Effia (WR) Feb. 7, GNA – The Operation Hernia team has so far performed some 15,000 cases of that health condition around the world.
Despite the figure, there were over one million backlog of cases. Dr Chris Oppong, the Lead Coordinator of the Operation Hernia UK, said during the opening ceremony for the training of some 22 doctors drawn from nine health facilities across the Western Region for that purpose.
Hernia, according to the doctor must become a health care priority to save lives and avoid needless death among sufferers of the condition.
He said close to 400 patients would from June through to December benefit from free hernia surgeries.
Dr Oppong recounted how some fishermen wrote to him of the passing away of five of their members due to strangulated hernia and retorted.
“That should not happen.”
The training of the doctors would centre on the use of mesh for surgeries as well as other effective and modern knowledge and skills in curing that disease burden.
The Ghana Chair of the Operation Hernia Society, Associate Professor Michael Ohene-Yeboah, noted how human capacity had limited attention to that health condition over the years aside funding challenges.
He recounted how they had to be called at night to manage complications from hernia, which gave birth to the society in training more young professionals to also take up the challenge.
Dr Yaw Ofori Yeboah, the Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service, was grateful for the team in building local capacities to take care of the disease.
He said by such knowledge acquisition, hope had been restored to patients since treatment and care could be sustained.
Dr Yeboah appreciated sponsors of the project for not investing elsewhere than the health sector.
“This is a noble course by the sponsors…as a country, health care must be one key area corporate organisations must Begin supporting for productive human resources”.
GNA