00:00In Tamale, a traditional bone setter carefully treats a fractured arm.
00:06His patient, Barkusu Yahya, was injured in a road accident.
00:10Instead of going to the hospital, she sought treatment from a bone setter,
00:14a choice many Ghanaians say is driven by cost, waiting times, and accessibility.
00:21It's costly and it will even delay. Not even the cost, right? It will delay us.
00:26Yahya's decision reflects a broader pattern.
00:30For some patients, even those who tend to the formal health system, recovery is long and uncertain.
00:37Teresa Adams underwent two surgeries after an accident, but says months later she is still struggling.
00:45I've gone there. I'm not healed.
00:48When I get up, then I'll know what they've done.
00:53They've done a perfect job on me.
00:56Disillusionment with hospital care continues to fuel demand for traditional bone setter.
01:02At his camp home in Yilona, near Tamale, Mahama Abdullahi trace more than 15 patients a day.
01:09Injuries range from fractures to severe trauma,
01:12with patients arriving from nearby communities in search of relief.
01:37But outcomes are not always positive.
01:40Salifu Inusa has lived with deformed Han for 12 years after being knocked down by a vehicle.
01:47He says months of treatment by traditional bone setters brought no improvement.
01:53Salifu Inusa, the previous doctor said most recently.
01:57Alistair Insta, I was living with a doctor and said that I was almost there.
02:10Alistair Insta, I have had a very few symptoms of a major pain in the life of two patients.
02:11In my case, the nurses die all the time are the same.
02:14I've always been in my life.
02:15In my routine, I was in my life.
02:22doctors say such cases often end up in hospitals sometimes too late to reverse the damage
02:29ghana has fewer than 80 trauma and orthopedic specialists for a population of more than 30
02:35million far below global benchmarks health professionals say the gap continue to push
02:41patients toward informal care they choose them because one financial constraint they don't have
02:53money to go to the hospital because they think when they go to the hospital it's very expensive
02:57and they can't afford to believe because they think that having a injury it doesn't come like that
03:09somebody's always behind despite the risk many patients say traditional bone setters remain
03:15faster cheaper and closer than hospitals I had an accident and I was sent to the hospital so
03:24you couldn't see any changes there and my family had to bring me here for now I can see lots
03:33of
03:33improvements with access to specialist care still limited and trust in the formal health system fragile
03:55traditional bone setters long embedded in Ghana's health care system are likely to remain a first
04:03top for many patients
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