The President of the West African College of Surgeons, Professor Peter Donkor has advised Scientists and all stakeholders in the health sector to re-evaluate the country’s health priorities in order to tackle future epidemics.
According to Professor Donkor, covid-19 was able to wreck high income economies and therefore there is the need for Scientists and stakeholders in Ghana to “have a responsive workforce and that is ever ready in adequate numbers to tackle future epidemics.”
He made this call at the 9th Biennial Scientific Conference of the College of Health Science at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology on 29th September 2021. The conference was held under the theme, “Covid-19, Health challenges for the decade – the role of the health professionals”.
Professor Donkor however added that although there has been some negative effects of the corona virus pandemic, it also presented some opportunities to innovate and exploit technology, of which Scientist are expected to take advantage of the opportunities.
Pro Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ellis Owusu-Dabo addressing the audience on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor highlighted commended the government’s vision to start covid-19 vaccine production in Ghana, he expressed the university’s support for the initiative.
“Indeed, KNUST management has been contacted to submit a budget for this purpose. We have responded by indicating our readiness, availability of facilities, relevant expertise, and other requirements towards this and look forward to working on this great and positive initiative from the Government,” he said.
Background
The Biennial Scientist Conference of the KNUST College of Health Science is organised every two years to bring together health scientist and professionals from across the globe to deliberate on health issues of global concern.
This year, a total of 179 oral and poster presentations will be featured.
Some of the papers include: The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Pattern of Maxillofacial Injuries in Children at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Association between Health Care Workers Compliance to COVID-19 Practices and Perceived Risks of COVID-19.
Epidemiology and Genomic Characteristics SARS-CoV-2 in Ghana, Psychological Correlates of COVID-19 Response among Students: The KNUST Experience and a Study at a Healthcare Facility in Ghana; Evaluation of Workplace Hypertension Prevention and Detection Service in a Ghanaian University and others.
