Oil production and health (Feature)

AS Ghana prepares to produce oil in commercial quantities, it is important that all issues associated with oil production are brought to the fore and thoroughly discussed.
Significant among them is the health implications of oil production and how it could affect the lifestyle as well as their health. It is important for the health sector to identify some lifestyle-related diseases which could affect people as they work in the oil industry and earn more income. These diseases include hypertension, stroke, cancer, diabetes and other communicable diseases.
And again since there is the possibility of fire outbreaks, it is important to also deliberate on such occurrences as well as incidents of burns.
With stories from other countries which began oil production years ago, Ghana is in a better position to put in place interventions to forestall any unforeseen circumstances.
It is, therefore, necessary for local private medical practitioners to respond more quickly to health opportunities that will come with the oil business and place their facilities at the right places to take advantage of what will otherwise go to foreign medical services providers.
To help plan interventions, the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Society of Private Medical and Dental Practitioners Ghana, in collaboration with Shem Pharma Services Limited (Ghana) will organise the Second International Medical and Pharmaceutical Expo 2010 in August, this year.
Shem Pharma Service Limited is an organisation with the vision of providing a platform for health practitioners in both the private and public sectors to exchange innovative ideas in order to reduce the high incidence of medical errors in health-care delivery.
Dubbed "Medishop Expo 2010", the International Medical and Pharmaceutical Expo comes off at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) from August 19 – August 21, 2010.
The conference theme, which is “The Emerging Oil and Gas Wealth in Ghana-Environmental and Medical Challenges to our Community”, is said to be generating a lot of interest among medical practitioners.
Looking at the theme, at the end of the conference medical practitioners are expected to fully appreciate their role in the new industry and explore its financial benefit to them vis a vis their business.
A similar event which was organised last year on the theme sustaining the "National Insurance Health Scheme (NHIS) – Building the capacity of service providers", brought together experts who explained the concept of the NHIS and related issues to service providers.
With this year's event, participants are expected to unearth the medical opportunities that the new industry will bring to Ghanaians and prepare medical practitioners in particular and opinion leaders in the country. The event will also provide a platform for the exhibition of the biggest collection of pharmaceutical and medical equipment.
To achieve the conference objective, the organisers are bringing together resource persons who are experts in mineral and environmental health around the world, to give lectures and present papers on selected topics.
Among the speakers are top officials from the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and Tullow Ghana Limited, Databank, the Ghana Health Service (GHS), as well as Momentum Ghana Limited.
These, according to the event organisers, might be the most authoritative people on occupational and environmental health issues and their implications to the medical industry.
The exhibition, which is expected to be part of the conference, is said to have assumed a more greater dimension with companies outside the country registering to participate as far back as February this year. The 100 booths provided for the exhibition have almost been fully booked and organisers hope to have a fully packed exhibition at the conference centre.