Story by Yaaba Yamikeh, Brahabobom
Gold Fields Ghana Foundation last Saturday brought free healthcare services to residents of Brahabobom in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality through a medical and surgical screening exercise aimed at improving access to quality healthcare.
The outreach programme benefited more than 1,000 residents and ran from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
During the exercise, both healthy residents and persons suffering from acute and chronic illnesses, including diabetes, hypertension, HIV/AIDS and joint pains, were screened and provided with free medication. Emergency cases were referred to the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Hospital for further treatment.
Residents also received free condoms, Pepsodent toothpaste and bathing soap, while officials assisted community members with fresh registration and renewal of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) memberships.
Q.2 medical outreach
The seven-hour exercise formed part of the Foundation’s second-quarter community medical outreach programme for 2026 and was organised in collaboration with the Society of Family Physicians of Ghana and Unilever Ghana Limited.
For the past two years, the Gold Fields Ghana Foundation has organised quarterly medical outreach programmes in its host communities, including Huni Valley, Samahu and Akoon.
Speaking to the media, the Executive Secretary of the Foundation, Mr. Abdel Razak Yakubu, said although the Foundation had constructed several health facilities in the host communities, many residents were often too occupied with economic activities to access healthcare services.
According to him, the Foundation found it necessary to bring healthcare directly to the people to eliminate barriers to quality healthcare delivery.
Prevalent diseases
Mr. Yakubu explained that each outreach programme is guided by research conducted by the Foundation in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service to identify and treat prevalent diseases in the host communities.
“It is in this regard that the outreach programme is now dubbed the ‘Heal Programme’,” he said.
He noted that beyond implementing various corporate social responsibility projects, the Foundation considered it a responsibility to support quality healthcare delivery because “a sound mind lives in a sound body.”
Mr. Yakubu added that more than 70 per cent of Gold Fields workers lived in the host communities, making investment in healthcare services beneficial to both residents and the company’s workforce.
“It is our business to ensure that workers and all residents in the host communities are fit,” he stated.
He disclosed that through partnerships with the Society of Family Physicians of Ghana and Unilever Ghana, the Foundation spent GH¢500,000 on the Brahabobom outreach programme, compared to the usual cost of over GH¢600,000 for similar quarterly events.
Successful exercise
The President of the Society of Family Physicians of Ghana, Dr. Baaba Nyina Damoah, described the programme as successful and called for its continuation.
She revealed that most cases recorded during the exercise involved chronic illnesses, while children mainly suffered from acute diseases.
Dr. Damoah identified excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and poor eating habits as major causes of chronic diseases and advised residents to exercise regularly, reduce alcohol intake and smoking, and consume balanced diets rich in fruits and vegetables.
She noted that chronic diseases, also known as lifestyle diseases, could be effectively managed if people adopted healthier lifestyles.
Commendation
The Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Manager of the National Health Insurance Authority, Mr. Stephen Ayombisa, commended the Gold Fields Ghana Foundation for investing in the initiative, saying it had enabled residents to access healthcare services at their doorsteps.
However, he expressed concern about the unavailability of drugs for some residents diagnosed with cervical and breast cancer and appealed to the Foundation to include such medications in future outreach programmes.
