Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has given a chocolate surprise to some patients at selected hospitals as part of activities to climax the 2023 National Chocolate week.

At the Cocoa Clinic in Accra, patients on admission were treated to some assorted cocoa products while those at the Outpatient Department (OPD), the hospital’s laboratories, pharmacy and various medical services units also received bars of chocolate.

The Deputy Director of Health at the Cocoa Clinic, Dr. Eric Fordjuor, who led the team from COCOBOD to the wards informed the patients that COCOBOD and its subsidiary companies cared about their welfare and wanted to share some chocolate and cocoa-based products with them so they do not feel left out of the National Chocolate Week celebrations.

At the OPD, the Deputy Manager of Nursing at Cocoa Clinic-Accra, Madam Wilhemina Mensah, advised patients to regularly take dark chocolate and other cocoa-based products to help boost their immune systems.

At the St. Martins Hospital at Sukura, the Outreach Coordinator and Senior Dental Nurse, Madam Esther Ofori Doe expressed appreciation to COCOBOD for thinking of patients on a day of a national celebration.

During visits to various wards, the patients were excited to receive bars of chocolate and thanked the management of COCOBOD for their kind gesture.

Senior Public Affairs Officer at COCOBOD, Mr. David Asare Oduro, said the welfare of citizens is also of topmost priority to management, hence the drive to encourage cocoa consumption, to ensure every household enjoys the health benefits.

He encouraged the patients to inculcate the habit of consuming cocoa-based products, especially natural cocoa powder daily to help boost their immune systems against diseases.

The donation formed part of a drive to ensure increased consumption of cocoa-based products on National Chocolate Day and to help the public develop a taste for cocoa-based products.

Some beneficiaries of the donation of chocolate and varieties of cocoa-based products included schools, farmer cooperatives and the public.