The health week celebration is a long anticipated week-long event in all Medical Schools in Ghana. Among other things, the health week simultaneously marks the longed-for culmination of the stressful medical school application timelines for fresh students, to the beginning of an exciting new phase, where fresh medical students are beginning to settle down!

Similarly, for continuing medical students, the health week does not just present a break away from the tediousness of academic work, but also presents them with an opportunity to engage in extra-curricula activities, and outreach programmes.

In an interview with the University Relations Office, the President and the Health Officer of the Medical Students Association, Ms. Abena Otema Asiama-Kumi and Ms. Deborah Ipiin Yayemain respectively, took turns to highlight activities that have been earmarked for the week-long celebration. According to them, the week-long activities will be used to partly introduce fresh students to the expectations and responsibilities of the medical profession, while also providing them with all the information they need about their curriculum, faculty, and medical school campus.

The executives of the Medical Students Association explained that the health week is celebrated across the nation with a unified theme - the theme for this year being – “A Nourished Future: Giving the Malnourished Child a Chance”. According to them this theme will present all medical students in the country and specifically, UDS, a step into an exciting new world and equip them with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed as they prepare to meet different categories of people in their careers.

Speaking on the activities lined up for the celebration, Abena and Deborah, said the activities have typically been planned to take the form of fun, interactive, group-based activities and games designed to encourage students and the general public to work with one another towards the common goal of ensuring a nourished future and giving the malnourished child a chance.

In order to draw public awareness to the health week celebration, the medical students will embark on a float from the Jubilee Park in Tamale to the Tamale Teaching Hospital, after which there will be a formal event to launch the week-long celebration. Principal Officers, deans and directors of the university, including the Registrar, Mr. Nurudeen Issah Abubakar and the Dean of the School of Medicine Prof. Stephen Tabiri, are expected to grace the event.

Throughout the week, representatives from the Medical Students Association will feature in various TV and radio interviews to educate the masses on the importance of eliminating malnutrition, especially, in children. Students at senior high schools have not been left out in the activities for the week. The Medical students will engage students in SHS to educate them on specific matters related to nutrition for young adults. The aim is to transform students of the various SHS’s into vehicles to convey the message of the importance of attaining a nourished future to others.  The Medical Students Association of UDS hopes to raise nutrition ambassadors in senior high schools and to mentor those young students who aspire to read medicine.

On Wednesday the association plans to organize an interdepartmental quiz which will focus on nutrition current affairs and general knowledge. On the sidelines of the quiz, will be a “rep your school competition”. According to Abena, all medical students will be expected to wear the uniforms of their Alma Mata or be in attire that will make others recognise their old schools.

On Friday, there will be a debate between clinical and pre-clinical schools on issues around the theme for the celebration. The Celebration willthen be climaxed on Saturday May 14, 2022 when the planned anthropometry screening for children under 5 comes off at the Dungu community in Tamale.