Worshippers at a church in Tema Community Eight were left in a state of shock when they found out that a man who had claimed to be a doctor leading a medical outreach programme on the Hepatitis B virus was a fake one.
The man, identified as Wonder Honu, had obtained permission from the leaders of the church (name withheld) to educate the congregation on Hepatitis B, after which he would offer free screening and then vaccination against the disease at GHC30 per person.
But luck ran out for ‘Dr’ Honu when he was arrested by officials of the Medical and Dental Council (MDC), Ghana at a church in Tema Community Eight when he was about to vaccinate the congregants against Hepatitis B on Sunday, September 11, 2016.
Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Registrar of the MDC, Ghana, Dr Eli Kwasi Atikpui, said Honu, who claimed to have trained as a medical officer in Ukraine, had been moving from one church to another on a medical outreach programme, screening and vaccinating the worshippers against the Hepatitis B virus.
A?police source at the Tema Community Eight Police Station confirmed the arrest to the Daily Graphic and said the suspect would be arraigned.
Vaccination
Honu is said to have introduced himself to churches in parts of the Greater Accra Region as the founder of a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Wonder Care Foundation, which funded the medical outreach programme and subsidised the Hepatitis B vaccination, with support from some foreign partners.
Dr Atikpui said upon a tip-off, a search was conducted and it was found that Honu was not a medical practitioner, while there was no information on him in the database of the MDC.
Investigation
Based on the findings, he said, a team of investigators from the council traced Honu to the church in Tema Community Eight, where he was arrested on September 11, 2016.
He said Honu was said to have also claimed that he could cure the Hepatitis B virus with a drug he had received from some organisations in the United Kingdom and Germany.
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis B is a viral infection that attacks the liver and can cause both acute and chronic disease. It can cause chronic infection and puts people at high risk of death from cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Symptoms of hepatitis include abdominal pain, dark urine, fever, joint pain, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, weakness and fatigue.
According to Dr Atikpui, even though some vigilant members of the church had asked for proof from Honu to show he was a genuine doctor during a question-and-answer session, Honu was said to have allayed their fears with claims that he had already presented all documents to the leadership of the church.
The leaders were then in a meeting outside the main church auditorium.
Unknown to Honu, officials of the Complaints and Investigations Unit of the MDC, acting on a tip-off, were worshipping with the church.
Honu was arrested while he was taking blood samples for the screening before the vaccination.
The suspect, who fumbled when one of the MDC officers questioned him about his practice, was later handed over to the Tema Community Eight Police for further investigation
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