GAF launches maiden annual Medical Service Scientific Confab in Accra
The Chief of Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), Major General Joseph Prince Osei-Owusu, says the GAF medical service is working to promote evidence-based practices among its members to improve healthcare delivery within its facilities and the country as a whole.
According to him, the promotion of evidence-based medical practices would “integrate the best available evidence into the healthcare design making process and achieve optimal health outcomes.”
Major General Osei-Owusu, who represented the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the GAF, Lieutenant General Thomas Oppong-Peprah, said this at the launch of the maiden annual GAF Medical Service Scientific Conference at the 37 Military Hospital Officers Mess in Accra yesterday.
It was on the theme, “Breaking boundaries: Interdisciplinary approaches to health research,” and had high-ranking officials from the GAF and the 37 Military Hospital in attendance.
The conference also featured postal viewing and presentations on 53 research works by health professionals in the areas of mental health, obstetrics and gynaecology, quality assurance, chronic infection diseases, radiology, urology, surgery, microbiology, preventive medicine and postgraduate education.
Major General Osei-Owusu said the public health division of the 37 Military Hospital, which had been at the forefront of preventive health for the GAF, had evolved into a complex and interdisciplinary field with various elements and interventions.
He opined that the conference would provide a platform for health professionals, policymakers, industry leaders, and people in academia to exchange information, share experiences, discuss research findings, and improve the well-being of both military personnel and the citizenry.
Dr Philip Nyinaku, the Second in Command in charge of Public Health Division at the 37 Military Hospital, said “the conference came about because we wanted to showcase the various research works and innovations that had been carried out within the healthcare space within the GAF and by extension to the general public.”
He also encouraged healthcare professionals to engage in evidence-based practice or research as it allowed for peer review of the research conducted and help address the issue of unprofessionalism in healthcare delivery.
Furthermore, Dr Nyinaku said that another way by which the 37 Military Hospital was promoting evidence-based research was the annual or biannual distribution of newsletters and other forms of digital publications for easy access.
“We need to get corporate institutions to come in to sponsor not because they have an interest but because they want to sponsor evidence-based research. So when they become the pivot of funds, then we will be able to put out some of these works together and showcase what needs to be done,” Dr Nyinaku pointed out.
“For us to achieve the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030, we need to do more research. That is by finding ways of doing things better and securing our preventive health,” he added.
In his welcome address, the Officer-in-charge of Public Health Division, 37 Military Hospital, Captain (General) Harriet Manu, said the conference was to provide opportunity for networking and help foster future collaborative research.
BY BENJAMIN
ARCTON-TETTEY
