GARU-TEMPANE GETS EYE CLINIC (PAGE 42, SEPT 27, 2010)

IN line with its vision to bring quality health delivery services closer to the less privileged people, the Presbyterian Health Services has inaugurated a new ward to provide eye care to the people of Garu-Tempane in the Upper East Region.
The estimated GH¢65,000 30-bed ward facility, which has offices and washrooms, was funded by partners of the Northern Presbytery Health Services (NPHS) based in the Netherlands.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, the General Manager of the NPHS, Mr John Abugri, said the provision of the facility was indicative of the Presbyterian Church’s policy to bring health delivery services to the doorsteps of the under privileged in society.
According to him, over the years, the church, guided by its policy of comprehensive health care as reflected in its mission statement, had demonstrated its vision in various aspects.
They include eye care services, orthopaedic, physiotherapy, dental care, psychiatry, audiology and public health services.
Mr Abugri said the services were not restricted to Bawku and its environs, but extended beyond the rest of the Upper East Region.
He said available statistics indicated that the Bawku Eye Clinic and its outreach activities saw over 40,000 out patients in 2009 and operated 2,400 of them.
Mr Abugri added that but for the Bawku conflict, the figures could have been more, “judging from the fact that as of June, 2010, we saw close to 30,000 cases.”
He said before the construction of the ward, the Garu Health Centre alone was seeing less than 200 patients a month and performing about 20 surgeries, but as of now, it carried out between 40 and 50 surgeries a month.
He stated that the success of the NPHS had not been without challenges, adding that the biggest problem facing the facility in general and eye services in particular, was the inadequate number of critical staff such as doctors and nurses.
“The nurses’ situation is becoming more serious due to old age. Almost all the experienced nurses, including the only trained cataract nurse-surgeon, are in their mid-fifties without the corresponding number of younger ones to replace them when they compulsorily retire at 60 years,” Mr Abugri said.
He said the situation called for the training of more nurses, including one or two cataract surgeons and an eye nurse.
Mr Abugri appealed to the NPHS partners from the Netherlands to use their influence to get at least one ophthalmologist and a general doctor to support the facility.
He also appealed to the Garu-Tempane District Assembly to complement the support being rendered by the Presbyterian Health Services and its partners by supporting the facility which is currently serving as a District Health Centre.
Mr Abugri commended the Christofel Blinded Mission in Germany for supporting the NPHS.
The First District Medical Officer for Bawku in the 1960s, Mr Jan Osterink, appealed to the government to extend development to the area.
Mr Osterink, who is also known as Laafi Naba (development chief), said considering the remote nature of the area, it should be possible for the government to allocate resources to develop the area.
The District Co-ordinating Director, Mr Abdulai Abubakar, who represented the District Chief Executive, Mr David Adakudugu, said eye diseases were most pronounced in the district.
He, therefore, commended the Presbyterian Church for providing health delivery services in the area, and urged the staff to remain committed to their duties.