Valley View University (VVU) on Sunday made history by becoming the first institution to conduct any major general free health screening and hygiene education at Adamrobe near Aburi in the Akuapem South Municipality of the Eastern Region.
In all, over 600 people comprising children, women and men out of the 2500 residents of the community who are mostly stone winners benefited from the exercise.
A team of medical personnel drawn from the Korle-Bu and Dodowa Hospitals assisted by nursing students from the Department of Nursing of the VVU spent time on eye screening, dental care, checking of blood pressure, treatment of minor ailments, physical assessment, weighing as well as environmental and hygiene maintenance education to commemorate the University's 30th anniversary.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency at Adamrobe on the state of amenities in the area, Mr Martin Djan Anakwa, Assemblyman for the Adamrobe, who described the intervention of the VVU as historic and timely, said the community could only boast of one ten-seater toilet facility and two boreholes.
Mr. Anakwa said situation had compelled residents to ease themselves in the bushes and also fetch water from Adamorobeasi, a nearby stream, which took its source from a dumping site at Aburi.
He said this had led to the increase in cholera outbreak and other water-borne diseases among the residents.
According to the assemblyman, the community did not have a clinic adding the only clinic that residents were building through communal labour could not be completed due to lack of funds.
He said all these had made life unbearable for the residents as the little incomes they made from stone winning were spent on treatment of diseases.
Mr. Anakwa said because of the lack of social amenities coupled with prevailing poverty, men had been taking advantage of young girls resulting in high rate of teenage pregnancy in the area.
"It is in this light that I welcome the intervention of the Valley View University to screen us and educate the people on healthy living for improved lifestyle" he said.
Dr. Daniel Ganu, Vice President in-charge of Academic Administration at the VVU, said the University embarked on the initiative because of the precarious health conditions in the area.
Dr Ganu said the University was not just concentrating on curing the diseases but rather trying to enhance the knowledge of the residents to adopt preventive measures so as not to fall victims to such ailments.
"This is because most of the ailments here are preventable if the people know what to do to avoid contracting them and that is why we are also educating them on preventive measures" he said.
He said the University planned to sustain the exercise by embarking on it twice every year in the community to ensure that the situation was normalized for people to go about their economic activities well and hearty.
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