By Eunice Hilda A. Mensah
Accra, Sept.06, GNA – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints donated $7,000 worth of medical equipment to the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) clinic.
The equipment would enable the health centre to provide basic and emergency care to personnel and the public.
They consisted of an autoclave machine, stethoscopes, wheelchairs, glucometers and strips, otoscopes, standard treatment manuals, flow meters and oxygen cylinders, trolleys, oxygen masks, nasal oxygen cannulas, beds and mattresses, bedsheets, pulse oximeters and battery backups.
Elder Samuel Annan-Simons, a member of the “Seventy” in charge of the church’s Accra East and North Coordinating Council, said God loved all humanity and expected all to care for one another, especially through sharing.
“As a church, all of us, all over the world, whether poor or rich fast a day every month and we give the money equivalent to the missed foods to our Bishop which is put together to bless society.
“We believe in the teaching of Christ for us to love our neighbours as ourselves and this is one of the gestures to show how our neighbours are important to us,” he said, optimistic that the equipment would save many lives.
As part of its humanitarian efforts, the church built and donated a school to the Ga community and health projects to the Korle-Bu community.
Elder Creg Ostler of the Church, who spearheaded the gesture with his wife Mrs. Sondra Ostler, explained that the church received several requests from across the country and observed how keen the GBC staff and medical professionals were to help the community through healthcare provision.
“And we see their good hearts, we see that all they needed was medical equipment that touched our hearts, so we went to our superiors with a proposal to support the GBC Clinic to bless the lives of people,” he said.
He expressed concern about pregnant women travelling long distances on bicycles or by foot to seek medical attention and said the Church was collaborating with Catholic Relief Services to provide transportation services in such rural areas to save lives.
Dr Bright Ameyaw, a General Practitioner and Clinic Head, said that prior to the donation, there were major equipment shortages like nebulizers, oxygen, and others, which made it difficult to admit or give prompt care to asthmatic patients.
“So, what I was doing was to make a quick referral when certain cases came to me. I then did follow-ups to ensure they were better, and glory be to God, none of those cases lost a life,” he said.
Mr. John Kwame Waja, GBC’s Director of Legal Services, expressed gratitude to the Church on behalf of the Director-General, Professor Amin Alhassan, stating that they could now seek treatment at the facility as the first port of call during emergencies.
GNA