KATH Launches A Service That Can Cure Stroke Patients Within 2 Hours Of Attack

Prof. Otchere Addai-Mensah is CEO of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH)

The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) has launched a new service Stroke Thrombolysis that seeks to save hundreds of stroke patients who seek immediate treatment from preventable morbidities and mortalities.

Professor Stephen Sarfo, a Consultant Neurosurgeon at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital who made the revelation noted that with the new technology of Thrombolysis, any patient who is brought to KATH within an hour or two would be treated to ensure blood flows freely to the brain so that they can return them to normalcy.

“Currently we will be able to use Thrombolysis, which is a novel and revolutionary service to assess, treat and cure patients who are brought to our facility within the stipulated time and even though the cost is 15,000.00 patients who can afford can have the chance to live normal lives after the interventions,” Prof. Sarfo stated.

The Chief Executive Officer of the facility, Professor Dr. Dr. Otchere Addai-Mensah, said the novel service medically termed as Thrombolysis to treat and manage stroke cases at the facility was heartwarming.

He noted that stroke was one of the leading causes of deaths at KATH as well as the country as a whole, adding that it was relieving to announce such a service to the public, patients and customers of KATH.

“I am elated KATH would be offering the Thrombolysis service that is going to save hundreds of stroke patients admitted to this hospital from preventable morbidities and mortalities’’, the CEO stated.

“Prof Addai-Mensah disclosed that the World Health Organisation (WHO) names stroke as a major health concern in Ghana and estimates that there are about 1.4 million stroke survivors in the country.

This figure, he mentioned, might steadily rise in the coming years due to factors such as growing modernisation, aging population and the onset of sedentary lifestyles among others.

The CEO noted that risk factors such as the rising cases of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, smoking, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and excessive alcohol consumption were all contributory factors to the rising trajectory of strokes in Ghana.

“Stroke occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is impaired or reduced resulting in the brain being deprived of oxygen and nutrients,’’ the CEO explained.

Meanwhile, the Consultant Neurosurgeon disclosed that there has been a surge in the cases of stroke recorded at the facility.

He says KATH admitted at least one thousand (1,000) persons of stroke-related persons last year.

This, he stated, is about a 500% increase to what the hospital was recording 40 years ago in 1980, but said the facility has currently trained specialists, radiologists and other essential medical practitioners including neurologists to treat patients better.

Prof Stephen Sarfo revealed about 52 per cent of the cases are women.

He admonished the youth in an interview with OnuaOnline to be mindful of their eating habits by eating healthy diets and engaging in exercising.

Speaking on the sidelines of a new technology for the treatment of stroke patients, he stressed the need for persons with risk factors of getting stroke such as diabetes and hypertension to always seek periodic medical attention.

The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital has launched a new service Stroke Thrombolysis that seeks to save hundreds of stroke patients who seek immediate treatment from preventable morbidities and mortalities.

He noted that with the new technology of Thrombolysis, any patient who is brought to KATH within an hour or two would be treated to ensure blood flows freely to the brain so that they can return them to normalcy.

By Beatrice Spio-Garbrah|Akoma FM|Kumasi