Screenathon

SCREENATHON

We are trying an experiment. We are proposing that ordinary people can come together regularly and work together on projects that will benefit unprivileged communities in tangible ways. We are saying that by providing motivation, education and much needed resources, we can transition a slum in Accra into a self-sustaining residential community with reduced infectious disease epidemics and regular access to health-care, education and social services for children and adults alike.

We have started this experiment with Glefe, a very deprived community to the west of Dansoman in Accra. Glefe’s population is predominantly young, with a median age of 22. A University of Ghana Medical School study found extremely poor sanitation and high rates of malaria, gastrointestinal illnesses and other febrile diseases within this community, especially in infants and children under 5. Inhabitants of the village primarily pay for health-care out of pocket but are unable to afford it.

Our very first Screenathon in 2010 therefore provided a day of screening and health consultation for residents of this settler community. We made available essential education on disease prevention while treating cases of malaria, diarrhoeal and respiratory illnesses among others. We also provided screening for chronic conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes. We delivered basic care at the event and transferred complex cases to a local polyclinic. In addition, we educated the community on the availability of the National Health Insurance Scheme and registered over 200 members of the community in the scheme. All services at Screenathon were offered free of charge.

This year’s Screenathon will be held on Dec 29, 2011. In line with our focus on Maternal and Child Health, Screenathon will incorporate HIV testing into our priorities for health resources in Glefe and will work with the Korle-Bu Blood Bank to establish a reserve for maternal emergencies. Since sanitation and malaria are major problems affecting the Glefe community, Screenathon is happy to work with REACH’s Clean Water for Life and REACH Against Malaria projects to improve these areas.

Overall, in line with millenium development goals 4, 5 and 7, REACH hopes to achieve significant improvement in maternal and child health and in lives of slum dwellers in Ghana.

For more information on Screenathon, kindly send an email to screenathon@reachghana.org. Click here to sign up as a volunteer for the project.

Our Screenathon 2010 Pictures
Our Screenathon 2011 site

Project Directors

Adjoa Adofo is a Communications Director on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. From covering health policy as a reporter to managing communications for a number of non-profit organizations dedicated to improving health conditions in under-served areas, Adjoa’s media profession has interlocked with efforts concerning public health and health care services. On Capitol Hill, Adjoa works with hotly-debated federal policy issues including health care reform. A former congressional reporter, Adjoa wrote about health care policy at The Congressional Quarterly. She has also written for The Kansas City Star, The Miami Herald, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Philadelphia Daily News and The Macon Telegraph. Before returning to the Hill, Adjoa worked at a public affairs firm where she handled political communications for top Fortune 500 companies. Throughout her life, Adjoa has believed in the important role Africans in the Diaspora play in the global debate of the future of Africa. This belief led her and three others to establish a private foundation in 2008 to engage Africans in the Diaspora to participate in African sustainable development. Adjoa holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and is a Masters of Science in Health Communications degree candidate at Boston University.

Email: adjoa.adofo@reachghana.org

Lim Kwawukume

From Lim’s experience of being born to Ghanaian physician parents, she has learned first-hand how great it can be to have access to health-care, but also, how many Ghanaians in dire need struggle with health-care. Currently a medical student at the University of Ghana Medical School, Lim has a special interest in maternal and child health. She is leading an initiative to establish a blood bank system for maternal emergencies in Ghana as part of the Screenathon initiative.

Email: lim.kwawukume@reachghana.org