500 women and children of various ages were attended to.
For the past four years the organisation has, through its yearly missions, extended healthcare services to children and expectant mothers in a number of under-served communities in Ghana.
Work
The objective of the exercise is to tackle the incidence of infant and maternal mortality and morbidity in Ghana.
A team of about 28 healthcare providers, including ophthalmologists, dentists, nurses, paediatricians, general practitioners, among others, from various prime US medical institutions served on the charity mission.
The visiting health professionals worked hand in hand with about 32 of their Ghanaian counterparts to provide medical, dental and general services for beneficiaries.
Mothers and children, including week-olds, were screened for malaria, skin infections, oral and many other diseases.
There were also free ultrasound and other antenatal services for expectant mothers.
Patients with peculiar conditions were administered first aid and referred to health facilities for appropriate treatment.
Addressing journalists during the exercise, the Founder of the AGCF, Dr Gloria Nimo, lamented Ghana’s slow progress towards pursuing the MDG Goal Five, which centres on the improvement of maternal and infant health.
She said the organisation’s yearly outreach was put in place as an immediate-term response to address the crucial health needs of women and children in low resource communities.
Mission
“This is our fourth medical mission in Ghana and each year we get challenged to keep coming back to do even more.
It’s quite mind-boggling the number of people who, but for exercises such as this, would never be seen by a healthcare provider,” she observed.
She maintained that the prevalence of common treatable diseases among the maternal and neonatal population in the country needed urgent attention from the government, as well as concerned and willing parties.
She hinted at the construction of a children’s hospital in Prampram to make quality health care accessible, especially to indigent individuals and families.
That, Dr Nimo added, was the AGCF’s way to significantly and sustainably contribute to curb Ghana’s ‘disquieting’ infant and maternal mortality rate.
Mr Kofi Sarkodie, the treasurer of AGCF said although many benefitted from the year’s exercise, the organisation would target to reach out to even more people next year.
For his part, Dr Dela Dzosii, the President of the Greater Accra branch of the Paediatric Society of Ghana, advised mothers to ensure their wellbeing and that of their children by regularly visiting health facilities.
Boreholes
At the end of the mission, two boreholes were inaugurated for the people of Mafi Akukokpo and Bakpa Akpla Kope in the Central Tongu District of the Volta Region.
The water facilities were constructed by the US-based Jaffe and Shaqiri families, respectively, through the AGCF.
By Clifford Yaw Frimpong
