VRA, NGO organise free dental services for flood victims in Mepe

The Volta River Authority, in collaboration with Smile for Ghana, an NGO, has organised a free dental care for flood victims in Mepe, Battor, and its environs at the Catholic Hospital in Battor in the Volta region.

The residents had their blood pressure and sugar level taken, among others, and then teeth cleaning and short-to-medium term restoration.

Dr Kwabena Omare Yeboah, Medical Director, VRA Health Services Limited, said the Authority approached the NGO to provide dental services to the residents affected by the overspillage, which occurred in September 2023.

He said the Authority had provided food, shelter, and other relief items, adding that the medical services complement earlier support for the affected communities in the region.

That, Dr Yebaoh stated, was important because it was the responsibility of the Authority to offer medical services to them.

He said that for some of the residents who needed special care, the Authority facilitated their transfer to a health facility for attention.

The Authority, he stressed, would continue to work with the North Tongu District Assembly to ensure that all the residents had access to quality health care delivery.

Dr George Brown, Trustee for the NGO, said the patients were screened in the mouth, and those with heavy deposits were sent into a van for comprehensive treatment.

He said so far over 150 patents had been screened, and common among the diagnoses were decayed teeth and lots of tooth damage due to the absence of access to dental care.

Dr Brown advised the government to intensify the training of dental care since the country had less than 800 dentists across the hospitals.

He said the NGO was established by three Ghanaian dentists in the United Kingdom to provide free dental services to Ghanaians.

The NGO’s mode of operation, he said, was to identify a deprived community and provide free dental services to them as part of their corporate social responsibility.

Dr Felicia Akuribire, Acting Medical Director, Catholic Hospital, Battor, commended VRA and Smile for Ghana for the dental outreach.

She said the services were timely because the Hospital did not have a residential dentist, calling for other corporate institutions to come to the aid of deprived communities.

The residents expressed happiness about the gesture and said it would help reduce the trauma and pain they went through as a result of the spillage.