Health outreach exposes chronic disease prevalence in Ejisu Municipality

In the heat of the ongoing strike by the Ghana Medical Association, residents of Ejisu Municipality in Ashanti had an opportunity to benefit from a free medical outreach program.

About 300 men, women and children in the local communities received attention for minor medical cases and also accessed some pharmaceutical products.

The health support program was initiated by the Yaa Asantewaa Rural Bank in collaboration with the Ejisu Traditional Council, to commemorate the 2013 May Day.

Specialists from the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Ejisu Government Hospital were at hand to offer checks for diabetics, cholesterol level, breast cancer, blood pressure, sight, among other ailments.

According to Dr. Frank Nketia-Boakye, who led the medical team, about 15 percent of the adult population screened suffered chronic diseases – hypertension and diabetes.

He observed that most patients were unaware of their conditions because “people don’t usually undergo regular medical screening as part of our culture”.

He has however called for a change in the practice, emphasizing that quarterly check-up for medical status would promote good health.

The May Day event included sporting activities, targeting corporate institutions, professional bodies and the working populace within the Ejisu Municipality.

It kicked off with a health walk involving the Ejisumanhene, Oguakro Afranie Okesse IV, Municipal Chief Executive, Municipal Police Commander and other heads of institutions.

The theme was: “Healthy Living; a Key to Financial Independence”.

Board Chairman of Yaa Asantewaa Rural Bank, Samuel Otoo, emphasized the bank’s focus on health and sports as part of its corporate social responsibility projects to contribute towards the upliftment and development of the community.

“We need to impact on society no matter how many years we’ve been in existence; it depends on the vision and the goals that you want to achieve”, he stated. “We believe that when the people in the catchment area are healthy, they’ll spend much less on medical bills and also they’ll be able to focus on their savings to improve their lives”.

The objective of the events, Mr. Otoo noted, is to build a healthy workforce as well as offer a platform for socialization for good community living.

The Yaa Asantewaa Rural bank plans to undertake regular health screening exercises to keep the local communities in good health.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Yaa Asantewaa Rural Bank empowers communities through sports

Sporting activities are often used as tools for social integration, social cohesion and peace building processes in communities, irrespective of cultural, religious or political background of residents.

The Yaa Asantewaa Rural Bank however wants to harness the power of sports to positively engage local communities to be economically empowered for sustainable development.

The bank has instituted an annual sports competition for some communities in the Ashanti region to help people to transform their communities through socially-inclusive economic ventures.

Board Chairman, Samuel Addo Otoo says the bank is inspired by the prowess of the legendary Yaa Asantewaa “who achieved all that she did not only because she was a queen mother or a brave woman but because she was also healthy; at the moment we’re not dealing with colonial masters but the major issues is with poverty and we believe a healthy person can save more”.

Sixteen communities in the Ejisu traditional area participated in the three-day Easter Football Gala, whilst ten other localities in the Atwima Nwabiagya District engaged in a variety of indoor games and track events including sack race, tug-of-peace, draft, Ludo and Oware.

The competition was under the theme: “A Healthy Person Saves Even More Income”. Participating communities are learning important life skills including leadership, teamwork, respecting rules, discipline and perseverance.

According to Mr. Otoo, sport is an important platform for awareness creation on the importance of people uniting to pool resources for wealth creation and to gain financial independence.

People in the Atwima Nwabiagya district, for instance, are being supported to establish the Atwima Co-operative Credit Union to create employment, ease access to business finance and mobilize resources to build a health facility for the community.

 

“The sporting activities are therefore aimed at supporting communities to live healthy lifestyles to reduce their medical bills, improve surplus income and channel resources to Yaa Asantewaa Rural Bank; we have various products and accounts that they can put their money in towards their future development and personal life goals”, noted Mr. Otoo.

The Ejisu tournament was won by Ampabame All Stars who beat Ejisu Warriors in a 6:5 penalty shootout. Finalists took home cash rewards.

Ejisumanhene, Nana Afranie Okesse IV, who presented the trophy to the winning team, was excited at the outcome of the event.

He announced plans to organize similar sporting event for institutions and professions in the Ejisu Municipality on May 1.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh