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The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Guan Bay Herbal & Spiritual Centre at Donyina near Ejisu in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, Dr Nana Guan Bay is set to embark on a European tour to seek international donor support towards his clinic project.

Possibly, the tour will take him to business meetings in Norway, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark and others in the European Economic Area (EEA).

This is in synch to a three-year project to build a health facility in the private sector in Ghana to support health care delivery in the country and it will be free for some age groups.

This will be the first time a health facility in Ghana and in the entire African sub-region has embarked on such a project in the health sector to provide free healthcare for children between 1 & 15 years and adults aged 60 and above.

The facility is a three-storey 100-bed capacity at Donyina in the Ejisu Municipality of the Ashanti Region.

The Clinic will provide health services to fight common diseases like stroke, kidney malfunction, low sperm count and infertility, diabetes, hypertension, bone dislocation, etc with much focus on physical and spiritual solutions through herbal medicine.

When completed, the clinic will have an Out-Patient Department (OPD), Scan Centre, Administration Office, Laboratory, Birth Place, Female Ward, Male Ward, Children Ward, VIP Ward, among others.

Free Health Care

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the centre , Dr Nana Guan Bay known in private life as Shadrack Owusu Marfo in an interview recalled that the project which began in June 2021 is expected to complete in June 2024 at an estimated cost of 140, 000 Ghana Cedis.

He said the facility aims at the good news of providing free health care to children between 1 and 15 years and also those aged 60 years and above.

This means that those aged between 16 and 59 would have to pay for their health services.

Dr Nana Guan Bay observed that usually children below 15 years are so prone to minor illnesses and infectious diseases, likewise those aged 60 and above and that such age groups need more attention in health delivery, hence making it free of charge for that age group.

He said the government of Ghana alone cannot do it and that it was time for health facilities in the private sector to complement the government's efforts in providing quality healthcare to the people.

UN’s SDG 3: Good Health

He said this project is in sync with the United Nations; Sustainable Development Goal three (UN’s SDG 3) which is to “ensure health and well-being for all, including a bold commitment to end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other communicable diseases by 2030”.

As a registered and certified herbal medicine practitioner, Nana Guan Bay said herbal medicine had existed in the ancient days, in the pre-modern era and when well restructured, could solve health problems together with modern conventional medicine.

That, to a larger extent, is “to achieve universal health coverage and provide access to safe and effective medicines and vaccines for all”.

He added that it is part of the long-term plan of his team to convert the clinic to a big hospital in future.

Financial Contributors

Dr Nana Guan Bay disclosed that since the commencement of the project in 2021, about 168 individuals have financially contributed to the project.

And that after completion, these contributors and their nuclear families will enjoy the benefit package of access to free health care at the facility.

Appeal for support

On behalf of his families: Stephen Oduro popularly known as Amansan Wɔfa (Father), Theresah Adoma (Mother), Thellies Owusu (Sister) and Elijah Owusu Nketiah popularly known as Odiifoɔ (Brother); Nan Guan Bay expressed gratitude to all the financial contributors for their donations so far.

He seized the opportunity to appeal to these contributors not to relent in their efforts to continue their donation in support of the project and extended the appeal to other philanthropists, non-profit-organisations both home and abroad to come to the support of the centre.