The surgical outreach programme took place at the Bawku Presby and Bolgatanga Regional hospitals.

It formed part of the annual outreach service of the society and was also in line with Ernest Chemists Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) philosophy of improving healthcare delivery through quality medicine and to further support for the attainment of SDG 3 – Good Health and Wellbeing.

It was from November 18 to 21, 2021.

Each year, the Society extends voluntary gynaecological surgery services to deprived andr hard-to-reach parts of the country where women with complex gynaecological disorders suffer various financial and geographical barriers to accessing the needed expert care.

Past beneficiaries have been in the Nkwanta South Municipal in the Oti Region and Yeji in the Bono East Region.

Ernest Chemists Limited donated medications which, were used during the surgeries and those to aid in patient recovery. Ernest Chemists further supported SOGOG with a cash donation to facilitate travel and stay in the Upper East Region over the period of the outreach.

The team performed 17 major gynaecological surgeries in the two hospitals with Bawku Presby hospital benefitting from 14 of the surgeries. The surgeries included: removal of the womb due to ovarian cancers and cancers of the womb itself; removal of the womb due to fibroids; and removal of fibroids and repair of the womb for the women with fertility issues.

One of the beneficiary patients had a prolonged accumulation of menses in the womb making her appear like a pregnant woman.

As a result, she suffered constant abdominal pains.

She had a successful surgery to re-open the vagina and drain off the accumulated menstrual flow.

Other women with the womb coming out of the vagina (pelvic organ prolapse) also had surgery performed with the womb restored to normal position or removed and the vagina repaired.

The last category of patients were those who had been leaking urine from obstetric fistula, and they also had their fistulas repaired by the team.

The SOGOG General Secretary, Dr Promise Sefogah, who coordinated the organisation of the outreach, indicated that, thousands of women and children nationwide are in dire need of specialist medical / surgical care, but unfortunately lack access.

He was hopeful other well-meaning entities and organisations would emulate the ‘SOGOG-Ernest Chemists’ initiative example to help improve the health and wellbeing of these vulnerable populations in deprived areas.

The President of SOGOG, Dr. Ali Samba who led the team thanked Ernest Chemists Limited for both the medication and cash donation to support the Society’s initiative.

He also noted with gratitude how Ernest Chemists had supported SOGOG in past outreach services.

“It should be possible in the future to support multiple health facilities in one region simultaneously if we have more financial support’’ he added.

Dr. Ali Samba was also full of commendation for the Bawku Presby Hospital management team led by Dr. Bernard Kwaku Okai, for hosting the SOGOG outreach, ensuring a seamless flow of work and their willingness to work long hours to ensure all patients received their much-needed surgical care.

Other members of the SOGOG team were the Organising Secretary of SOGOG), Dr. Gabriel Ganyaglo, Dr. Barbara Fenyi from SOGOG in Western Region, Dr. Francis Wuobar from SOGOG Eastern Region and an Anaesthesiologist from the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and a SOGOG affiliate, Dr. Akua Pupulampo.