REACH Ghana launches free clinic, Screenathon 2011, in Glefe
Non-profit organization brings together volunteers in and outside Ghana in a drive to provide free health-care services in Glefe, a slum community.
Washington, DC
December 7, 2011
The Representatives for Equal and Accessible Community Health-care (REACH) Ghana, a group of young Ghanaians dedicated to improving health-care delivery in Ghana, reinforced today their vision to see a health-care delivery system in Ghana that provides access and quality care for all. The group, which brings together both students and professionals in health-care, based in Ghana and the Diaspora, promotes equal access to health-care by supplementing health-care resources, engaging and empowering members of local communities, as well as advocating and developing sustainable approaches to health-care delivery in Ghana.
For the second year running, volunteers and friends of REACH will hold a free clinic and health-care screening and education day in Glefe, a slum community that reports high incidences of disease incidence annually. Dubbed “Screenathon”, the program provides screening for diabetes, hypertension, obesity and breast cancer, while providing free consultation and treatment for individuals who appear at the clinic on screenathon. In addition, participants are educated and counseled on resources available to them through the National Health Insurance Scheme such as family planning, and essential preventive health measures are taught.
A follow-up study on the 2010 Screenathon done by REACH affiliates from Dartmouth and Harvard Universities in New England, USA, found that the interventions performed were effective. Notably, mosquito nets distributed by REACH were more likely to be used by Screenathon participants than those obtained elsewhere. Hence, REACH is stressing the education component of Screenathon, since that results in inculcating behaviors that are long lasting and likely to promote health in the long-term.
REACH Ghana came into being after a health-care discussion at the first ever BarCamp Diaspora, held in Washington DC on July 25, 2009. Perhaps prompted by the ongoing analysis of US health-care at the time, the group expressed concern about the state of the country’s health-care system. While much of the discussion focused on problems with the quality of and access to health-care in Ghana, the group went beyond and came up with solutions that they perceived to be feasible and immediately implementable. A few of the participants later got together to plan some of the broader solutions discussed and started reaching out to health-care professionals to begin working towards those goals. “It is important to create a collaborative atmosphere between the people interested in contributing to improve health-care and those who have experience in Ghana in order to find adequate and efficient solutions to some of the nation’s health-care problems in tangible ways,” says Adjoa Adofo, Co-Director of the Screenathon project.
REACH is open to anyone who is interested in improving health-care in Ghana. Information on supporting or volunteering for this year’s screenathon is available at http://www.reachscreenathon.kintera.org or by emailing screenathon@reachghana.org.
