Tamale Teaching Hospital appeals for modern endoscopic, urological equipment
A Urologist at the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) has appealed to the government and international donors to urgently resource the Urology Department of the hospital to quickly operate the backlog of urological cases.
“Currently, urological related cases pending at the hospital included 80 pediatric, 200 prostate enlargements, 50 male fertility and 60 adult cases”, Dr. Akis Afoko, head of the Urology Department of TTH told the GNA in an interview on Monday.
Dr. Akis Afoko said such a support would enable the Urological Department to be more effective and efficient to reduce the increasing urological cases in the region.
He said due to the recent breakthrough in successful operation of patients with various urological conditions, which included kidney and cancers of the bladder, many people had been attracted to the hospital.
“The Urological Department is fully booked for people with such cases to be operated on. And I tell you our diary for such cases is fully booked from now up to December. There are many children and adults out there with various urological conditions such as stones of the urethral tract and we need modern endoscopic and urological equipment to fast track the operation on these patients”, he said.
Dr. Afoko said the department was in need of equipment such as vapouriser, a machine used in treating prostate diseases and Lithotriptor, an ultra sound machine used to break stones in the kidney.
“If we have a machine like the surgical laser, more than 10 patients could be operated and discharged immediately. This would help reduce congestion in the ward, prevents bleeding, and saves time”, he said.
He said the current method of operating patients with urological conditions was outmoded and that sometimes when stones in the kidney were removed, it could lead to the destruction of the kidney since the treatment was harmful and usually leads to bleeding.
Dr. Afoko said although the equipment was expensive, it would save the lives of many people who were in their productive stage to contribute to the nation’s development.
He indicated that in the first quarter of the year, the hospital recorded close to seventy cases of which, about 50 of them were children with such congenital conditions.
He commended some doctors from Italy, including Dr Franco Lacometti and Dr Gabriele Foutana from the Italian Group Le Mete for the immense contribution and constant support to the hospital.
Source: GNA