The Ho Teaching Hospital (HTH) has marked World Stroke Day and the first anniversary of its Stroke Unit, celebrating a year of life-saving acute stroke care that has grown from a single bed to managing 172 patients. The event was held under the theme: “One Year of In-Patient Acute Stroke Care: The Successes, The Gaps and The Way Forward,” and aligned with the global slogan “Act FAST, Every Minute Counts!” The celebration brought together hospital management, directors, queen mothers, clinicians, partners, and stroke survivors who shared moving testimonies of survival and recovery.
Lead Clinician for the Stroke Unit, Dr. Sefakor Adinyira, described the establishment of the Unit as a defining moment in HTH’s mandate to provide specialist tertiary care. She said the Unit’s mission is to deliver quality specialist stroke services, drive stroke education and research, with a vision to become a premier specialist centre for innovative care. According to her, the Unit adopted the World Stroke Organization (WSO) model which prioritises early assessment, proper positioning, swallow screening, prevention of complications, and early rehabilitation, which are all delivered by a dedicated Multidisciplinary Team (MDT).
Dr. Adinyira commended the MDT for its discipline and commitment, thanked hospital management and international partners for their support, and stressed that stroke is treatable. “Outcomes improve drastically when patients report early,” she noted, calling for stronger referral linkages and sustained community education. Giving the operational journey, Unit Manager, Mr. Abraham Gadzenake, said the Unit was born out of necessity after annual performance reviews in 2021, 2022 and 2023 consistently showed stroke as the leading cause of death in internal medicine. “Management’s response was clear – once there’s a problem, there must be a solution,” he said. Leveraging an 11-year collaboration with the WSO and partners in the UK, staff were trained in acute stroke care. The service started with a single bed and was officially launched on March 5, 2025. Since inception, the Unit has managed 172 patients, 6 direct admissions and 166 trans-ins – and discharged 142. The data shows 93 males and 79 females, with the youngest patient being just 30 years old.
Globally, stroke is the second leading cause of death and third leading cause of disability, affecting 12 million people annually, with 1 in 4 people at lifetime risk. Hypertension alone accounts for 57% of modifiable risk. Mr. Gadzenake outlined key challenges hampering optimal care, including financial constraints that delay CT scans, shortage of Speech and Language Therapists and Occupational Therapists, inadequate equipment, with only one desktop computer and two cardiac monitors. He also mentioned the lack of television for cognitive rehabilitation, and poor air-conditioning. The statistics came alive with emotional testimonies from stroke survivors and their families, who praised the dedication, patience, and warmth of HTH nurses and doctors. In closing remarks, management thanked the team led by Dr. Adinyira and Mr. Gadzenake as well as survivors and partners, and pledged continued investment to make the Unit a premier centre for stroke care in Ghana. Mama Mexasukpa III, Queen Mother of Akoefe Traditional Area, who chaired the event, commended the Hospital for establishing the Stroke Unit and stated the readiness of traditional authorities to support such initiatives and innovations to take healthcare closer to the people.
HTH: SAVE A LIFE, SAVE THE WORLD #HoTeachingHospital #voltaregion