‘Donate essential items to victims’
Benevolent Ghanaians from all walks of life have been visiting victims of the June 3 Accra flood and fire disaster currently on admission at the hospital to ascertain their condition, pray for them and also donate some items for their upkeep.
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The Senior Resident Doctor of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr Kwesi Nsaful, has, however, said that most of the items being given to the victims on admission are not the most appropriate for now.
According to him, items flowing in at the moment comprise mainly of bread, rice, toiletries and confectionaries which though highly appreciated, are not what the victims need at this critical time.
Speaking to The Mirror when a delegation from the Creative Arts Industry visited the hospital, Dr Nsaful said most essential items the hospital needed to provide efficient and effective health care to patients included antibiotics, pain killers, fluids, gauze and bandages.
He stated that though some of those essential items were very expensive, they were what the hospital needed for victims whose conditions were still critical.
Dr Nsaful said that a majority of the victims were gradually recovering in the wards but others had been sent home under close observation.
Antibiotics and fluids
Dr Nsaful explained that the skin preserved most of the fluids the body produced and once the skin had been burnt or peeled off, it was an indication that the fluids were no longer being preserved, which meant it was being lost.
"The body is made up of 70 per cent fluids on which the body is sustained, so without it the body cannot survive,” he explained.
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He said some of the victims need some types of antibiotics which are expensive and the hospital lacked the means to provide, thus confronting it with a big challenge.
Dr Nsaful said some individuals managed to provide some of the antibiotics themselves for a few days but could not keep up with the supply due to the high cost.
He, therefore, called on the public to donate such urgently needed items or present cash for the purchase of the drugs.
“We recognise government’s efforts at providing medical institutions with logistics for efficient and effective care for the victims but it is not enough at the moment,” he said.
Dr Nsaful also appealed to the public to participate in the blood donation exercise currently underway in parts of the country.
Delegation
The delegation, made up of the President of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), Mr Bice Osei Kuffuor, and some members of the Actors Guild, also included Mrs Selasie Ibrahim, Mr Ziggy Netteyson, Salinco and Philippa Baafi.
They were accompanied by the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Mrs Dzifa Gomashie.
The visit was to find out the condition of the patients and to commend the hospital officials for their good work in taking care of them.
It was also to enable the delegation to assess the challenges the hospitals were facing in providing care to the victims.
Mr Kuffuor said MUSIGA was joining hands with other individuals to create awareness on flood management and behavioural change which could be adopted to ensure that the June 3 happenings did not occur again.
The MUSIGA president said members would stage a concert to raise funds which would be donated to victims to help provide them with some relief.