CCF to prioritize health in coming years

Crime Check Foundation (CCF) has resolved to prioritize support for individuals who struggle to get medical care in the coming years.

The Executive Director of CCF, Ibrahim Oppong Kwarteng said this after he chastised the government for relenting in efforts to improve the country’s health care delivery system.

Mr. Kwarteng made the statement during a programme held in Accra by CCF to fete more than two hundred poor and underprivileged persons, many of whom are beneficiaries of the Foundation’s interventions.

Those who showed up at the event themed ‘CCF Fetes the Needy’, came from the Northern, Greater, and Central regions.

Speaking at the party, Mr. Kwarteng indicated that successive governments, the media, and other stakeholders have neglected the health sector.

He said Crime Check Foundation would therefore step up activities under its Health Check Series to support struggling patients to avert loss of lives due to financial constraints.

“We are pushing our next efforts to the hospitals because kidney patients are dying. Those suffering from cancer are also dying. So in 2022, we will focus on cancer and kidney failure education and support,” he said.

Mr. Kwarteng who doubles as the Ambassador Extraordinaire of Prisons urged the government to create an insurance package to cover the full treatment of kidney cases and cancer as the cost for treatment of the diseases is huge.

“I want to appeal to the government to give special insurance packages to cancer and kidney failure patients who usually are poor persons because the cost involved in the treatment of such diseases is expensive. Dialysis treatment in a week cost One Thousand Ghana cedis and people die because of their inability to pay their bills.”

He added, "the media appear to have shifted their focus to politics. I would want to urge the media to prioritize health in their reportage so that the public would be aware of the diseases."

Details on the party

The beneficiaries received as their Christmas gifts, a bag of rice, bottles of cooking oil, tomato paste, a piece of wax print and some cash.

Whilst they feasted and made merry, some of them took turns to share their story and how CCF offered them a helping hand.

38-year-old Amo Esi told the gathering the support she received from CCF to undergo surgery to correct her protruded tongue. “I would have been dead by now if not for CCF’s intervention. When my tongue protruded, I could not talk and I could not go out because of the foul smell it produced. The Foundation supported me to undergo surgery and now, I am relieved from the pain and shame,” she said.

A 29-year-old acid attack victim, Memuna Malik thanked CCF and its donors for supporting her to undergo a series of plastic surgeries to correct her deformity after the attack in Saudi Arabia. “May Allah bless you for your love and support,” she said.

Another beneficiary, Attah Akua who lived in a kiosk with her children and lost one of them during child delivery received a two-bedroom self contain house from the Foundation. She was also grateful to CCF and its donors for supporting her during her difficult time.

Other beneficiaries through CCF’s Educational Support Series were also present.

One of the Foundation’s US-based donors, Mr. and Mrs. Agbo hailed the Foundation’s transparency in carrying out its activities and the successes it has chalked. They pledged their unflinching financial support for the Foundation in the years ahead and called on other individuals to be part of the changing lives story.

“Before we became donors of CCF, we had been following them on social media and we were amazed at how transparent they carried out their work so we decided to celebrate this year’s occasion with them,” the couple noted.

The programme is held every year since its inception in 2019 to put smiles on the faces of the poor.