Oti Region benefits from surgical outreach

The Society of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians of Ghana (SOGOG), as part of the vision to extend gynaecological services to hard-to-reach areas in the country, has organised a maiden surgical outreach service to the Oti Region.

The outreach was held at the Nkwanta South District Hospital, from April 12 to 14, funded by Ernest Chemist Limited.

A statement issued by the SOGOG said the team of gynaecologists, led by Dr Gabriel Ganyaglo, was supported by the local hospital staff to perform six myomectomies, five abdominal hysterectomies, four vaginal hysterectomies, two exploratory laparotomies and one vesico-cervical fistula repair.

The statement said SOGOG remained committed to its core mandate of ensuring the total well-being of Ghanaian women.

“In this regard, it was particularly concerned about the lack of access to expert gynaecological services in hard-to-reach areas of the country,” it quoted Dr Ganyaglo as saying.

The statement explained that it was unfortunate that critical resources needed for the realisation of that mandate had been a challenge and expressed gratitude to the Ernest Chemist Limited for funding the outreach.

It also noted that Ernest Chemist donated antibiotics and other medications to the Hospital.

Dr Hilarious Gadzey, the Medical Superintendent of the Hospital, expressed appreciation for the knowledge and skills transferred over the three-day period.

“Not only have the patients benefitted from the much-needed surgery, the nurses and doctors have also learned lessons on how to manage some of the cases, which we do not perform here. Additionally, the potential revenue improvement cannot be overlooked,” Dr Gadzey was quoted as saying and appealed to SOGOG to make the outreach a quarterly programme.

Professor A.T. Odoi, the President of SOGOG, commended Ernest Chemist for its support and urged other corporate entities to emulate the step taken by the Society to extend similar services to underserved communities like Nkwanta, Yeji, Kete Krachi, Afram Plains and Tumu.

He commended the medical team for a good job done and disclosed that another team of gynaecologists was getting ready to extend surgical services to the Yeji Town.

The Nkwanta South outreach team included Dr Ekow Yanney and Dr Jeffery Boye from the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, and Dr James Boachie from the Lekma Hospital.