The Oral Health Professionals Association of Ghana (OHPAG) has revealed that 80 percent of male inmates at Nsawam Medium Security Prisons have oral health problems.
Their assertion come after an outreach and a dental screening at the Nsawam Prisons.
Oral Health Professional Association of Ghana as part of its activities to mark the World Oral Health Day undertook a dental screening for male inmates at Nsawam Medium Security Prisons in the Eastern region.
Out of 75 inmates that were screened, 73 were confirmed to have developed either dental caries or gum diseases.
The affected inmates were referred to the Nsawam prisons dental clinic for further treatment.
The President of the Association, Shaibu Issifu, speaking to Onua News expressed displeasure about the situation and attributed it to lack of enough oral health professionals and equipment at the prisons.
He appealed to the government to recruit more oral health professionals to the prisons to enhance dental care to salvage the situation.
”We are appealing to the government to recruit more oral health professionals to the prisons to improve dental treatment as well as to intensify oral health education.
Since 2019, we have professional dental nurses sitting at home waiting for their clearance. Meanwhile, these people if recruited can do this work to help improve dental care at the prisons,” he suggested.
Mr Issifu reiterated the commitment of the Association to support the Nsawam prisons with the distribution of dentifrices.
Principal Physician Assistant and the Clinical coordinator of Prisons Hospital, Nsawam, DSP Godfrey Magnusen, speaking on the sidelines of the dental screening exercise, entreated the general public to support the prisons with logistics to enhance health care delivery.
Story by Maxwell Otoo Onua FM/3News.com