Project Details
Medical education is crucial in preventive medicine as well as the need for the blood banks to have enough blood to save lives.
As such, programs to intensify the education of participants and the mass public are very well recommended.
Thus, GLOWDEP in conjunction with the Mafi-Traditional Council organized a health screening and blood donation exercise in Adidome on 7th December, 2017 as part of the Hogbetsotso festival celebration.
The medical screening involved Body-Mass Index (BMI), Blood Pressure (BP), Breast Examination and Random Blood Sugar (RBS) assessments and also receiving of dietary advice, which was optional. After passing through the following stages, if a patient had the desire and fulfilled all the eligibility requirements, he/she could then donate blood.
In all, seventy-one people participated in the screening with eleven health personnel attending to them. Twenty-four people also donated blood. In all, seventy-one people participated in the exercise, fifty-eight females and thirteen males. Thirty-six females underwent the breast examination while twenty four people donated blood. The blood donors were given some “tea items” for blood replenishment.
The GLOWDEP team used the opportunity to sensitize the gathering on the need for them to eat healthy foods and live healthy lifestyles. She said GLOWDEP existed for them and will continue to bring more innovative and beneficial programs to address the problems in the society and also to enhance improvement in their lives. Also in attendance was TorgbuiDordoe IV one of the sub- chiefs who also encouraged the participants to donate blood to support the blood bank at the Adidome Hospital.
The medical data revealed that all the females who underwent the breast examination had normal reports. With regards to the BP and Random Blood Sugar, a total of 54 participants (Males = 9 and Females = 46) were involved. Of these total participants, 67% (representing 36 participants) had normal blood pressure and 33% (18 participants) recorded a high blood pressure.
Fifty-one (93%) out of the 54 participants had normal random blood sugar level. The remaining (7%) participants had high random glucose level. Of the 93% who had normal random blood sugar levels, a significant portion were likely to have an intolerant glucose level when a Fasting Blood Sugar (FBS) was rather assessed. Such persons were advised to see clinicians for a better picture of their blood glucose level and advised accordingly.
For those with high or low blood pressure values, the medical team recommended other successive blood pressure checks and necessary medical laboratory tests to properly determine whether these groups of people are medically hypertensive or hypotensive respectively.
Participants with normal presentations were encouraged to continue to be healthy-lifestyle conscious and continue to make regular check-ups while participants with abnormal presentations were also encouraged to see clinicians for medical advice and where necessary, re-check and do appropriate laboratory tests.