The Korle Bu Teaching Hospital has released some three breast cancer patients who were detained due to their inability to settle their hospital bills.
The three women, who were detained at the premier teaching hospital, heaved a sigh of relief after the Deputy National Women’s Organiser of the NDC, Maame Efua Sekyi-Aidoo Houadjeto, settled their medical bills for them to be discharged.
Sarah Acquah, Akua Danso and Anti Serwaa had undergone medical treatment for cervical and breast cancer but they were kept at the facility for five months after they failed to honour their financial obligations.
The month of October has been set aside globally to create awareness about breast cancer. In line with this, Maame Addo together with her team identified the women and moved to save them.
The team also donated toiletries and detergents worth about 10,000 ghana cedis to the medical staff and patients at the ward.
One of the three, 65-year-old Sarah Acquah in an interview with the media said she was abandoned by her family after she was diagnosed with her condition.
“My sickness has had a great toll on me since I came here. Due to the nature of my ailment, I expended all my monies. I reached out for help from my family but I was ignored, even my children have abandoned me,” she said.
She further explained that since her detainment some months ago, she’s been praying for a good Samaritan to come her way.
“I have always been praying and God has answered my prayer. I am very grateful to her (Maame Afua Sakyi Addo) and her team. I pray God restores unto her whatever she has lost and I pray she never lacks,” she said beaming with smiles.
On her part, she said the decision to defray the medical bills forms part of her contribution towards raising awareness for the impact of breast cancer across the globe.
“NDC Women Organisers always put together a program to create awareness for breast cancer. So I decided that apart from creating awareness outside of Korle-Bu let’s come inside Korle Bu and also find out who is being treated and how they are being treated.
“We realised that they were treated well but a few of them couldn’t pay their bills so we came in to support them and also donate a few things to the ward and not only to pay their bills but also to give them something to rejoice over. What we are doing here is all about charity.”
She also admonished charity organisations to support patients struggling to settle their bills.
“We should let the nurses and patients here know that we care about them. Their job is not easy, especially with the covid pandemic.
“Today we are discharging three patients here and the minimum bill is about GHS5,200 per person so I will ask Ghanaians to come and touch a heart here and also be an angel to some of the distressed patients.”