Good Shepherd Methodist organises free medical screening
The Good Shepherd Methodist Church at Swanlake, Accra, has organised a free medical screening exercise for its members and the people in the community where the church is situated.
The over 300 people, including children, who participated in the exercise, were screened for various health conditions, including blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, full blood counts, eye check and glaucoma screening and a deworming exercise for the children.
Aside from the health screening, patrons were also offered free medication for some of the problems diagnosed.
The screening exercise, which formed part of activities marking the 60th anniversary celebration of the church, is also a form of social responsibility and evangelism drive the church was rendering to members of the community.
The Chairman of the 60th Anniversary Planning Committee of the church, Dr Wordsworth Odame-Larbi, explained that as a church, they believed that one way they could demonstrate and extend the love of God to those who normally did not worship with the church was through medical screening exercise.
He said it was important for the church to remain relevant to the community by way of the community benefitting from its presence.
Health screening
Dr Odame-Larbi said the provision of medical care was not cheap and, therefore, advised the general public that anytime an opportunity was given to them to do free health screening to determine any ailments in their system, they should take advantage of it.
He further advised the public to take good care of their health by watching their diet and engaging in regular exercises, adding that they should keep fit so that they could live long without any serious health problems.
A pharmacy technician who is the leader of the medical team that conducted the screening, Joyce Acquah, mentioned the common cases they saw in those screened to be hypertension, diabetics and gastritis, also known as ulcer.
She advised that in as much as Christians wanted to be spiritual, they should take very good care of their bodies.
She advised those who had been diagnosed with hypertension to bear in mind that the condition was manageable so they should not allow anyone to convince against taking their medication.
The Superintendent Minister of the Kaneshie North Circuit, Very Rev. Kofi Agyekum-Agyen, said as a church, they owed the community they found themselves in the responsibility to organise such health screening exercises, which were free to enable the people to know their status regarding certain health conditions that might escape their attention.
He urged the general public to also take advantage of such health screening exercises because, through them, some people had been diagnosed with diseases they originally were not aware they had.
