The event which comes off on Wednesday, August 10, 2016 on the theme “Hepatitis, Hepatobiliary Cancers and the Role of Interventional Radiology” is aimed at creating awareness among the medical community about some new treatment modalities that are available in the country.
Dr Benjamin D. Sarkodie, Ghana’s only Endovascular and Interventional Radiologist said the event which was the second edition, after a successful one was held last year, would provide a great platform to create awareness on some treatment and procedures available in Ghana that some doctors do not know about.
“Some of these treatments have been on the market for a while in order countries, but Ghana is now waking up to them due to human resource issues and equipment. But I believe we are gradually getting there.”
He said the Society was looking forward to improving upon what was done last year in terms of content and attendance.
The Mayo Clinic doctors who are expected to be in town for three to four days together with Dr Sarkodie and some other doctors will be attending to cases at the Korle-Be Teaching hospital within the period.
Explaining why this year’s theme was centred on the liver and its surrounding organs, Dr Sarkodie said in the past people who had liver cancers could not be helped, adding that “the definite way of managing someone with a liver cancer is to transplant and change the liver which is not readily available in Ghana, but with the help of Interventional radiology a microwave tumour ablation can be use to burn the tumour in the liver among other techniques. This we do to improve the quality of lives for this people like that.”
Interventional radiology treatments are minimally invasive and image guided procedures that do not involve the cutting of the body. It offers less risk; less pain and less recovery time compared to conventional surgical operation and is fast becoming the order of the day.
“Interventional radiology treatments are now first-line care for a wide variety of conditions and it has become important that patients and the public become aware of these life-saving and life changing options,” he said.
Ghana and the world as a whole have lost some of its human resource due to unavailability of such procedures in the past. Some have even lost their limbs to diabetic related issues because amputating their legs was the only option available and patients and their families have had to live with the pain.
Dr Sarkodie, who is also a lecturer at the University of Ghana School of Medicine and Dentistry is on a mission to educate and engage the public about these procedures, he said knowledge about the procedure was still low in the country and added that a lot of awareness needed to be created about it.
He added that when people get to know about the options available to them they would intend make informed decisions.
