Project Africa 

In August of the year 2000, ultrasonographer Ann Polin, BS, RDMS is leaving on sabbatical and traveling to Ghana to establish the first diagnostic ultrasound training program in sub-Saharan Africa. She will be gone for an entire year. This is an opportunity to make a direct contribution toward improving the overall standard of living in this peaceful country where adequate health care is often difficult to find.

Your help is needed! See the list of items required for this undertaking.
OBGYN.net is proud to support Polin in her efforts with this noble endeavor. We will be providing OBGYN.net readers with detailed monthly accounts of Project Africa, beginning with her pre-journey preparations and ending with her return to the United States, more than one year from now. As a sponsor, you will have the opportunity to provide direct, positive results in our efforts to help her succeed with this important and timely project.
Dr. Emmanuel Tuffuor, an American-trained Ghanaian physician, is the driving force for this project, and has envisioned the project for some time. In 1991, Dr. Tuffuor promoted the building of a 75 bed hospital, the Aninwah Medical Center, just outside of Kumasi, which is where the training program would be based. This medical facility provides much needed health care services to Ghanaians in the Asante region. The hospital has a lab and x-ray, 3 doctors, and 18 nurses. Dr. Tuffuor travels back and forth on a frequent basis between his home in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Aninwah Medical Center, and will serve as Medical Director of the training program. I will serve as Program Director/Teacher/Sonographer for a period of one year, with the intent of establishing a long-range diagnostic ultrasound training program based at Aninwah Medical Center. In addition to training at the medical facility, we hope to establish an affiliation with the University of Science and Technology, which is also based in Kumasi. Dr. Tuffuor has already established an affiliation with Case Western University School of Medicine in the United States, where he is a Professor of Medicine. Dr. Tuffuor regularly arranges for medical students at the school to complete some of their rotations at Aninwah Medical Center.

As Project Coordinator/Program Director, I have many tasks to accomplish before I leave. Foremost of these is the recruitment of sponsors for the project. This project is entirely a volunteer effort. Our greatest immediate need is funding for shipping expenses, import taxes, and airfare. Some specific items that we are in need of for the ultrasound program include: up-to-date ultrasound systems, printing (image capture) devices, scanning chairs, gel warmers, gel, gloves, probe sheaths, endocavitary probe disinfectant, electrical adaptors and surge protectors, and up-do-date medical books. The hospital has also provided me with a detailed "wish list" for other areas of the hospital.

Ghana is a peaceful and beautiful African country. It is representative of many of Africa’s countries, in which the standard of living is low, and adequate health care facilities are few and far between. In America, the average life expectancy is 76 years of age, and the infant mortality rate is 6.44 deaths/1,000 births. The average life expectancy in Ghana is 57 years of age. The infant mortality rate in Ghana is 77.53 deaths/1,000 live births. Resources to provide better health care facilities are almost non-existent.

The United States is a great country, providing great benefits to those fortunate enough to live here. Much of the population of the world, however, lives under conditions that do not even come close to the conditions that we are accustomed to. Here is an opportunity to make a direct contribution towards improving those conditions, in a way that will count. Any assistance that you might be able to provide in the way of funding or actual equipment and supplies would be directly utilized, and greatly appreciated. As a sponsor, your contribution will make a difference.

Please feel free to call either Dr. Tuffuor at (216) 541-3600 or me at (425) 564-4181 for more information. We would be delighted to hear from you.

Ann Polin, BS, RDMS, Program Chair, Diagnostic Ultrasound Program, Bellevue Community College, Bellevue, WA 98007-6484; E-Mail: apolin@bcc.ctc.edu
Many things, however, are still needed, including:

  • Much needed medical equipment

  • Recruitment of additional volunteers

  • Funding for tax and shipping costs

  • Fulfillment of Project Africa's "Wish List," which includes:

  • Up-to-date medical books

  • Modern ultrasound systems

  • Printing and image-capture equipment

  • Scanning chairs

  • Gel and gel warmers

  • Endocavity probe disinfectant

  • Electrical adaptors

  • Surge protects

  • And more....

 

For more information, contact Ann Polin at (425) 564-4181, 
e-mail apolin@bcc.ctc.edu

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