Dr Kofi Amo-Kodieh, the Bono Regional Director of the Ghana Health Services (GHS), has advised the public to regularly visit the hospitals for voluntary medical check-ups, at least three times a year.

That, he said, was necessary for early detection, prevention and treatment of chronic illnesses.

Dr Amo-Kodieh gave the advice at the inauguration of SYO Advanced Medical Diagnostic Centre, a privately-owned laboratory facility at Fiapre in the Sunyani West Municipality.

The Centre would provide high quotient and standard diagnostic care services, backed by well-trained and dedicated staff, to render CT scans, conventional X-Ray, ultrasound, ECG and Endoscopy services.

He said hospitals were not meant for the sick alone but healthy persons may also visit for thorough investigations into the body system to identify and treat any hidden disease, which might become chronic and lead to death.

Dr Amo-Kodieh said aside from Accra and Kumasi there was a huge gap in the diagnostic services industry, which had a negative impact on the healthcare service delivery of the country.

He said the problem was identified during the COVID-19 pandemic, when all the specimens from Sunyani had to be taken to Kumasi and Accra for examination, adding that to date some of the results had not been received.

The SYO Advanced Medical Diagnostic Centre would, therefore, create competition, improve service delivery, and lower the cost of laboratory and x-ray services in the region.

He urged the management of the Centre to adopt a plan of preventive maintenance to keep the equipment in good condition always to provide quality and reliable diagnostic services to people in the region and beyond.

Dr Samuel Yaw Opoku (SYO), the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre, said it was established in partnership with the ECHO Tech of Turkey, in collaboration with the Sysmex Company Limited and Advert International Limited.

This forms part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) to provide a comprehensive diagnostic service to the population.

He said the Government alone could not provide all the health needs of the people, hence individuals contributing to help the nation achieve universal health coverage by 2030 were highly recommended.

The Centre would collaborate with the health authorities in the region to prevent the upsurge of non-communicable diseases through free health screening exercises as part of its CSR.

Source: Ghana News Agency