The Thyroid Patients Forum is a Thyroid Ghana Foundation initiative which aims to give thyroid patients an opportunity to interact with Consultants and Specialists from the College of Health Sciences and Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital who are involved in the diagnosis, management and treatment of thyroid cases.
The Founder and President of the Foundation, Mrs. Nana Adwoa Konadu Dsane, who had undergone surgery for a thyroid problem, chose to organize the maiden edition of the Thyroid Patients Forum on her birthday, 20th October, 2018 to share the special day with patients under the Foundation's Patient Support Programme.
"There is very little information on thyroid disorders out there and this can cause a lot of panic among patients who already experience anxieties due to their condition and desperately need to know what steps to take to relieve the stress associated with the disease."
She noted that patients who visit the clinics for treatment do not get enough opportunity to ask questions relating to their condition mainly because the clinics are very busy and time allocated per patient is very limited. She added that it was necessary to host the forum not only in English but also some local languages to cater for a wide category of patients.
The Forum was chaired by Rev. Prof. Patrick F. Ayeh-Kumi, Provost of the College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana and Chairman of the Management Board. He translated all discussions by the consultants in Ga and Akan for the benefit of the participants.
Expert Presentations
Dr. Alfred Tetteh (aka Prof T), Consultant Surgeon at Department of Surgery, provided detailed explanations on what goes into thyroid surgery, what patients are required to do prior to the surgery and what to expect after.
Dr. Mrs. Josephine Akpalu, Consultant Endocrinologist and Head of the Endocrine Unit, provided an overview of the thyroid gland and thyroid disease problems. She charged participants to test for thyroid disorders and advised on what steps to take if the test results are unfavorable.
Dr. Naa Adorkor Aryeetey, Radiation Oncologist at the National Centre for Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine, talked about thyroid cancers and the use of radioactive iodine to treat hyperthyroidism. She encouraged the general public to seek earlier treatments for thyroid diseases as this can be crucial in preventing thyroid cancers.
Mrs. Beatrice Williams, Clinical Psychologist, Department of Psychiatry, took the patients through a quick counseling session. She noted that being a thyroid patient can be very disheartening due to the fact that the condition may require lifelong treatment, and patients can easily become depressed.
Ms. Portia Dzivenu, Dietician and Senior Research Assistant at the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, gave a breakdown of foods that are healthy for both categories of thyroid disorders — hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism.
The programme ended with a celebration of the Founder's birthday. She used the platform to encourage all participants to be ambassadors for thyroid health.
The Thyroid Patients Forum was proudly supported by Ernest Chemist, Kenzo's Place, Bedita Pharmacy Ltd, The College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Chartered Institute of Leadership and Governance, and the Dsane, Kumahlor, Pinkran and Burah Families.