Dr. Magdalene Bakari, Lead Specialist for Health Services at Gold Fields Ghana, has educated residents of Awudua, one of its host communities in the Western Region about Hepatitis and how to prevent it.
She said chronic Hepatitis was quit endemic in this part of the world, but the good thing was that there was vaccine for Hepatitis B, and treatment for Hepatitis C once it was picked up.
Dr. Bakari mentioned this at Awudua when the Gold Fields Ghana Foundation (GFGF) organized its quarterly medical outreach programme for host communities.
The Lead Specialist further stressed that they would focus on reducing mother to child transmission rate, as this was one of the common ways viral Hepatitis was transmitted.
She emphasized that Gold Fields had maintained a strong interest in health over the years, and they were now doing this quarterly to ensure that they took health care to the doorstep of the communities that had hosted them for decades.
Even though the focus was on hepatitis, they also looked at malaria because it was common in the area.
Malaria continued to have significant health implications for people, especially children, and so they would work with the community to reduce the number of malaria cases, Dr. Bakari noted
She revealed that the GFGF had awarded numerous scholarships over the years, and they were proud that many of the people consulting and dispensing medications at the event had benefited from their scholarship scheme.
According to her, Gold Fields had done a lot, and they remained committed to doing more to promote the health and well-being of all the people in their operational area.
Mr. Abdel Razak Yakubu, Executive Secretary of the GFGF, said the Foundation had been conducting this programme for over 25 years now, added that for this event over one hundred health professionals and volunteers came to provide healthcare for the community.
He stated that one unique thing about the programme was that they teamed up with Diagnostic Centre Limited, and they came with their mini laboratory to attend to people and find out what health problem they had.
Mr. Yakubu expressed gratitude to the people of Awudua, especially the chiefs for the support they kept giving them to impact lives in their communities.
The outreach was organized in collaboration with Unilever Ghana and Diagnostic Centre Limited, offered free screening for Hepatitis B, HIV, tuberculosis, Ear, Nose and Throat conditions, among others.
The residents received free medications while, 265 people also benefited from the National Health Insurance Scheme registration, renewal, or card replacement.
In addition, Unilever Ghana handed over toothpaste, bathing soap, and laundry soap to beneficiaries to support personal hygiene education.
GNA
