By Sualah Abdul-wahab
After presenting 17 new dialysis equipment to four health facilities in northern Ghana, the Ghana Medical Help in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service has trained 30 clinical engineers from the beneficiary regions to maintain the equipment to minimize breakdowns and speed up repairs.
The equipment, valued at GH¢7.5 million were donated to four health facilities in the Upper West and Upper East Regions.
Endoscopy, Colonoscopy, Bronchoscopy and other medical equipment were also presented to the beneficiary facilities. They were Upper West Regional Hospital, Wa, St. Theresa’s Catholic Hospital, Nandom, Builsa North Municipal Hospital and War Memorial, Navrongo.
Speaking to GBC News at Wa during the training, a retired Chief Clinical Engineering Manager of the Ghana Health Service, John Zienaa, who was one of the trainers said the training of the biomedical engineers and nurses will go a long way to extend the life span of the equipment which he described as very expensive.
Mr Zienaa however mentioned access to spare parts as one of the challenges likely to delay repairs but added that measures are being put in place to address that.
Purpose of presentation
Country Director and Co-founder of the Ghana Medical Help, Dr Dominic Akaateba said the donation of the dialysis equipment forms the backbone of the GMH’s Acute Kidney Care Project aimed at expanding access to life-saving kidney care across Northern Ghana.
Acute Kidney Injury (AKI), Dr Dominic Akaateba explained is a medical emergency that requires timely dialysis to save lives. He admitted that although Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme now covers dialysis for acute kidney injury, many patients in Northern Ghana still lack access because dialysis facilities are geographically unavailable.
“This project will significantly improve equitable access to specialist kidney care, reducing long-distance referrals and preventable deaths”, the Physician Specialist noted. “This donation is more than equipment. It is an investment in saving lives, strengthening Ghana’s health system, building local capacity, and ensuring that patients in Northern Ghana can access life-saving dialysis and specialist care closer to home.”
Sustainability
To ensure that the project goes beyond donating equipment, the Ghana Medical Help says it will continue to collaborate with Ghana Health Service to establish new dialysis centres. “The capacity building of the biomedical engineers and the nurses is part of the whole package so that they can quickly repair the machines anytime they develop a technical problem,” Dr Akaateba added.
Appreciation
The Physician Specialist acknowledged the exceptional support and commitment of GMH’s partners. These include Island Health (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) for donating all the 17 new dialysis machines, endoscopy equipment, accessories and technical support.
He further expressed gratitude to Martin Puolin, Director, Biomedical Engineering, whose vision and leadership initiated the project. Others were Jennifer McGill, Project Manager, Renal. Debbie Tschopp – Supervisor, Biomedical Engineering, who led the fabrication of the dialysis servicing jigs and Rachel Zhang – Manager, Biomedical Engineering.
The remaining contributors were biomedical engineering technologists of Island Health, who carefully tested, prepared and packed all the equipment for shipment to Ghana. Ghana Medical Help (GMH) is a Canadian-Ghanaian not for profit organization established in 2010 to sustainably improve healthcare delivery in the Upper East and Upper West Regions of Ghana. It began its work with medical equipment donations to Sandema Hospital, and over the past 16 years has expanded to seven major health-system-strengthening projects serving over 2 million people across Northern Ghana.
