The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) in the Bono, Ahafo and Bono East Regions, in collaboration with the Seventh Day Adventist Hospital in Fiapre, have organised a health screening exercise for cocoa farmers and residents of Wawasua on Wednesday (14 February).
About 200 beneficiaries out of the 500 expected were screened for high blood pressure, body mass index, hypertension, blood sugar level and eye disorders.
Speaking to Asaase News, the Brong regional administrator of COCOBOD, Michael P K Asumanu, said the exercise is important to the farmers because most of them do not have time to seek medical care. He said they hope to add free medication to the screening.
“The medication for cocoa farmers is a long-term thing we are doing for the farmers. The government just launched the Cocoa Farmers Pension Scheme and it is part of the efforts we are putting in place to ensure that, there is comprehensive care for cocoa farmers.”
“We had a health screening for cocoa farmers last year at Sunyani Jubilee Park, where the Cocoa Clinic was in attendance and we had free medication for all the farmers. We hope that we continue to do that, Asumanu said”.
A nutrition officer at the SDA hospital, Kwame Adu Twum, urged cocoa farmers and all men to regularly check their blood pressure. Some beneficiaries in an interview were grateful to COCOBOD for the screening.
Reporting by Daniel Donkor from the Bono Region
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