Tema Industrial Lions Club donates to TGH Diabetic Clinic

The Tema Industrial Lions Club has donated stethoscopes, blood pressure apparatus, glucometer and strips, tabletop fridge, hand tissues, toilet tissues, and liquid hand wash to the Diabetic Clinic of the Tema General Hospital.

Mr. Abraham Teye Boyetey, President of Tema Industrial Lions Club who presented the items on behalf of the club revealed their intention to work hand-in-hand with the hospital to raise the needed money to refurbish the Diabetic Clinic and provide a surgical theatre.

He said the Club has adopted the Diabetic Clinic and would raise GHC1,000,000.00 to refurbish it, stressing that currently due to the lack of surgical theatre at the clinic, doctors have to refer surgeries to either the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, 37 Military Hospital, or the Greater Accra Regional Hospital.

Mr. Boyetey at the presentation ceremony monitored by the Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) in Tema said that as an industrial chapter, the Club would seek support from industries in Tema to help foot the bill for the theatre.

He added that almost all health cases in Tema and beyond might end up at the Tema General Hospital therefore the need to help provide some of their infrastructure and logistics.

Dr. Anthony Richard, Tema General Hospital Medical Director, who received the items on behalf of the hospital commended the Tema Industrial Lions Club for the gesture and the intention to adopt the Diabetic Clinic.

The Medical Director of the Tema General Hospital assured the Club that the items would be put to judicious use for the benefit of patients.

Dr. Richard used the occasion to appeal to other organizations, and individuals to adopt or support other departments of the hospital.

He explained that the Diabetic Clinic takes care of patients who have been diagnosed to have diabetes mellitus, and also carries out follow-ups for those who have the condition, adding that it also does nutritional counselling as it has a Dietician and Nutritionist attached to the clinic.

The TGH Medical Director added that health officials at the clinic undertake Community outreach and radio programmes to educate the populace on the sickness, saying, even in the hospital at the Out Patient Department (OPD), they educate both diabetics and non-diabetics to ensure that they took good care of themselves.

Dr. Richard disclosed that the hospital on an annual average diagnoses about 200 new diabetes cases adding however that all the cases were not from the Tema Metropolis alone as patients from Ashaiman, Prampram, Ada, Volta, and their environs access services at TGH.

He said for early detection and management, people must at least once a year visit the hospital for check-ups, while advising people with diabetes history in their family to eat a balanced meal, exercise regularly, rest very well, and importantly go for constant medical checks.

Mr. Ian Okwei, Chairman of the Communications and Marketing Committee of the Club, in an interview explained that the Tema Industrial Lions Club was a specialty club focusing on Lions Service thematic areas with specific reference to the effects of diabetes.

Mr. Okwei explained that the club’s mission was to empower volunteers to serve their communities, meet humanitarian needs, encourage peace, and promote international understanding.