Ear, Nose and Throat Block Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi

Human history has it that health is indispensable and without it socio-economic development shall forever be impaired. In the science of medicine, health analysts have asserted that the productive capacity of the ultimate machine which is man reduces by some 10% when he is not well physically However when there is a problem with the senses, for example feeling1touch) hearing etc. his ability to be productive drops by some 90%. This is because he is completely cut off from his immediate environment thus the breakdown of interaction between the human being and his environment. This leads to this unproductive and incapacitated situation. Looking at the world at large, loss of hearing, feeling smell, inability to breathe etc characterises the majority of the working population of a nation. This is because in farming and Industry, the most active parts of the body used are the senses. The excessive use of some sense organs for instance the ear, the nose and the throat causes wear and tear which to some extent, if not properly cared for, could lead to the extinction of the functions of these organs. In less developed countries, the health problems related to the Ear Nose and Throat may not necessarily be due to high noise level in Industries and excessive inhalation of smoke, but a result of malnutrition epidemics, poor housing conditions and poor health habits. In developing countries morbidity rates are higher due to health habits Industry etc but by reason of the provision of appropriate and adequate health facilities, mortality rate are very low, whiles in the developing countries the mortality rates and acute Ear Nose and Throat diseases have a higher magnitude of occurrence. The simple reason is that, the developing world lacks adequate and appropriate health machinery. In the Tropics (Africa) and for that matter Ghana, the Ear Nose and throat morbidity rate and their corresponding mortalities are relatively high. A health inventory documented in Ghana indicated that Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Korle Bu Teaching Hospital happen to be the main health facilities handling acute Ear Nose and Throat diseases. Whiles Komfo Anokye handle the mid-section of Ghana towards the North, Korle Bu handles the southern parts of the country. Both are Teaching Hospitals and the magnitude of the patient population is very high. Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital handles a relatively higher percentage of the patient population in Ghana because areas around the midsection of Ghana towards the north do not have adequate and appropriate health facilities, for instance Primary Health Care Unit vis a vis the low cost and standards of living. Yet another contributing factor is the low level of education of the populace around the midsection and Northern parts of Ghana. Unfortunately, Komfo Anokye which is the main referral centre handling this populace at present has an inadequate unit for ENT. It has no specialised facility or adequate skilled personnel to break the tide of events. It is against this background that a survey was conducted as part of the procedure for a design thesis topic for a Postgraduate Diploma programme in Architecture to prove with documentary evidence that KATH needs specialised facilities for the treatment of Ear Nose and throat patients. This documentation was analysed and finally synthesised into a comprehensive design brief to supplement the initial clients brief culminating into an effective and efficient design proposal for an Ear Nose and throat Block for Komfo Anokye teaching Hospital.

Source: KNUST