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for selected patients was carried out from Monday through
Friday. Anesthesia was administered by the visiting anesthetists.
Operations were performed mainly by the visiting surgeons
with assistance from the local surgical team. The local
surgeons also assisted with organizational issues. Nursing
care was also a cooperative effort by both visiting nurses
and local ones. Patients were either discharged same day
or were detained for a few days on wards B3 and D2A, D2B.
In
general the visit and the operations went smoothly. There
was good rapport as well as mutual respect between the
visitors and their Ghanaian hosts. The patient turnout
was in excess of what could be handled in the period of
the mission. There is a great need for the service rendered
and it is expected that there will be many more such missions
to Ghana in the future.
The
positive response of patients to the mission underlies
the need for cleft services in the country. The service
must be continually available and affordable locally.
In the short term more such medical missions will help
to meet existing need. For the long-term, however, local
capacity must be built. Efforts being made locally, like
the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital Cleft Clinic require
encouragement and support to build the capacity to manage
clefts in Ghana. Out of this a local team could provide
regular outreach service to remote parts of the country.
Nurses
and other personnel could be assisted with training either
locally or abroad to organize and run the local cleft
service effectively. This could take the form of workshops
and/or visits to existing centers.
It
is the expectation of all that the CSI team will return
to Kumasi soon.
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