Studies have shown that Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) diseases are serious Public Health issues which affect all groups of people. About 10 to 20 percent of all OPD attendance are Ear, Nose and Throat related.
The National Chairman of the Ear, Nose and Throat Group, Bismack Asare, disclosed this at the 5th Anniversary and Annual Conference of the ENT Group in Kumasi.
The event brought together all key stakeholders to deliberate on the work of the special service in the health profession is under the theme, Five Years of ENT Nurses Group Ghana, Achievements Challenges and the Way Forward.
Mr. Asare announced that Epidemiological studies on disabling hearing loss indicate that between 5% and 8% of the world’s population is afflicted by some form of ear disease and it is the third most serious disease globally on the list of nonfatal disabling conditions in developing countries.Nonetheless, studies have also shown that early diagnosis and management of ENT diseases will help reduce their mortality.
This makes the ENT Nurse an indispensable part of the healthcare delivery system worldwide. He said however literature suggests a disturbing picture of understaffed, under-resourced, and outdated ENT, audiology, and speech therapy services in Africa to help with the early identification, diagnosis and management of these ENT Conditions.
The effect is that, people continue to die from simple ENT infections and curable cancers and do not have access to the most basic hearing tests or hearing rehabilitation.It is interesting to note that, currently, there are less than 50 ENT surgeons instead of the 300 and a little over 300 instead of 2000 ENT Nurses required to cover all the regions and districts in the country.
