Nabdam Health Summit Targets 2,000 Residents for Free Eye Screening, Surgeries
The Member of Parliament for Nabdam Constituency, Dr. Mark Kurt Nawaane, has spearheaded a major health outreach programme aimed at improving access to healthcare and eye treatment for residents of the Nabdam District. The initiative, dubbed “Health Summit 2026,” was organised in partnership with the Heaven of Love Children’s Foundation and seeks to provide free health screening and specialised eye care to thousands of people across communities in the district. Speaking at the opening of the summit, Dr. Nawaane said the initiative builds on previous interventions he had undertaken in the constituency to address common medical conditions. According to him, he had returned to Nabdam on about three or four occasions to perform surgeries for hernias, hydroceles and other minor ailments, resulting in approximately 900 operations over three visits. “Through these interventions, we have practically eliminated hernias and hydroceles in Nabdam. While isolated cases may still exist, reports of these conditions have dwindled to the point where no one comes forward to complain about them anymore,” he said. With significant progress made in addressing those conditions, Dr. Nawaane said the focus had now shifted to primary healthcare, eye diseases and other conditions that contribute to vision loss. He explained that participants would be screened for diabetes, hypertension and eye-related conditions, which are often interconnected and can contribute to serious vision problems. “Our goal now is to screen residents for diabetes, hypertension, and eye diseases, conditions that commonly cause vision problems in our part of the country,” Dr. Nawaane said. He added that the exercise would enable health professionals to identify people requiring specialised treatment and subsequently bring ophthalmologists and other specialists to provide the necessary care. Dr. Nawaane expressed the hope that by November, at least 300 residents of Nabdam would benefit from eye surgeries conducted by medical teams from Accra, Kumasi and the United States. He said the mass approach was adopted after years of encountering constituents seeking financial assistance to travel to health facilities for eye treatment. “Over the past decade as MP, I have often encountered people seeking help for eye problems, many requesting funds to visit clinics. This time, we decided to organise and appeal to NGOs and non-state actors to address the problem collectively, rather than helping individuals one at a time,” he explained. The MP thanked the Haven of Love Students Foundation, as well as the District and Regional Health Directorates, for supporting the initiative. The CEO and Founder of the Haven of Love Students Foundation, Samuel Nana Bekai Djirackor, said the foundation’s intervention was motivated by the healthcare challenges confronting rural communities in northern Ghana. He said the foundation deliberately focuses on rural communities because of limited access to specialised healthcare and the shortage of medical professionals in some parts of the country. “Our foundation is rural-centred because we understand the unique challenges of healthcare in the Upper East and the northern parts of Ghana,” Mr. Djirackor said. He noted that in some areas, the doctor-to-patient ratio could be as high as one doctor to 30,000 people, making access to quality healthcare particularly difficult. The foundation has therefore partnered with ophthalmic nurses, health professionals from district hospitals and specialists from major teaching hospitals, including Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, to extend healthcare services to underserved communities. Mr. Djirackor said the partnership with Dr. Nawaane had allowed the foundation to expand the exercise from a single-community intervention to a wider six-community programme over six days. The exercise began at Sakoti and is expected to end at Pelingu, with the organisers targeting more than 2,000 people for screening. Beyond eye examinations, participants are also being screened for underlying conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, which can contribute to vision impairment. The organisers intend to compile a list of people requiring specialised eye treatment and subsequently organise free cataract and other eye surgeries later in the year. Mr. Djirackor said the Nabdam outreach was part of a broader commitment by the Haven of Love Students Foundation to improve healthcare delivery in rural Ghana. Since 2017, he said, the foundation had organised similar programmes across the Upper East Region, providing screening and treatment for conditions including eye diseases, hernias, post-polio paralysis, cancer and dental problems. He cited a recent intervention in the Bawku West District, where the foundation screened about 1,500 people, with 300 subsequently receiving cataract surgeries. According to Mr. Djirackor, the foundation’s volunteers and medical professionals offer their services without financial compensation, driven by patriotism and their desire to support vulnerable communities. “Our volunteers and doctors serve without pay, motivated by patriotism and the love of Christ. We want to be a blessing to these communities,” he said. The programme, he added, is not restricted to residents of Nabdam. Ghanaians from other parts of the country, as well as people from neighbouring Burkina Faso who can access the designated screening centres, are also welcome to participate. The initiative underscores the growing importance of collaboration between political leadership, health institutions, civil society organisations and medical professionals in tackling healthcare challenges in underserved communities. Through the Health Summit 2026, organisers hope to identify and treat residents suffering from preventable or treatable conditions while creating a pathway for sustained access to specialised healthcare in Nabdam and beyond. Source: Apexnewsgh.com