Dr. Okae, you grew up in Ghana and only came to Germany after graduating from high school. How did you experience your youth in Ghana?
I had a sheltered childhood in Tamale in Ghana and grew up there as the son of a businesswoman and an auditor, together with four sisters and a brother.
Dr. med. Samuel Okae
Have you had personal experience with hospitals in Ghana? How was the treatment from your perspective?
At that time and even today, Ghanaian hospitals were completely overcrowded. The poorest die first. Children and women die during childbirth because, for example, there is no ultrasound machine. 33% of children under five succumb to malaria, although this disease is treatable.
We will operate our own hospital pharmacy to ensure that no ineffective medication is dispensed.
How does the health system in Ghana currently work? What are the differences to what we know from Germany?
The principle of “cash and carry” applies: payment first, then treatment. Patients could also pay for everything in cash. Only 25% of high earners have health insurance. The poor population only seeks out a clinic shortly before it is too late and is often turned away. Many children die in their parents’ homes.
Why did you decide to study medicine and what does it mean to you to work as a doctor?
According to my mother, I wanted to be a doctor when I was a little boy and wanted to help sick people get well in a childlike way.
What got the ball rolling for the project was a malaria project that you were involved in. What shortcomings did you encounter there?
A small child whose parents could not afford medical care was not released from the clinic until the full amount had been paid. The child was exposed to many serious infections during this time. It can happen that a child is cured of malaria but becomes infected with tuberculosis.
Building a hospital like this is a truly mammoth project. What were the first steps?
Work, save, work, save and buy the land.
What are the biggest challenges for you in building the hospital?
The further progress of the construction depends largely on the donations. This means that we never have any planning security. Added to this is the great distance from the construction site.
How have the local population reacted? Do you also receive support locally?
The population is looking forward to the hospital. In addition, a complete infrastructure has been built around the formerly isolated site, as electricity, for example, will be available more consistently in this area, even if it still fails several times a day.
Do you receive support from the local government? Would you like more support from the Ministry of Health?
Unfortunately not until the hospital is in operation. However, the government has already issued us with a benevolent certificate.
The hospital should be self-sustaining once it is finished. How does the principle of solidarity medicine work?
Please watch the detailed explanation in the video.
Currently, wealthier people go abroad to receive treatment. How do you want to convince them to trust the Ghanaian health system again?
Our solidarity hospital will work according to European standards and will impress with a high standard of hygiene, European waste separation and a visitor system in a 1:1 ratio. Each patient can only bring one companion to the hospital. This increases hygiene enormously and reduces the amount of waste immensely. In other hospitals, relatives sometimes sleep in the corridors. We won’t have that.
Do you hope that your project will motivate other people to expand the health system in Ghana?
It would be desirable. It will certainly entice good Ghanaian specialists and nurses to come back to Ghana from abroad to work for us in our new hospital.
What will you do first when the hospital is finished?
I’ll treat the children!
Did you know from the start that you would move back there yourself?
Yes, that was always clear to my family and to me.
Interview with Dr. Samuel Okae
Dr. Okae, you grew up in Ghana and only came to Germany after graduating from high school. How did you experience your youth in Ghana?
I had a sheltered childhood in Tamale in Ghana and grew up there as the son of a businesswoman and an auditor, together with four sisters and a brother.
Have you had personal experience with hospitals in Ghana? How was the treatment from your perspective?
At that time and even today, Ghanaian hospitals were completely overcrowded. The poorest die first. Children and women die during childbirth because, for example, there is no ultrasound machine. 33% of children under five succumb to malaria, although this disease is treatable.
We will operate our own hospital pharmacy to ensure that no ineffective medication is dispensed.
How does the health system in Ghana currently work? What are the differences to what we know from Germany?
The principle of “cash and carry” applies: payment first, then treatment. Patients could also pay for everything in cash. Only 25% of high earners have health insurance. The poor population only seeks out a clinic shortly before it is too late and is often turned away. Many children die in their parents’ homes.
Why did you decide to study medicine and what does it mean to you to work as a doctor?
According to my mother, I wanted to be a doctor when I was a little boy and
wanted to help sick people get well in a childlike way.
What got the ball rolling for the project was a malaria project that you were involved in. What shortcomings did you encounter there?
A small child whose parents could not afford medical care was not released from the clinic until the full amount had been paid. The child was exposed to many serious infections during this time. It can happen that a child is cured of malaria but becomes infected with tuberculosis.
Building a hospital like this is a truly mammoth project. What were the first steps?
Work, save, work, save and buy the land.
What are the biggest challenges for you in building the hospital?
The further progress of the construction depends largely on the donations. This means that we never have any planning security. Added to this is the great distance from the construction site.
How have the local population reacted? Do you also receive support locally?
The population is looking forward to the hospital. In addition, a complete infrastructure has been built around the formerly isolated site, as electricity, for example, will be available more consistently in this area, even if it still fails several times a day.
Do you receive support from the local government? Would you like more support from the Ministry of Health?
Unfortunately not until the hospital is in operation. However, the government has already issued us with a benevolent certificate.
The hospital should be self-sustaining once it is finished. How does the principle of solidarity medicine work?
Please watch the detailed explanation in the video.
Watch video
Currently, wealthier people go abroad to receive treatment. How do you want to convince them to trust the Ghanaian health system again?
Our solidarity hospital will work according to European standards
and will impress with a high standard of hygiene, European waste separation and a visitor system in a 1:1 ratio. Each patient can only bring one companion to the hospital. This increases hygiene enormously and reduces the amount of waste immensely. In other hospitals, relatives sometimes sleep in the corridors. We won’t have that.
Do you hope that your project will motivate other people to expand the health system in Ghana?
It would be desirable. It will certainly entice good Ghanaian specialists and nurses to come back to Ghana from abroad to work for us in our new hospital.
What will you do first when the hospital is finished?
I’ll treat the children!
Did you know from the start that you would move back there yourself?
Yes, that was always clear to my family and to me.