“A Heart Relief Organisation (AHRO), a non-governmental organisation, has cut sod for the construction of a Leukemia Research and Treatment Institute at Atebie in the Shai Osudoku District of the Greater Accra Region.
The institute, which is the first of its kind in Ghana and the West African sub-region, would help relieve needy patients of the cost of treating the condition while enhancing research into other cancerous conditions.
Expected to be completed over the next three years, the building consists of an administration block, a library, information, communication, technology (ICT) centre, a research development department, laboratories, pharmacy, conference centre, canteen, staff residence and flats for patients’ family members.
President of the organisation, Dr Prince John Tetteh, in an address, observed the high cost of cancer treatment in the sub-region, prompting his NGO to focus specifically on Leukemia, a cancer of the blood.
He said over the past 22 years of the establishment of the NGO, it had offered assistance in diverse ways to many individuals, and the Leukemia institute would further enhance its activities especially to the needy and vulnerable in society.
“While cognisant of the broad health challenges confronting the continent of Africa, lasting solutions can only come from Africans themselves, and this can be achieved by applying diverse and innovative ways of raising funds to finance projects such as these.
Our mission is that anyone who enters this institute with cancer goes out cancer free and once you are a needy patient, we will take care of the cost of treatment for free,” Dr Tetteh indicated.
The President added that while the organisation would use an “extreme poverty guideline rule” to determine beneficiaries, it was willing to offer all assistance needed to ensure full recovery of Leukemia patients.
“Qualification to access treatment from the centre is confirmation of a cancerous condition, thus anyone diagnosed of cancer that needs help will be treated for free. A family member will be allowed to remain in the facility without charge while the patient is undergoing treatment, and we will also have a rotation of qualified specialists from the United States and Cuba at any given time through the calendar year,” he said.
Dr Tetteh appealed to philanthropists, companies and other organisations to emulate the example to help bring relief to the populace, particularly most vulnerable citizens.
One of the sub-chiefs of the area, Nene Sodjie, welcomed the initiative by AHRO, adding that the project would not only enhance healthcare delivery, but bring about development and create job opportunities for the youth in the community.
He rallied his people to support the organisation’s work to make the institute a reality.
BY TIMES REPORTER
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