The First Lady, Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo, has commissioned an ultra-modern hostel at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, to accommodate childhood cancer patients and their families during their treatment period.
The 54-bed capacity facility, named ‘The Rebecca Akufo-Addo/GHAPACC Sunshine house’, will provide a safe and comfortable place for children receiving treatment for cancer and their families.
It consists of a conference hall, facility manager’s office, visitors’ hall, store rooms, wash rooms, family lounge, an astroturf, among others.
Addressing the gathering, Mrs. Akufo-Addo said her move to construct the hostel is not to only bring relief to children with cancer and their parents, but to also provide a better chance for childhood cancer patients to receive full treatment.
She however, highlighted how the absence of suitable accommodation for the duration of a child’s treatment, especially for those who travel from far often leads to abandonment of the treatment mid-stream.
Explaining how the named ‘Sunshine House’ facility came by, she disclosed that “when a child is down with cancer, we need a ray of hope to urge us on to believe light will follow the darkness, we named it sunshine hostel also because children are a ray of sunshine.”
The first lady extended her gratitude to her husband, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the board, management and staff of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital for their support in diverse ways, to make her vision a reality.
On his part, the President of Ghana Parents Association for Childhood Cancers (GHAPACC), Dr. Felix Kwame Aveh, thanked the First Lady for her support in realising her dream of completing such an edifice.
He added that the facility will greatly improve in the treatment of cancer patients and increase the rate of recovery.
Dr. Aveh assured that the facility would be kept in good condition and further asked Mrs. Akufo-Addo to assist them push for childhood cancer treatment drugs to be covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), as its expensive nature discourages parents and guardians who seek treatment for their wards.
Furthermore,, the Chairman of the Board of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr. David Nkansa-Dwamena, expressed their profound gratitude to Mrs. Akufo-Addo and the Rebecca Foundation for the enormous support extended to the hospital.
