The Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo Foundation (OKWAF), in partnership with the Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment, will on Saturday, October 25, 2025, hold a free community health screening and blood donation exercise at the forecourt of the Okuapehene’s Palace as part of the 2025 Odwira Festival charitable activities.
The initiative will offer checks for blood pressure, glucose levels, breast cancer, and other conditions, alongside counselling and education on preventive health. The exercise will also feature free National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) registration and renewal.
“When you detect what your issues are early, then you can remedy it quickly and then it doesn’t become a problem,” said Emmanuel Asa-Ntow, Executive Director of OKWAF, in an interview with The High Street Journal. He added that October’s global breast cancer awareness drive informed the inclusion of breast screening in the package.
The intervention aligns with the Ministry’s recent youth engagements on drug abuse prevention. While the exercise is primarily health-focused, Asa-Ntow noted that counselling during screening will integrate relevant messaging: “Some of these drug behaviours leave people with health issues, this is a platform that is going to help them cover some of the issues that they may have.”
Funding for the programme, he confirmed, is fully borne by the Ministry. Asa-Ntow encouraged community participation not only in screening but in voluntary blood donation: “Anybody who is healthy and they want to also donate blood, can also come through and donate the blood to help save other people’s lives too.”
As part of the Odwira Festival calendar, the screening will follow the Grand Durbbar on Friday, with the outreach running on Saturday at the palace grounds.
