ANKAFUL Leprosy and General Hospital has commissioned a new Accident and Emergency Block to serve the increasing demand of people in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) municipality.
The project, which was funded by foreign donors including Critas Antoniana Padova, Provincial Autonoma Di-Trento, Sulle Strade Del Mando Onlus Trento, Paolo Widmannin Memory of Palmira Caldana and Reinhard Schivarv and Erich Schaere used to be a ward used by the hospital in the early 50s.
The idea to convert it to its current status came up during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa which saw the need for the hospital to have an isolation centre but was later used as an accident and emergency centre.
Commissioning the block, Medical Superintendent at the hospital, Dr. Ekow Amankrah-Otabir, stated that the hospital started as a leprosarium in the early fifties and continues to serve as the headquarters of the Ghana Leprosy Programme.
According to him, the low numbers of leprosy cases recorded in the country has forced authorities to turn all leprosarium into hospitals and poly clinics.
This, he said, has also compelled his outfit to serve as a municipal hospital for surrounding towns and villages in KEEA although there are still leprosy patients in the hospital.
Dr. Otabir disclosed that a total of 285 leprosy cases were recorded in 2016 nationwide, adding that the major challenge associated with the disease was deformities which was responsible for the stigma associated with it.
He mentioned some of the challenges facing his outfit as lack of staff accommodation, encroachment on their lands making expansion works very difficult, bad nature of roads to the hospital, massive sand winning on their lands, lack of critical staff and no staff replacement after retirement among others.
KEEA Municipal Health Director, Dr. John E. Otoo, indicated that the new block gives the hospital a modern touch, adding that it is timely since it will help his outfit in achieving their target of improving access to healthcare in the area.
He charged stakeholders to put in place measures to make referral systems very effective since the new block will improve referral systems from communities in KEEA and the region as a whole.
For his part, the Resident representative of the International Anti-Leprosy Organisation, Rev. Father Dr. George Abram, who spearheaded the rehabilitation of the block, noted that the establishment of the new block spells out their success in the management of the leprosy, adding that with the initial leprosy cases of over 30,000 they now have less than 300 cases nationwide.
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.