World Day of the Sick held at Akyem Swedru

Akyem Swedru, Feb. 06, GNA- The Most Reverend Joseph Afrifah-Agyekum, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Koforidua, on Wednesday launched this year's "World Day of the Sick" at Akyem Swedru, with an appeal to Christians to commit themselves to helping the sick. He urged Christians to set aside a day to visit the sick in homes and hospitals and pray for them and also give them donations to help them recover early.

"You should always be with the sick, the aged, the lonely and the afflicted and offer them all the love and the necessary assistance and consolation they need".

Rev. Afrifah-Agyekum said even though one could not run away from sickness, there were some pragmatic steps to take to reduce the prevalence, and urged Ghanaians to guard against negative practices that had the potential of inviting sickness to them. He said no nation could make inroads in the sphere of development without a healthy and vibrant working class, and challenged health personnel to constantly educate the people on health issues to promote healthy living in society.

Dr Ebenezer Appiah-Denkyira, Eastern Regional Director of Health Services, appealed to all, especially pregnant women to ensure that they take an insurance policy under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to enable them to get access to good quality health care. He said one Caesarean operation could cost over GH¢100, which was beyond the reach of most Ghanaians, but was covered under the NHIS and urged that people should "not toy with the health insurance scheme". Dr Appiah-Denkyira advised that, people should drink at least eight glasses of water daily, do regular exercises and eat a lot of fruits and vegetable to stay healthy.

Rev. Joseph B. Impraim, Bishop of the Akyem Oda Diocese of the Methodist Church-Ghana, urged that individuals should ensure that they live in a clean and healthy environment. He also advised that people should boil their drinking water to avoid the incidence of water borne diseases such as typhoid fever, which is prevalent in the area.

The Matron in-charge of the Akyem Oda Government Hospital, Mrs Agnes Atua, appealed to pregnant women to attend ante-natal regularly to help reduce maternal deaths. She mentioned hypertension and diabetes as the most common diseases being reported at the hospital and urged that people change their lifestyle.

The World Day of the Sick has been set aside by the Catholic Church to create awareness and remind people that sickness is unavoidably part of human life. Activities planned for the week-long celebration include, Health education talks, debates, quiz competition and musical shows.