The equipment, which was funded by the Korean Government through the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) includes telescopes, trocar, coagulating and dissecting electrode, suction and irrigation tubes, camera head, video adaptor and laparoscopic simulator.

The project, aimed at sharing knowledge and applying modern technology in the area of health and medicine for quality service delivery, would also create opportunity for the training of specialist doctors and other health professionals to improve surgical procedures.

Laparoscopic surgery is a modern surgical technique under which surgical operations are performed without big openings of the body parts of a patient, but rather through a small incision elsewhere in the body.

The project

Briefing the media in Accra last Monday, the Korean Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Woonki Lyeo, said the project was a good one and would enable patients to recover faster, adding,  “The turnover of hospital beds and cost of medical care will also be reduced by increasing cost effectiveness.”

He said the agency commenced the project in September 2016 with the procurement of the instrument and training of staff for use and maintenance of the equipment to ensure effective usage at the hospital.

“This year,  we also plan to run a surgical skill education programme, organise a study group for the laparoscopic surgery and an exchange programme with universities and academic societies in South Korea,” he said.

Mr Lyeo believed the project would strengthen surgery competencies in the country and the surgical unit would serve as a strategic position for the exchange of technology and knowledge. He added that the Korean government would continue the long-lasting commitment to strengthen the co-operative ties between the two countries.

Appreciation

 Receiving the items on behalf of the hospital, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Ebenezer Appiah-Denkyira, lauded the kind gesture of KOICA and assured of proper use of the equipment.

He, therefore, appealed to the agency to attach a skill laboratory to their project to ensure maximum efficiency.

For his part, the Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Thomas Anabah, said since the arrival of the agency at the hospital with the “Global Doctor” programme in 2016, it had provided specialists to assist the hospital on the use and maintenance of surgical equipment.

He said there were national needs for laparoscopic surgery from GHS to first-line doctors, and the consultants with laparoscopic training experience would make a feasible and sustainable surgical skill with minimum education.