Massive turn up for Marie Stopes ‘Time to Talk’ campaign

Hundreds of people showed up for the Time To Talk campaign organized by Marie Stopes on Saturday, 4th August 2018 at the Tamale Jubilee Park.

The campaign which was organized fundamentally to create awareness on the female reproductive health and life as well as to sensitize people on their Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) saw a massive turn out and support from people of the Tamale Metropolis.

Marie Stopes Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) which has been operating in the country since 2006 towards the provision of family planning and sexual reproductive services to large numbers of women throughout the country had its northern regional branch come up with a campaign dubbed “Time To Talk” last Saturday at the Jubilee Park. The event which commenced with a cleanup exercise at the Tamale STC yard was accompanied with other categories of health services rendered to the metropolis. The entire campaign was climaxed with a drama session and a musical concert with the Dagomba girl hit maker Maccassio.

The Northern Regional Manager of Marie Stopes Ghana, Madam Patricia Antwi-Boasiako explained that there were four sessions of health services rendered to the people of Tamale, affirming that there was a massive turn up for these services rendered to the metropolis which included a free health screening on Hepatitis B serving almost 250 people, sexual and cervical screening which served more than 100 people, a mini clinic supported by the Army and a blood donation service which also had about 50 donors donating to the Tamale Central Hospital. She added however that there was also a Diabetes screening held.

Madam Boasiako has advised that all who turned out positive in the screening should visit any health center near them or visit the Marie Stopes center for further advice on how to treat these positive cases. She said this as she thanked all and sundry who contributed to the success of the campaign.

“We had four categories of health screening services that we rendered to the Tamale Metropolis. The first one was the Hepatitis B screening program, we had almost 250 people coming out to screen and it was great. I will advise those that turned out positive to go to any health center, or they can also come to Marie Stopes for further advice on how to treat the positive cases.

We also had the sexual and cervical screening in our clinic and we had more than 100 people coming to screen for cervical cancer which was good and the mini clinic which was supported by the army. They also saw a lot of community members, counseled them, gave them drugs and they also advised them on what to do next, and there was Diabetes screening as well.

The blood donation service was also mega, we had about 50 volunteers providing blood for Tamale Central Hospital” she said.

CEO of Hyperlinks Media Limited, MR. Arnold Mashud an official organizer of the event commended Marie Stopes for their good work in the metropolis, stating that they were very excited to be a part of the event.

He emphasized the Female Reproductive Health is a concern for all and this was the appropriate time for all men to also accept and contribute towards educating the general public on reproductive health.

He complained that most women are currently faced with problems basically due to the fact that they did not get the right advice from the right people, adding that Marie Stopes’ presence in the metropolis was going to be of great assistance to females in the metropolis.

Mr. Mashud in expressing his delight for being a part of the campaign said “We are very very excited to be part of this particular event. When they called on us we were so happy because we have been looking for an opportunity to like that, so that we can use the platform to educate the general public and educate our young ladies that they need to seek advice from the right quarters when they are confronted with an issue”

A beneficiary of the program, Mahamadu Sandani commended Marie Stopes and organizers of the event for the good work done, saying that it was a good initiative taken and should be done periodically in the metropolis.