THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA
The Republic of Ghana spans the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It shares its borders with the Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north and Togo in the east. It has a population of over 31 million people., and is the second-most populous country in West Africa, after Nigeria. The Capital City is Accra.
THE ROTARY CLUB OF HOPPERS CROSSING
Our speakers on the evening were Dr. George Dade and Dr. Bob Fairclough. Between 2017 and 2020, The Rotary Club of Hoppers Crossing's International Project, inspired by Gifty Dade (wife of Dr George Dade), was involved in seminars to educate the people of Ghana about diabetes. General knowledge of treatments for diabetes includes - tablets, exercise and daily sugar tests. That is what we, in Australia, experience. However, in Ghana, much work needs to be done. The problem Dr. George Dade highlighted was a major one - the diagnosis and assessment of diabetes in Ghana, in order to prevent people waiting until they experience a major health episode.
PARTNERSHIPS IN ROTARY
Partnerships in Rotary, both at the local level in Ghana and here in Australia, have been leveraged to arrange workshops which demonstrate what is available for treatment - insulin, blood test units. A change in culture in the way patients speak to doctors is what Dr. Dade highlighted. Once patients understand the features of diabetes they can then ask about treatments. Also, they must overcome the stigma of the disease and be able to speak freely and fully with their doctors as happens in Australia. Dr Dade referred to the ability of Australian patients to access information and thus understand their illness and therapeutic treatments. Gifty utilises a variety of facilitators in the workshops undertaken in Ghana.
QUESTIONS RAISED
Questions were raised by members of The Rotary Club of Canterbury about the connection between lifestyle and diabetes. The introduction of processed foods and the use of cars, rather than walking have caused problems both in Australia and in Ghana. Thus, diabetes has become more prevalent in Ghana.
Dr. Dade and the team at The Rotary Club of Hoppers Crossing have done tremendous work in raising awareness of the problem and were rightly given a Recognition Award for its Diabetes Education Project in Ghana at the recent District Assembly.