He said it was sad that leaders in the country “do not care so much about health care, I do not think our leaders care so much about health care, they do not realize that a healthy nation is a wealthy nation. When people are healthy they can contribute, they will work hard and the GDP will go up.”

Dr Obeng who led a team of surgeons to the Regional Hospital in Bolgatanga to conduct free surgeries on about 150 clients in dire need of various plastic and reconstructive surgeries, made the call when the Ghana News Agency caught up with him at the facility.

Asked if the hospital was well equipped to serve their purpose, the Surgeon said “for a Regional Hospital, you should have better facilities than this, the conditions are deplorable to say the least, but it is what it is, and we have to make use of it. We will be able to use the facility to do surgery, but is not optimum, is very sub-optimum, and that’s the truth.”

He described Plastic Surgery in Ghana as “sub-standard” and expressed worry that Ghana with a population of about 25 million people had about 10 Plastic Surgeons whom he said, were doing their best under the circumstances, adding that there was the need for more Plastic Surgeons in Ghana.

The Surgeon said all the Plastic Surgeons in Ghana were located in the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions, hence his team chose to offer its services to people in the Upper East Region, who may not be able to access such services in the two regions.

Dr Obeng said “the whole country is medically under represented when it comes to plastic and reconstructive surgery,” and added that the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions were devoid of Plastic Surgeons.

The Expert in complex reconstructive surgery, used the opportunity to admonish parents, guardians and caregivers to protect children from injuries obtained from fires and burns, associated with household cooking.

He observed that most injuries on children, were from household cooking, and said parents should “be very careful when using kerosene, gas, patrol” in the presence of children.

He emphasized that children should never be left alone in kitchens, especially when cooking, insisting that they should not be exposed to dangerous areas where they could easily be injured, “we cannot not stop diseases, but accidents can be prevented,” he noted.