Details have emerged about last ditch attempt to save the life of one of Ghana’s foremost and finest surgeons as he battled the dreaded coronavirus which has now killed eight.
Dr Jacob Plange-Rhule needed potentially life-saving drug found nowhere in the country, presidential advisor on health, Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare revealed.
They could get some in Kenya, an east African country that is also fighting coronavirus with more than 180 cases.
In a Newsfile interview monitored by theghanareport.com, Dr. Nsiah-Asare explained, the drug is called Actemra and is used in the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis.
He further explained, research from China showed the drug could be administered to coronavirus patients before the disease got to an inflammatory stage.
Off flew Ghana’s presidential jet, heading to Kenya in a frantic flight to get drugs in the fight for the doctor’s life.
The plane arrived Friday evening. Dr. Plange-Rhule died Friday morning.
Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare said he was at the airport to take the drugs.
Before long before the drugs could make it to the doctor’s bedside, the rector of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. Jacob Plange-Rhule had died.
Averagely, it takes close to six hours to make the more than 4,408km trip to Kenya.
The rector becomes the first Ghanaian doctor to lose his life in the battle against coronavirus.
The former President of the Ghana Medical Association died on Friday at the University of Ghana Medical Center at Legon in Accra, where he has been on admission.
The sources said he was admitted to the intensive care unit of the facility, after he was transferred from a private facility.
Although he was reported to have significantly recovered, he was said to have relapsed on Friday before shedding the mortal coil.
