Paediatrician Pledges Medical Support For sexually-Abused Children

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Dr Adoma Odame, a Senior Paediatrician at the HopeXchange Medical Center, a private mission health facility, has offered to provide free medical treatment for victims of sexual assault, especially minors in the Ashanti Region.

She observed that in many cases parents and guardians of minors, who are victims of sexual assault tend to be poor, therefore, unable to pay for medical treatment of their wards.

“The fees charged at some medical facilities discourage them from seeking treatment,” she said, explaining that this put sexually-abused children in an unfortunate situation, with serious repercussions on their health and wellbeing.

Dr Odame, who was addressing a meeting of the Ashanti Regional Child Protection Committee, in Kumasi bemoaned the emotional and psychological trauma such victims go through.

Consequently, she had decided to work together with a team of medical professionals to reach out to sexually-abused minors, and to provide free medical consultations and reports to alleviate the plight of such victims.

The programme was held under the auspices of the Regional Secretariat of the Department of Children of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection.

It discussed issues bothering on children’s welfare, some projects for children during the COVID-19 era and ways of addressing the problems children faced in society.

Dr Odame appealed to parents, guardians, the police and other key stakeholders who worked in the area of caring for victims of sexual violence, to refer such victims to the health facility for prompt treatment.

She advocated collective responsibility in the crusade to reduce sexual violence in society.

The Reverend Stephen Ofosu Darfour, the Regional Director of the Department of Children, said the Child Protection Committee would continue with its education campaign on the safety protocols of the COVID-19 to protect children from contracting the virus.

He called for collaboration and increased public education to stem early child marriage, defilement and child labour.

The Committee comprised representatives from the Department of Children, Department of Social Welfare, Department of Community Development, Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), Ghana Education Service, Ghana Health Service, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in child welfare and the media.

By: GNA