Dr John Adabie Appiah, Critical Care Physician at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH)

Dr John Adabie Appiah, Critical Care Physician at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), has emphasised the need for African countries, and Ghana in particular, to pay attention to managing Sepsis.

According to him, even though there is some research ongoing, work done is very minimal in Africa.

Sepsis is a serious condition that happens when the body’s immune system has an extreme response to an infection. The body’s reaction causes damage to its own tissues and organs, including the brain, lungs, and kidneys.

Sepsis can affect anyone, but people who are older, very young, pregnant or have other health problems are at higher risk.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), over 50 million people are infected with Sepsis every year.

More than 11 million people die from sepsis annually.

Speaking at a capacity building on citizen engagement for the Sub-Saharan Consortium for the Advancement of Innovative Research and Care in Sepsis (STAIRS) in Kumasi, Dr Appiah said the burden of the 50 million people with Sepsis infection rested on the shoulders of low-middle income countries of which Ghana is part.

The deadly nature of this condition, therefore, calls for urgent actions to delve deeper into workable solutions.

Dr Appiah who is also the Principal Investigator of STAIRS at KATH, explained that STAIRS aimed to conduct high-quality research addressing critical knowledge gaps in the epidemiology, diagnosis and quality care of patients hospitalised with Sepsis in resource-constrained settings of the region.

He said researchers from seven African countries and other partners from across the globe would conduct several studies to understand the disease in synergy with additional work packages focused on sepsis-specific outputs in capacity building, networking and policy engagement.

“Our health system is weak to handle sepsis. Treating sepsis requires resources to manage the organ which is failing and needs machines that can help sustain the person’s life till drugs administered work,” Dr Appiah pointed out.

The Critical Care Physician also indicated that for health practitioners to understand the extent to which people are suffering and dying from sepsis, they need to start documenting their health.

This way, they can reliably inform policymakers and hospital managers to put resources into managing sepsis and come up with protocols for treatment of the disease.