The University of Ghana Medical School (UGMS) at Korle-Bu is to be relocated from its present location to the Legon Campus. The relocation has become necessary due to the unavailability of land at Korle-Bu for expansion of facilities to absorb more students. The Provost of the College of Health Sciences of the University of Ghana, Professor Aaron Lawson, who disclosed this, said that the college was in talks with government and immediately funds are made available the project will take off. The school will be located at the southern end of the University close to the Noguchi Memorial Insti¬tute. He said this at the launch of the first Scientific Conference and Exhibition' of the college in Accra last Thursday. Prof. Lawson said even with the 801 student population at the present site, the facilities are bursting its seams and said that if the school is eventually relocated, it will increase its student intake. In line with the relocation, he said, the college has initiated moves to establish a school of Biomedical Sciences and Research at the Legon Campus. This school, Prof. Lawson noted would run basic and para-clinical sciences education which are the first courses offered at the Medical School for the first two years of medical education and this school, he said, will take about 400 students per class. Already, he said, the school of Nursing, Public Health and the Noguchi Memorial Centre for Medical Research are situated at Legon which would facilitate such a move. In addition, he said a teaching hospital will also be established in Legon to provide clinical training for students since facilities for clinical training at Korle Bu is woefully inadequate. “This is all part of the proposed medical village that we want to have.” The truth is that even with the present numbers which are described as low, patients feel uncomfortable with the large number of students for clinical studies that invade their bedsides, he complained. He, therefore, appealed to the government and the GETFund too take steps too take steps to complete the various projects at Legon to reduce the burden on Korle- Bu. He appealed also to philanthropists, corporate bodies and individuals to support this noble cause. The deputy Provost of the college, who is also chairman of the organizing committee of the conference, Prof. Andrew A. Adjei said the Annual Research Meeting of the College of Health Science will provide a larger platform for the voices of all the institutions which make up the college to be heard. He noted that, resources in the form of money and time will be maximized by organizing the conference. Prof. Adjei said the conference will broadly address communicable and non-communicable diseases that afflict Ghanaians. "The issues of diagnosis, treatment, control and prevention as well as plenary lectures on health issues, such as malaria and its management in Ghana, malaria drugs available for developing countries, the HIV / AIDS pandemic, capacity building for research in Ghana among others will also be discussed," he said. The conference, which will run from September 26 to 28 at the Accra International Conference Centre will bring together professionals from all the health related areas such as medicine, nursing, allied health, dentistry, public health and medical research to deliberate on crucial health related issues. To be held under the theme "Advancing the health of Ghanaians through research and capacity building," it will provide an anchor to support the country in providing quality health service for the nation. The College of Health Sciences has six schools. They are the Medical School, the Dental school, School of Allied Health Sciences, School of Nursing, the Public Health Schools and the Noguchi Memorial Centre of Medical Research. Source: The Ghanaian Times