Bechem Fire Service benefits from kidney health education. The staff of the Ghana National Fire service “fire men and women” of Bechem have benefited from kidney health education. This was as part of their end of year annual meeting.
Speaking to the attentive staff who listened to the talk and asked questions, Mr. Sylvanus Gatorwu, the Programs Manager of the Kidney Health International enumerated a number of causes of kidney disease.
He spent time explaining to the staff that kidney disease can be inherited and when that happens, one cannot know except he or she goes to do a kidney function test.
The staff who showed a lot of interest wanted to know the various lifestyles that can cause kidney diseases.
Taking some lifestyle issues one by one, Mr. Gatorwu spoke to the staff about the need to cut down on salt intake, the need to reduce intake of alcohol, the need for regular exercise, and other lifestyle issues.
What got the staff more engaging and asking questions were the issue of alcohol, and that of cutting down on salt intake. Stating the importance of salt in cooking, the staff were worried, and sort to know if there was no alternative to salt.
A lot of questions were asked, and the Programs Manager took time to answer each and every one of them.
The District Commander, Divisional Officer III Clifford Ashie, could not hide his joy about the program and expressed his satisfaction towards the health education. He encouraged his staff to take note of the lessons learned and to take their health seriously since one’s health was irreplaceable.
After the talk, an elated Mr. Clifford Ashie in a conversation was thankful for the talk and noted that such talks when held regularly would put his officers on their toes with respect to their health.
Interestingly, the National Health Insurance office of the District shares the same block with the fire service and expressed their interest in hosting the KHI in a kidney health talk as well.
Since its establishment, the KHI has provided kidney health education to hundreds of institutions across the length and breadth of Ghana.