Welcome Address from The President of GDDA-UK
H.E. Papa Owusu-Ankomah, Ghana High Commissioner to the UK, invited guests, guests speakers, GDDA-UK members and patrons, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to our first face to face post-covid Annual Conference and Fundraising Dinner Dance at the London Marriott Hotel Canary Wharf.
The morning Health Conference theme is on Mental Health:
Our Internationally renowned guest speakers Dr Emmanuel Akuffo (OBE) and Dr Victor Doku, who are both Consultant Psychiatrist in UK will guide us through these very important mental health issues that have arisen among Medical and Dental health professionals and ethnic minorities in relation to their community since the Covid-19 Pandemic.
In the evening at London Marriott Hotel Canary Wharf will be our Fundraising Dinner Dance which will allow us to meet friends and new acquaintances for the first time since the Covid pandemic in about 2 years. The fundraising is towards the “Roofing and completion of an Uncompleted Eight Unit Classroom Block at Goo-Atandaa Primary School”, in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region of Ghana.
As you will all know from your NHS
workplace and other walks of life, it has been a very difficult period to get things done during the pandemic and still is even though restrictions have been lifted. During these exceptionally challenging times, I would like to thank our Secretary Dr Pamela Ohene Djan for the excellent job she has done in conjunction with
Dr Kofi Adu (GDDA-UK Trustee & Local organising member) in organising this important post covid event for which we are most grateful for.
My special thank you goes to Paul Akwaboah & Linda Wayoe of Access Media in helping us with their excellent event hosting skills.
Our appreciation also goes to the executives, committee members and the general members working behind the scenes to ensure all goes well with the event.
I would also like to thank the Ghana High Commissioner to the UK and his predecessors for their continued support of GDDA-UK since our inauguration.
A thank you message also goes to our sponsors towards our event today. We can all remember how we were hit by the Novel COVID-19 Pandemic in the New Year of 2020, that changed the course of everyone’s lives.
GDDA-UK was not immune to the pandemic as we had to cancel our planned Annual Conference and Dinner in October 2020 and instead, we had a Virtual zoom AGM.
This was followed by “A virtual annual conference and AGM last year October 2021 with the Theme: Covid-19 Pandemic - The Ghanaian Experience of the virus and vaccination that was
delivered jointly by two eminent external speakers from Ghana, Prof William Ampofo and Prof Ernest Kenu.
Our Executive member, Dr Conrad Buckle, Consultant In Emergency Medicine NHS, delivered a talk on, UK Innovative ways of working and Learning during the pandemic GDDA-
UK in response to the covid pandemic raised £7,600 due to the generosity of our members to purchase PPE kits and sanitation products locally in Ghana, that were donated to Lekma Hospital in Accra, Yendi hospital in the North and
Ledzokuku constituency in Greater Accra in May 2020.
In September 2021 GDDA-UK raised further funds for PPE kits worth £2400 that were donated to Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Effia-Nkwanta Hospital and the ‘Mary Ekuban Ewoo Memorial Adventist Clinic, Atwida near Cape 3 Points last month.
We also donated $3,000 to Yendi Municipal Hospital in North Ghana last year that was used to fund the cost of 2 selected poor patients who needed Obstetric Fistula Surgical Repair with a successful outcome this year.
I would like to proudly report that we held our very first GDDA-UK Health screening Outreach Event this year at the annual London Party in the Park function in July 2022. We did blood pressure screening and Dental Health checks on Ghanaians and other ethnic minorities that were there. This was a raving success for which there will now be an annual event for our UK ethnic minority communities. We thank H.E. Papa Owusu-Ankomah for his enormous contribution with this inaugural health event.
Apart from the above charity activities and GDDA-UK continued executive functions, there was the excellent addition of our “GDDA-UK Forum” brought in by our members Dr Conrad Buckle and Dr Kofi Obuobie.
The future of GDDA-UK like any other organisation depends on the dynamic drive forward by members from our younger generation of Doctors and Dentist whom we have been actively encouraging to join and take up executive and committee positions now that the covid pandemic is contained. This is a challenge to the recent large number of Ghanaian Doctors and Dentist who have registered their interest and/or joined GDDA-UK over the past year that we also welcome.
Once again, you are all welcome to our first face to face post pandemic GDDA-UK Annual Health Conference and Fundraising Dinner Dance later this evening.
Thank you.
Dr William Kedjanyi,
