Global Brigades offers a 10 day Medical Brigade for volunteers to participate in throughout the year in Ghana. Medical Brigade volunteers have the opportunity to shadow licensed doctors in medical consultations and assist in a pharmacy under the direction of licensed pharmacists. Each of our partner community receives a brigade every 3 to 4 months where hundreds of patients are treated and volunteers deliver public health workshops. Between brigades our in-country team maintains relationships with the communities to provide follow-up and to conduct Community Health Worker (CHW) trainings to empower local leaders to sustain a consistent level of healthcare. Electronic patient records are collected for future visitations and to monitor overall community health trends.
Medical Brigades in Ghana, Global Brigades most recent addition, consists of a 10-day brigade that includes 4 clinic days, door-to-door visits, and a public health day. The extended trip also gives the students opportunity to bond with the communities during opening and closing ceremony days and an additional travel day. Global Brigades Ghana operates in the Central Region located right on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, which is the former Gold Coast of West Africa. More specifically, we work closely with the Ministry of Health and the Health Insurance Program in the Mfantseman District that has a doctor to patient ratio of 1 : 48,029. The main health concerns of our communities includes malaria, waterborne illnesses, hypertension, and upper respiratory tract infections.