Akua Dankwa

A concise report on my community service experience:

On 8th July, 2023, I embarked on community service at Ogbojo in Greater Accra region. The topic for this project is "Typhoid Fever Awareness". The reason why I chose to educate people in Ogbojo was because I observed during my vocational training/clinicals that many patients including a close relative were being diagnosed with Typhoid Fever at Ogbojo Polyclinic. The community has a public toilet and within a walking distance are stalls of food vendors. Since food handlers are often asymptomatic, they tend to transmit the infection due to neglected hand hygiene practices and poor sanitation. Therefore, I visited community members and educated them about the following:

1. How Typhoid fever infection occurs

2. Signs and symptoms of Typhoid Fever

3. Similarities and differences between Typhoid and malaria because both diseases present with similar symptoms. Consequently, I educated them on the need to avoid self diagnosing with over-the-counter drugs.

4. Prevention of Typhoid Fever such as screening at nearby hospitals, boiling water before drinking, proper hand hygiene, environmental sanitation: attached photos show the surroundings of a food vendor.

5. Complications such as Typhoid perforation when treatment is delayed.

   
   

Overall, my community service experience was enjoyable and the people were welcoming and appreciative and promised to apply it in their activities of daily living. I plan on reaching out to more people as well as giving out items that would enable them to improve their health. I am very grateful for this opportunity and would like to thank JEQ Foundation for inspiring me to give back to the community through health education. Thank you once again. Long live JEQ Foundation.