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Specialty Surgery Hospital Brings Hope to Patients in Ghana
May 13, 2024
CategoryAfrica Central
Content TypePackage
LanguageEnglish
Transcript/Script((INTRO))
[[Limited medical resources in Africa force some patients to travel abroad for specialized surgeries. Now, a new special surgery institute has opened in Ghana to try and help. Senanu Tord reports from Accra, Ghana.]]
((VIDEO-VOA: MEDICAL SURGERY - VARIOUS, AKORNOR))
((NARRATOR))
In Accra, medical experts from the U.S. are performing a special cancer removal surgery for a kidney patient. The procedure is minimally invasive and uses cameras and robots and until recently was unavailable in this part of the world.
(( For radio: Dr. Harriet Akornor Nounou. ))
((Dr. Harriet Akornor Nounou, Resident Medical Officer, WAISS)) ((English 13 secs))
“That one couldn't have been done here. They already referred the guy outside. So he already had the visa and everything and then someone told him about this place.”
((VIDEO-VOA: WAISS - VARIOUS, MEDICAL SURGERY - VARIOUS, BOAHENE ))
‘This place’ is the West African Institute for Special Surgery or WAISS. It opened in March to cater to specialty surgery needs in West Africa and beyond.
(( For radio: Dr. Kofi Boahene is a surgeon at the institute. ))
((Dr. Kofi Boahene, WAISS Surgeon)) ((Male, English 24 secs))
“... for example, there is just general plastic surgery trying to get wounds and broken bones to heal. But at the level that we are providing care, we do micro transplant of tissues. You lose a finger, we put it back, we make an ear, make a nose, make a face.”
((VIDEO-VOA: BOAHENE - VARIOUS, FSS IMAGES - VARIOUS, BOAHENE ))
Dr. Kofi Boahene, a native of Ghana, is a head and neck surgeon, facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital in the U.S.
In 2004,
((Mandatory Courtesy: Foundation for Special Surgery, FFS))
he set up his Foundation for Special Surgery or FSS to provide specialized medical care to people where they live.
((End Mandatory Courtesy))
((Dr. Kofi Boahene - Surgeon, WAISS)) ((English 16 secs))
“People from all over the world will come and see me in the U.S., I am able to in 2 hours change their lives. I take a plane which takes 9 hours, 10 hours to fly come to Ghana, same clinical situation, that person may lose their eyesight or may lose life.“
((VIDEO-VOA: WAISS - VARIOUS, MEDICAL SURGERY - VARIOUS, BOAHENE))
For this reason, Dr. Boahene and the FSS built the West Africa Institute for Special Surgery. He says the center will bring globally trained health professionals to Ghana.
((Dr. Kofi Boahene - Surgeon, WAISS)) ((English 10 secs))
“In neurosurgery, plastic surgery, head and neck surgery, ear surgery, urology, the highest level of specialists are all congregated here.
((VIDEO-VOA: WAISS - VARIOUS, MEDICAL SURGERY - VARIOUS, AKORNOR))
NARRATION
Medical professionals from Ghana and across Africa can train and practice with these global experts and equipment.
(( Again, Dr. Harriet Akornor Nounou ))
((Dr. Harriet Akornor Nounou - Resident Medical Officer, WAISS)) ((English 12 secs))
“Here I can see robotic surgeries. It is going to be the first in the country and I am going to see that, and that's awesome, that's pretty cool if we are using robots to fix things.”
((VIDEO-VOA: WAISS - VARIOUS, MEDICAL SURGERY))
((NARRATION))
Dr. Boahene says the institute will bill patients who ordinarily would have traveled overseas. However, for patients who can afford care, the institute will raise money from friends, family, donors and former patients abroad, just as they have done for his Foundation for Special Surgery.
((Senanu Tord, VOA News, Accra, Ghana.))
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