A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Proactive Ghana has supported the International Health Care Centre (IHCC) with a wheelchair to enhance their service delivery.

The wheelchair donation, which was made possible with the support of Anyako farm and Kpatsa and Associate Law Firm to the IHCC, happened on August 6, 2021, in Accra.

The Executive Director of Proactive Ghana, Theophilus Dzimega Jnr after the handing over ceremony told the media that the donation marks the second time the NGO had visited the IHCC which is run by West Africa AIDS Foundation (WAAF).

He said during the first visit, it was realized that one of the things that they (IHCC) don’t have is the wheelchair. And one of the projects that we are embarking on is to donate wheelchairs to a number of health facilities in the country and we decided that we will start with the IHCC.

He said the essence of the donation was to aid people who visit the health facility and have challenges with mobility.

On future plans, Mr Dzimega indicated that the organization has plans to undertake a number of activities in the area of HIV/AIDS and this requires collaboration with organisations already involved in HIV/AIDS work. It is, therefore, appropriate to start such collaboration with West Africa Aids Foundation; the visit, therefore, is the beginning of greater work in the future.

The Executive Director stated that Proactive Ghana supported the IHCC/WAAF because AIDS is one of the areas that most people and organisations often shy away from because of stigmatisation.

Other areas of interest for Proactive Ghana include work on projects with people living with disabilities and mental health issues. 

“We have already started with advocacy and research work in these areas and the results would determine how far we would take these projects,” he added.

Mr Dzimega also indicated that although the Covid-19 has affected most of their activities, Proactive Ghana is taking advantage of the new normal, in order to reach out to vulnerable groups such as commercial sex workers who may go underground and expose themselves to risks and equally, the number people engaged in sex work might increase due to lack of jobs.

He lamented that Covid-19 has not just impacted the NGO’s advocacy role, but has equally affected the communities that they want to serve.

The Acting Chief Executive IHCC/WAAF, Dr Paul Sowah thanked Proactive Ghana for the support, since the only wheelchair available to the Centre is almost two decades old and not functioning at full capacity.

He said the donation will go a long way to make a difference in the lives of their clients whenever they visited the Centre, saying “people are not going to spend energy-carrying people. So it is a good donation and we are happy with it.”

Dr Sowah was hopeful that in the nearest future, the NGO, Proactive Ghana would add more wheelchairs to augment the current one that Proactive Ghana has donated to IHCC/WAAF.

Ms Guro Sorensen, a senior practitioner at the centre, indicated that the donation could not have come at any better time as the centre has no wheelchairs at all to help in its activities. She was so grateful to Proactive Ghana for coming to the assistance of the centre at this crucial time.

By Adelaide Oforiwaa Adimer