Anglogold Ashanti supports training of health workers on cervical cancer in Obuasi

About 75 health workers in Obuasi are undergoing training in cervical cancer prevention and other infectious diseases in Obuasi.

The month-long capacity building workshop is being sponsored by AngloGold Ashanti, Obuasi Mine as part of its 10-year Socio-Economic Development Plan.

Addressing the media after a short opening ceremony, Dr. Justin Sonaa Dakora, Principal Medical Officer of the AGA Health Foundation said the training workshop was specifically designed to equip healthcare workers in Obuasi with the skills and knowledge to deal with cervical cancer and other infectious diseases.

Current estimates indicate that every year 2,797 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 1,699 die from the disease in Ghana. Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer in women in Ghana after breast cancer.

It is reported that most nurses, midwives, Physician Assistants and Medical Doctors (including Specialists) graduate without the skills to screen for cervical precancer and treat precancerous lesions of the cervix to prevent cancer.

This, Dr. Dakorah believes has become necessary for AngloGold Ashanti to step in to sponsor nurses and health practitioners in general to undergo training on how to identify cervical cancer, testing and appropriate treatment for it.

"We are doing this training for a month. The Ultimate Goal is to have a cervical cancer center in Obuasi in about a year or two. So I call on all stakeholders to put our shoulders to the wheel and work together to achieve this."

Dr. Justin Sonaa Dakora also emphasized that the training will also focus on other infectious diseases like COVID-19, Ebola, HIV and Hepatitis B prevention. With the lesson learnt from the outbreak of COVID-19, he said it is important for health workers to be abreast with information on how to prevent COVID-19 and other related diseases.

He also hinted that the training program will focus on Neonatal resuscitation which he said was critical in their bid to reduce Neonatal deaths in Obuasi.

Bridging the capacity building gap in the health sector

Miss Delphine Gborgblorvor, the Obuasi East District Health Director on her part lauded Anglogold Ashanti for its resolve to train healthcare professionals in Obuasi. She said the company has lined up series of training workshops, all in their quest to close the capacity building gap in healthcare delivery in Obuasi.

"It is obvious that there are gaps regarding training for our Staff. Government cannot do it all so we continue to rely on AngloGold Ashanti who have been supportive over the years in training and provision of medical support," she stated.

Addai Owusu, the Coordinator for Sustainable Development Partner (SDP), facilitators for the workshop said the training was on a need basis stating that infectious disease prevention, cervical cancer prevention and Neo-natal resuscitation are areas of major concern in Obuasi.