Saturday, May 15, 2021.
To celebrate women on Mother’s Day which fell on Sunday, May 9, 2021, the Member of Parliament of North Tongu, Honourable Okudzeto Ablakwa, offered to take care of the cost of cervical screening by Visual Inspection with Acetic acid (VIA) for all women in his constituency. This ran from Monday, May 10 to Saturday, May, 15, 2021.
Six centres where health workers are trained to screen were involved.
This is a summary of the screening:
- St. Anne’s Polyclinic, Tagadzi-Dorfor
Number screened: 16
Positives: 1 - Fakpoe CHPS
Number screened: 36
Positives: 0 - Kluma CHPS
Number screened: 69
Positives: 3 - Volo Health Centre
Number screened: 67
Positives: 0 - Juapong Health Centre
Number screened: 128
Positives: 3 - Catholic Hospital, Battor
Number screened: 85
Positives: 0
Total number of women screened: 401
Total number of positives: 7
It is unfortunate that many women did not take advantage of this opportunity to get screened in spite of the awareness creation with the team in Battor even going to the market to create awareness and recruit women.
The ‘hub and spokes’ model of cervical cancer screening in the North Tongu District
We strongly believe that the ‘hub and spokes’ model for cervical precancer screening in the North Tongu District of the Volta Region of Ghana will become the model in Ghana in the near future. And cervical precancer screening, at least with Visual Inspection with Acetic acid (VIA) will be covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme. We have made a case for many years about this, and demonstrated that it works.
Five peripheral institutions (‘spokes’) including 2 CHPS compounds that have health workers trained in Module 1 of the cervical cancer prevention course in Battor offer screening. Hopefully, there will be more ‘spokes’ in the near future.
The Cervical Cancer Prevention and Training Centre in Catholic Hospital, Battor is the ‘hub’ and ‘oversees’ screening at the ‘spokes’. Screen positives that cannot be managed at the ‘spokes’ are referred to the ‘hub’.
This model can be replicated across Ghana.
