Lordina Foundation takes medical supply outreach to North Volta

In the wake of cholera outbreak in the country, and that of Ebola in some neighbouring countries in West Africa, the preparedness of health facilities to contain and manage these and other communicable diseases has been interrogated.

Equipping health facilities with medical logistics and equipment have become indispensable. The Lordina Foundation has therefore presented boxes of medical equipment to some district hospitals in the region. Mrs. Mahama was hopeful that the supply will help improve healthcare delivery in the districts.

The outbreak of cholera in the capital, Accra, and it increasing records over the last weeks, and the quest as to whether health facilities are able to contain Ebola, should an outbreak occur in Ghana have exposed, to some extent, the unpreparedness of many health facilities to be able to manage the outbreaks.

Paramount among the challenges facing most public health facilities is lack of adequate medical supplies. The Lordina Foundation, which is on a nationwide medical outreach, to help enhance quality healthcare delivery in districts and community based health facilities, has resourced some district hospitals in the Volta region.

123 boxes of medical equipment were donated to the Kete Krachi District Hospital to help wave off some of the pressures on the facility. The 100 - bed health facility was started as a Health Centre in 1958 and upgraded into its present status in 1968.

The Chiefs and people of the area and the hospital authorities were grateful for the gesture. They however pleaded with the First Lady to add her voice to the call on the government to upgrade the hospital to a teaching hospital and resource the midwifery training institution in the area to its full capacity and make it become affiliated to the University of Allied Sciences.

They also asked for support for the Queen-mothers initiative to help support and retain girls in school. Mrs. Mahama gave the assurance that she would always support a worthy cause towed by the government. She however cautioned the people to observe hygienic practices so as to avoid contracting diseases.

At the Nkwanta district hospital, the supply of the medical items came as a relief for the authorities of the facility.

Mrs. Mahama commended the district for being a renowned transit and commercial centre in the region. She said it deserves to have a well resourced health facility that would contribute towards the well being and health needs of the community.

The authorities of the hospital and the area commended the Lordina Foundation for its generosity. They however appealed that rehabilitations be carried out at the facility and incubators be provided for the facility.

The people and elders of the Jasikan government hospital considered the donation of the medical items as the beginning of good things to come into the districts. They suggested and encouraged the Lordina Foundation to adopt the hospital there, as a baby, and nurture it into an enviable health facility in the region.

Mrs. Mahama again reiterated the need for the people to make personal hygiene practices a life style, and observe information being put out by the Ghana Health Service and other public health officials, to avoid communicable diseases.

The Kpando District Hospital, also known as the Margret Marquart Catholic Hospital was established by a German physician, Margret Mary Marquart, in 1960. It has an outpatient department, a pharmacy, a laboratory, and other essential departments and runs four wards: a medical, surgical, maternity and children’s wards, as well as serves as training institutions for volunteers and interns.

The Lordina Foundation's medical supplies come to complement the government's efforts at improving health facilities across the country. The First Lady called on health worker to be individuals who strive for perfection in healthcare delivery, and hoped that her gesture would serve as appropriate tools that would motive them.

She said in as much as the government is investing a lot of resources into building up the public health, it bares on every individual to take precautionary measures, always, so as to prevent contracting diseases. She urged authorities of the health facilities to judiciously use the equipment for their intended purpose.