HIGHBROW PRE-PRIMARY and junior high school, Merton International School, has mounted a campaign to raise GH¢150,000 for the refurbishment of the dilapidated Korle-Bu Pediatric surgical centre.

The fundraising campaign which was outdoored in Accra on Friday was necessitated by the extreme difficulties that lack of resources is subjecting children to at the Korle-Bu Paediatric surgical theatre.

According to Dr. William Appeadu Mansah, a consulting paediatric surgeon at Korle-Bu, the lack of resources at the centre has forced officials of the centre to put some children needing surgery on three-year waiting lists: 'We do need help and I am appealing to the public to help us,' he stated.

Young Rachel Adu-Nkansah, a JHS 3 student who read a press statement at the launch of the fundraising event stated, 'The deprived and under-equipped conditions of the paediatric theatre was brought to our notice by Dr. Appeadu Mansah. With inadequate support from government, the situation we find there is heartbreaking.'

'The situation is so dire at the Korle-Bu paediatric centre that sometimes, children needing urgent surgery have had to be taken to the adult ward for surgery and sometimes, they have to wait as long as 3 years depending on the urgency of the case. We feel touched to do something about this sorry state of affairs and the best time to act is now,' says Miss Adu-Nkasah.

So far the effort by Merton is yielding response from corporate organizations. Among corporate sponsors lining up to support the cause include Unibank, Ghana Commercial Bank, Starlife Assurance, Joy FM, TV3 and ETV . Other sponsors include Stanbic Bank, Graphic Communications Group Limited and GTP textile among others.

According to Merton's Chief Executive, E.M.A Baitie, the initiative is also a means to raise the awareness of corporate Ghana to the need to support declining health infrastructures such as the Korle-Bu paediatric centre.

By Raphael  Adeniran