GCGL Pays Bills For 4 Child Cancer Patients

The Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) Monday presented a cheque for GH¢10,200 to the Department of Child Health of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH).

The donation is to help defray the medical bills of four needy children suffering from child cancer at the hospital.

An additional amount of GH¢5,000 was donated to the parents of one of the children, Prince Kwesi, for the child’s upkeep during the

operation.
The money is from the Graphic Needy Trust Fund (GNTF) which was established in the late 1980s with the aim of appealing for funds nation-wide in a co-ordinated manner to help needy people have access to medical treatment.

Since 1989, the company and its collaborators, through the fund, have helped about 180 needy patients in the country. The GNTF has become one of the company’s major tools for social responsibility, with a lot of needy Ghanaians turning to it for help to access medical care.

The Managing Director of the GCGL, Mr Ken Ashigbey, presenting the cheque, said that the development of the country was very critical and so there was the need to ensure that people had access to good health.

He said the situation at the Department of Child Health of the KBTH was a pathetic one that needed support from all Ghanaians, not the government alone.

Mr Ashigbey underscored the need for Ghanaians to extend support to the government, particularly in the development of infrastructure in society, stressing, “We must all see it as our responsibility when it comes to the growth of the economy.’’

He appealed to corporate organisations and the public to extend support to the needy in the communities, as well as doctors and nurses, to eliminate poverty and sickness.

The Paediatrician in charge of the Department of Child Cancer, KBTH, Dr Lorna Awo Renner, who received the cheque, expressed profound gratitude to the GCGL and other organisations which, for years, had supported the department.

She intimated that 75 per cent of child cancer could be cured when detected early, adding, “Your support will equip the institution to fully discharge its duties to save the lives of children.’’

She called on the government to include the treatment of child cancer under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

That, according to her, would aid in saving the lives of many children suffering from the disease, adding that childhood cancer represents only one per cent of cancers.