Graphic, Accra Brewery organise health screening at Adabraka
Residents of Adabraka and its surrounding communities on Saturday thronged the St Joseph School to participate in a free health-screening exercise organised by the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) and the Accra Brewery Limited (ABL).
This year’s exercise marked the 10th in the series of the annual free health screening. It was dedicated to the late Adabraka Mantse, Nii Tetteh Adjabeng I, who collaborated with the GCGL to institute the project in 2005.
Patrons were screened of various ailments, including breast cancer, malaria, typhoid fever, cholera, hypertension and diabetes by a medical team from the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
A team of dentists and eye specialists was also present to provide dental and eye services to the participants. Beneficiaries were also given free medication and offered counselling.
The exercise was supported by the Germany Development Agency (GIZ) and Voltic Mineral, while pharmaceutical firms, Ernest Chemist, Kama and Kinapharma also provided drugs and other medical supplies for the success of the programme.
Many others, including children were also registered for the biometric National Health Insurance (NHI) cards, while others had their expired health insurance cards renewed for free.
How it started
The Managing Director of GCGL, Mr Kenneth Ashigbey, said Graphic started the initiative in 2005 with support from Merchant Bank, now Universal Merchant Bank to give back to the society within which they operated.
Later, he said other organisations such as Pepsi and Toyota Ghana also joined the GCGL to provide health care for the people of Adabraka and surrounding communities.
The current partner, the ABL, he said, partnered the GCGL in 2008 to provide health care to improve the lives of the people in the community within which they operated as part of their corporate social responsibility.
Over the years, he said, the exercise had seen gradual improvement which had made it better and more beneficial to the residents of Adabraka and its surroundings.
Mr Ashigbey explained that the exercise started with general health screening with about 400 people participating, but in the 2013 exercise, about 800 residents participated.
After sometime, he said the company included dental health services and free registration of the NHIS to enable the vulnerable and financially challenged to have access to health care.
Over the 10 years, Mr Ashigbey mentioned that more than GH¢140, 000 had been spent on the project by the GCGL and its partners.
Mr Ashigbey advised the patrons of the exercise to practise personal hygiene and keep their surroundings clean to help eradicate cholera in the country.
Transforming society
In a speech read on his behalf, the Managing Director of ABL, Mr Anthony Grendon, said the company’s corporate social responsibility demanded that they positively transform the communities within which they operated.
“ABL strives to ensure that our work benefits as many people as possible while providing stability and security for future generations.
The Adabraka Atukpai Queenmother, Naa Korkor Ajeoyi I, expressed gratitude to the collaborating institutions for seeking the wellbeing of the people over the years.
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