Mr Kwabena Asante Offei (left), with Mr Seungmin Oh (Right) exchanging the agreement after the signing.

A total of 2,500 people in the Upper East and North East Regions are to receive free health screening for hypertension and diabetes and maternal health care, following an agreement signed on Monday between the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and Medtronic Labs Ghana.

Per the terms of the agreement, KOICA is to provide $75,000 in funding while Medtronic Labs Ghana would carry out the screening for the community.

Medtronic Labs Ghana will also provide standard kits that compromise BP machines and glucometers to ensure that patients are managed and treated well during the 12 months period of the programme.

The Senior Deputy Country Director of KOICA-Ghana, Mr Seungmin Oh, explained that the agreement forms part of the Phase II of the Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) embarked upon in the region.

He said 10 CHPS zones had been linked to three health centres and one district hospital to provide treatment to beneficiaries who may be screen and needed further treatment.

Mr Oh said, KOICA acknowledged the unique advantage that Medtronic labs would bring on board in implementing a comprehensive community-based screening, and referred patients to the nearest health facilities. 

“We are confident that their digital solution willcontribute to raising awareness of Non Communicable Diseases such as hypertension and diabetes to general population, as well as early screening for pregnant mothers to prevent complications as a result of hypertension and gestation diabetes.

“We hope that collectively, we can support the health system strengthening, improve ownership, and eventually form a strong foundation to sustain quality healthcare in the country,” he said.

Mr Oh said Korea would continueto focus on improving primary healthcare delivery, and expressed confident that the screening would create public awareness to help address challenges in the health sector.

The Country Lead-Business Development and Partnership for Medtronic Labs, Mr Kwabena Asante Offei said, key objective of his outfit was to improve access to primary healthcare and ensure meaningful clinical outcomes.

He said the programme will go beyond diagnosis to provide a care model that aligned with Ghana’s primary healthcare delivery.

BY BERNARD BENGHAN