Accra: Mr Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ho West Constituency, has launched a five-day free medical outreach programme and donated two fully equipped ambulances to the Ghana National Ambulance Service to enhance healthcare delivery and emergency response in the constituency.
According to Ghana News Agency, the outreach programme, which began on July 27 and ends on July 31, is expected to provide free medical screening, specialist consultations, medication, health education, and referral services to about 3,000 beneficiaries, irrespective of their place of residence. Speaking at the launch at Tsito, Mr Bedzrah said the initiative was an expansion of the quarterly community health outreach programmes undertaken over the past decade through his Care Health Foundation.
Mr Bedzrah noted that the programme has been running health outreaches for the past 10 years and this year, they decided to upscale the programme by partnering with the Ghana Medical Relief (GMR) team from the United States and Canada to provide holistic healthcare services. The GMR team, comprising Ghanaian and international health professionals, has brought medicines, medical equipment, and specialist expertise to support the exercise.
He indicated that comprehensive healthcare services would be provided, including specialist consultations, while patients requiring major surgical interventions would be referred to the Ho Teaching Hospital. Arrangements have been made to support the cost of treatment and follow-up through telemedicine. The outreach will spend three days at Tsito before moving to the Dzolokpuita area for the remaining two days to ensure wider coverage across the constituency.
Mr Bedzrah also announced that all unused medicines and medical equipment brought by the visiting team would be donated to the Ho West District Health Directorate after the exercise. Arrangements have been made with the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to register new members and renew expired National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) cards during the outreach. Further plans include the donation of laptop computers to health facilities in the district to enhance electronic medical records management, the renovation of the Tsibu Health Facility, and the commissioning of three new Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds next month.
Mr James Gunu, Volta Regional Minister, commended the initiative as a major contribution towards improving access to healthcare and advancing the Government's health agenda. He expressed gratitude to Mr Bedzrah for his leadership and commitment to the well-being of his constituents, and also thanked the medical teams from America and Canada for their service. Mr Gunu noted that the outreach aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Three on Good Health and Well-being, as well as key Government healthcare initiatives.
Mr George Kojo Owusu, Volta Regional Director of the Ghana National Ambulance Service, described the donation of the two ambulances as timely and significant, noting that they would improve emergency response times and save lives. He assured the public that the Ambulance Service would deploy trained Emergency Medical Technicians and ensure proper maintenance of the vehicles.
Dr Samuel Owusu, President of Ghana Medical Relief, stated that the organisation has been providing free healthcare services in Ghana since 2018 through partnerships with local communities. He explained that the programme brings together healthcare providers, community leaders, and volunteers to deliver various healthcare services, including general medical care, obstetrics, gynaecology, urology, dentistry, ENT care, psychiatry, wound management, and other specialist interventions. Dr Owusu emphasized the importance of health education and counselling in disease prevention and management, highlighting diabetes and hypertension as common conditions identified during community health outreaches.
The five-day outreach is expected to improve access to quality healthcare for residents while strengthening emergency medical services in the Ho West Constituency through the deployment of the two newly donated ambulances.