Accra, April 7, GNA - Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, Minister of Health, has commended members of the Nandom Youth Forum (NYF) for mobilizing resources to cater for the health needs of the people of Nandom and its environs. A statement signed by Mr Gordon Wellu, Chairman of Publicity Committee of NYF in Accra, said the Minister made the commendation during a three-day annual health outreach programme organized by the NYF during the Easter celebrations.

This year's health outreach was the seventh consecutive time the NYF had mobilized medicine and medical doctors, who were natives of Nandom, but working in different parts of the country to go home and offer free medical screening and treatment to the people. A team of five doctors led by Dr Josephat Nyuzagr, the Medical Superintendent of the Bole Hospital and the Bole District Director of Health, handled hundreds of cases of malaria, diabetes, high blood pressure, hepatitis B, general body pains among others. "More than 900 people were seen and treated - the doctors also performed 34 surgeries, 31 of which were major," the statement said. The rest of the doctors were Dr Juventus Ziem and Dr Alex Buunaayim, both lecturers at the University for Development Medical School, Dr Anthony Anyasonde of the Tamale Teaching Hospital and Dr Richard Wodah, the resident Doctor of the Nandom Hospital. They were later joined by the most senior doctor of Nandom, Dr E.N. Gyader, a renowned Surgeon and Dean of the University for Development Medical School.

Dr Kunbuor said the Ministry of Health had taken special notice of the immense contribution the NYF was making towards the health of the people of Nandom and even the southern parts of neighbouring Burkina Faso, and would not hesitate to offer any logistical assistance to move the health outreach project from strength to strength. "It was heart-warming that the youth would normally abandon the joy and comfort of Easter celebrations to travel home from Accra, Tamale and other parts of the country to offer humanitarian services to their people," he said. He, therefore, tasked other youth groups across the country to take a cue from the NYF. The Minister announced that the Ministry of Heath was awaiting technical advice from experts tasked to look into the infrastructural rehabilitation of the Nandom Hospital for the project to commence. On the issue of lack of a permanent resident doctor for the Nandom Hospital, the Minister said his outfit was putting incentive packages in place to doctors, who took up postings to the rural hospitals like that of Nandom. Dr Kunbuor later inspected the construction of a modern morgue for the hospital and an 80kv capacity generator set installed to provide uninterrupted power supply to the hospital. On his part, Dr Gyader noted that in spite of the fact that Nandom had over 100 natives, who were medical doctors, none was willing to settle in Nandom.

He, therefore, commended the NYF for the health outreach programme and called on other natives of the area, especially the elite to give something back to Nandom saying "any person who can neither help himself nor his society is as good as not been born at all."

Mr Mark Imoru, Chairman of NYF, said members were not only concerned with the health welfare of the people, but were also working at providing support for education and the agricultural activities of the people. He said it was for this reason that the Forum, this year, donated textbooks to the Nandom and Ko Senior High Schools (SHS) in the Lawra-Nandom District and Piina SHS in the Lambusie-Kaani District. Mr Imoru said the Forum had appealed to corporate institutions and individuals to contribute towards the health outreach project and said the response was massive.

He thanked the Ministry of Health and the Sector Minister, Agricultural Development Bank, Pokupharma Company, Ernest Chemist, Kinapharma, Tobinco Chemist, Dan Adams, the Ghana Pharmaceutical Council among others for sponsoring the event.

Members of the Forum later called on the Paramount Chief of the Nandom Traditional Area, Naa (Dr) Charles Puobe Puoure Chiir VII, at his palace, who praised them for the outreach programme, which he noted, was very helpful to his subjects.