10% of admissions due to brain, spinal cord problems

Accra, Nov. 23, GNA - About 10 per cent of hospital admissions in Ghana are due to illnesses of the brain, spinal cord and other related nerve problems.

Many people also die annually with head and spinal injuries from road traffic accidents, sports related injuries and industrial accidents, the Reverend Professor Seth Ayettey, immediate past Provost of the College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, said at a press briefing in Accra on Thursday.

It is against this background that the Korle-Bu Neuroscience (KBNF) Foundation has decided to establish a multi-disciplinary Centre for acute emergency and accident care, he said.

Rev. Prof. Ayettey said: "The high rate of road accidents in the country suggests that we will continue to see several cases of head and spinal injuries."

He said the Neuroscience Centre would handle the brain and spinal cord diseases, which were very sensitive and delicate and this would require the training of people to manage patients. Rev. Prof. Ayettey said about 20 to 30 per cent of deaths were caused by stroke.

He said it was cheaper to treat people with neurological problems in the country and appealed to all stakeholders to contribute towards the establishment of the Centre.

The project involves the construction of an eighty-bed Neuroscience Hospital with the state of the art technology, emergency unit and intensive care, nurses and paramedical residence, visiting consultants' residence and an educational and training of medical staff of the centre.

Dr Thomas Dakurah, a Neurosurgeon, the initiator of the centre, said the Neuroscience Hospital would provide an integrated multi-disciplinary Centre for acute emergency, accidents care and diseases affecting the nervous system such as strokes, epilepsy, cancer of the brain and childhood malformations, including spinal bifida and hydrocephalus.

Dr Dakurah said many of these diseases were preventable and curable to improve the quality of life. He said the Centre would help improve the quality of life and promote brain-exchange through international collaboration and research. 23 Nov. 06