Patients undergo free surgery at Bole

About 150 persons with health conditions including hernia, cleft lips, and burns with contractures have undergone free surgical operations at the Bole District Hospital in the Northern Region to correct their conditions.

A team of 11 medical doctors and 20 medical staff from the Plastic and Surgery Department of the Korle-Bu and the Tamale Teaching Hospitals undertook the three-day exercise, which ended on Wednesday.

Brent Medical UK Foundation, a United Kingdom based non-governmental organisation (NGO) in collaboration with its Ghanaian partner, Liekfial Medicals, assembled the medical team to undertake the free surgical operations at the hospital.

Mr Richard Frimpong, Founder of the Foundation, said the exercise, which was the first major health outreach programme of the organisation, was to enable the beneficiaries to regain their normal life and go about their daily activities for a living.

Brent Medical UK Foundation had also planned to donate mattresses and beds to the hospital, as well as renovate the children's ward to ameliorate some of the challenges facing the hospital.

Dr Josephat Nyuzaghl, Medical Director of the Bole District Hospital, said the hospital serves Bole and the Sawla, Tuna, Kalba Districts with a population of more than 140,000.

He said the huge number put pressure on its facilities and medical supplies.

Dr Nyuzaghl appealed to public-spirited individuals and organisations to support the hospital to improve on its infrastructure to enable it to serve patients better.

He commended Brent Medical UK Foundation for undertaking the exercise, which would impact on the lives of the beneficiaries.

Meanwhile, Liekfial Medicals has launched a product called Umbicut, a disposable sterile device, which is used to simultaneously clamp and cut the umbilical cord of new-born babies.

Mr Kofi Fynn, Chief Executive Officer of Liekfial Medicals, said the device would help save lives because it replaces the use of scissors and other crude means of cutting umbilical cords of new-borns, which have been found to be a contributing factor of child mortality.