Health

Pediatric Care– We support the poor to pay for medicines and more expensive medical analysis that require Xrays, CT scans, Shunts, MRIs, etc to complete diagnosis.

Problem: Public hospitals in Ghana take poor patients but the hospitals have long stopped providing drugs and any simple medications or equipment for free. You are only getting a bed and medical staff. Everything else- from IVs, to bandages, to gauze, to antiseptics, to any antibiotic have to be purchased in advance. Every patient needs a helper to run to the pharmacy and stores to buy them before they will use these items on you.  This is called “cash and carry”  and is a national travesty.  Poor patients who have no funds are without care till a family member or other can muster up the cash to buy some of the items.  You are treated with what you buy and if you cannot you don’t get the treatment.  For kids 0-5 yrs, the hospital provides the drugs and equipment free but more expensive diagnosis tools like Xrays, MRIs, as well as exceptional or expensive drugs are not provided free.  Any shunts, etc need to be bought.  Children sit in beds for weeks waiting for Xrays that cannot be obtained. Leaving the hospital is also a problem if you have no money and have not paid your bill.  Patients, including maternity patients who have delivered are kept prisoners until someone pays their bill. The system needs to change but until then, there will be patients in dire situations.

To date: In 2018 the focus on this then budding NGO was on poor pediatric patients who needed financial support for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, encephalitis and other difficult cases whose costs were beyond that covered by the Government.  A pediatrician identified these hardship cases and we have supported these patients – providing funds for drugs, procedures, medicines, and so on.

2022 – continue to expand this form of support to pediatric patients and their parents.  Expand this level of support to Geriatric patients.

Geriatric patients- We will help the old with hardship support during hospital stay and we offer patient local language health education programs.