FOCOS Medical Team Screens Patients In Sierra Leone
A medical team from the FOCOS Orthopaedic Hospital has screened patients with various joint and spine conditions in Sierra Leone.
The team led by Prof. Oheneba Boachi-Adjei last week, screened patients who require corrective surgeries as well as patients who have already gone through surgeries. A total of three days was spent by the team in Sierra Leone to review patients of different age brackets and with various degrees of spine as well as joint conditions.
The Patients who benefited from the screening and review exercise were brought together by the Kyphoscoliosis Initiative for therapy and empowerment (KITE), a non-profit organization that believes in educating, rehabilitating, treating and referring patients with Kyphosis and Scoliosis.
During the trip, Prof. Oheneba Boachie-Adjei commended KITE for their contributions towards Orthopaedic healthcare delivery in Sierra Leone. “From my observation, KITE is doing more than just being a referral agency; they are providing a “quasi-medical” without medical professionals and even when FOCOS team is around a real clinic settings is established without local medical officers’ involvement,” Prof Boachie-Adjei said.
The leadership of a group called Post-op Association for integration and Network (PAIN), a new patient support group formed to bring patients who have gone through surgery together and share experiences whilst providing support and guidance to those who need it, paid a courtesy visit to Prof Oheneba Boachie-Adjei. He commended the leadership of PAIN for their humanitarian initiative and encouraged them to strive for continual progress in their endeavor.
Until the outbreak of Ebola in Sierra Leone, the medical team visited the country every six month as part of an initiative spearheaded by African Surgery Incorporated. So far 154 patients from Sierra Leon have had surgeries at FOCOS Orthopaedic Hospital. The FOCOS medical team is expected to resume the six months initiative.
Apart from Prof. Oheneba Boachie-Adjei, the team comprised of: Dr. Kwadwo Poku Yankey, a Neurosurgeon, Dr. Mahmud Rufai, Medical Officer and Ms Emelda A Baffour, registered Nurse.