More on HopeXchange Medical Centre
The HopeXchange Medical Centre is in advanced construction on an area of 6.15 acres. made available by the Catholic Diocese of Kumasi in Ghana. It has been recognized by John Paul II as one of the projects for the Year of Charity 2000.
When completed, this Center will include an 80-bed hospital, a school and an institute for professional training.
The Hospital
The Hospital will provide diagnostic and therapeutic services appropriate to a wide range of primary healthcare conditions. A female and male ward will be able to accommodate a total of 80 patients and an Outpatient Centre will include facilities for diagnostic testing, imaging and outpatient surgery.
The Hospital will house three fully equipped operating theatres, a pathology and radiology department, several consulting rooms, a vaccination centre, a blood bank, a pharmacy, a chapel, a cafeteria and different conference and lecture rooms. The complex will also include accommodation facilities for visiting consultants and professional staff.
The Hospital will also act as a center of clinical excellence and advanced teaching for infectious disease, cancer, eye care and facial malformation. Interactive and hands-on educational programmes will be held in the form of short, intermediate or long courses, respectively of 2-4 weeks, 1-3 months and 6 months, organized at national, regional or international levels. Doctors and nurses from the region will be hosted at the HopeXchange Medical Centre and will be involved in the development of teaching materials with a format culturally applicable to the region, in order to allow the expansion of the program in a Train the Trainer concept.
To provide care for patients beyond the walls of the Hospital, multipurpose mobile clinics will be available. They will include: a mobile analysis laboratory capable of providing laboratory and clinical services directly in the field, ambulances and a specially designed four wheel buggy (to provide emergency medical services in areas that cannot be accessed by regular street vehicles due to inadequate roads).
The School
The School intends to provide access to uninterrupted education from pre-school to age 17, in order to reduce illiteracy and poverty. Education of the youth will be linked with the labor market through expansion of technical and vocational education and training, special skill acquisition programs and tertiary education.
The Institute
The Institute for Professional training will focus on laying the foundation for a sustainable, accelerated and job creating local growth, empowering Ghanaians to participate in wealth creation and to partake the wealth created.
By providing access to micro finance institutions the local population will be assisted in identifying opportunities for increased production and income generation and the preparation of programs and projects.
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| HEALTH CARE IN GHANA |
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AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis are major health concerns in Ghana. Cancer, blindness, and the exodus of trained health
care professionals also are among the key problems in the health system of the country.
AIDS
According to a November 2003 AllAfrica.com interview with Professor Sakyi Awuku Amoa, the head of Ghana's AIDS Commission, the HIV-positive rate among Ghanaian adults is at 3.4 percent and rising rapidly. HIV prevalence rates are higher in the more heavily populated southeast of the country, and women account for 63 percent of AIDS cases.
Tuberculosis
The incidence of TB in Ghana has risen dramatically in the last decade; currently there are about 30,000
TB cases each year and 15,000 people die of the disease. In 1995 Ghana had only 2,195 cases of TB.
The spread of TB from cattle to humans has become a major problem, and multi-drug resistant TB
(MDRTB) is on the rise.
Malaria
Malaria is the leading cause of death in Ghana for children under five and is the largest cause of
outpatient hospital visits. In 2000 WHO estimated a mortality rate of 448 per 100,000 for children under
five. The Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) estimates that only three percent of Ghanaians sleep under
insecticide treated nets (ITNs), whereas 25 to 40 percent of people in other African countries with high malaria prevalence use ITNs.
The consistent use of treated bed nets could reduce all-cause child mortality in Ghana by 20 percent, equaling some 16,000 children.
Cancer
Cancer currently is not among the leading causes of death in Ghana, but it will climb to top of this list soon, according to the WHO 2005 Report.
Late presentation of cancer patients is a major problem in Ghana, as it is across Africa. Treating advanced cancers is much more complex and expensive than treating early detected cancers. Moreover, the possibility of cure for these patients is minimal. General observation across the Continent has indicated that some cultural practices (consultation of traditional healers before hospital) and a lack of knowledge of cancer presentation among the public are among the major barriers to early detection.
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