Operation Hernia, Ghana
Volunteers for Operation Hernia to Ghana
Please contact andrew.kingsnorth@phnt.swest.nhs.uk
Website: www.operationhernia.org.uk
Information for visiting teams
Takoradi is a port city twinned with a town called Sekondi. The Hernia Centre is a project initiated by the Hernia Project Team from Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, UK. The leader of the Team is Prof Andrew Kingsnorth. The Project Coordinator is Mr Chris Oppong a Consultant Surgeon.
The Hernia Centre
The Hernia Centre is a wing of the Takoradi Hospital. It has one operating theatre and preoperative and recovery wards. It is dedicated to hernia surgery. Hernias are the commonest surgical conditions in Ghana. Most of the patients cannot afford the cost of hospital treatment. At the Hernia centre they pay a nominal fee.
Work at the Hernia Centre is purely humanitarian. It has a significant impact on the lives of the patients and the local economy. The local coordinators of Hernia Centre are Dr Bernard Boateng-Duah, Chief Medical Officer at GPHA Hospital Takoradi and Mr Brian Dixon, the Manager of the local office of CNR International, a Canadian Oil company. Work at the centre is supported by the local political and health authorities.
Patients
Most of the patients are fishermen and farmers. On average, the size of the hernias is larger than ones encountered regularly in Europe. Most of them are however amenable to repair under local anaesthetic as day cases. The large recurrent and the massive scrotal hernias are repaired under general anaesthetic.