KNUST, UDS medical team perform free corrective surgery for hermaphrodite

Health professionals from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the University of Development Studies (UDS) have performed free corrective surgery for a hermaphrodite in the Upper West Region.

The 16-year-old was quizzed about his preferred sex, to which he agreed to remain a man.

Prior to the surgery he had a protruding stomach and highly inflamed breasts.

It took the medical team some three hours to complete the reconstructive surgery.

Urologist and Senior lecturer at the KNUST Medical School, Dr Kwaku Addai Arhin who led the team said it was good to wait for patients to make a decision about their preferred choice of sex before the surgery was conducted.

One other major case which was attended to was that of a middle aged woman who had a leakage in her intestines.

A Senior Lecturer at the KNUST, Dr Joseph Yorke, who also led a team to perform the reconstruction on the leakage said: "she is carrying a baby so if we lose her we are losing two people and we don’t want that.”

The initiative is part of a medical outreach programme organised by the health professionals from both universities.

Some 379 people also benefited from various treatments free of charge by the 37 doctors.

They spent five days working in five district hospitals in the region.

The programme formed part of the KNUST Medical School's 40-year anniversary.

The patients were grateful to the team for coming to the region as it would have cost them about ₵2,000 to travel to Kumasi for the surgery.