Dr. David Abdulai has over the years dedicated his life to serving the poor in the Northern Region. He runs 2 free health clinics in the region and serves a variety of populations including the mentally ill, homeless, etc. In May 2016, Dr Abdulai was diagnosed with stage-4 thyroid cancer which is reportedly quite aggressive and spreading.
Below is the post from the Deputy Minister of Health
Get well soon Doc!
Below is the post from the Deputy Minister of Health
Here is an extract from a 2013 article on Dr. Abdulai by NYU
Thanks to Pakwo Shum, Kobby Blay, Nana Awere Damoah, Nana Ama Agyeman Asante, Ama Opoku-Agyemang and others for the posts and fund-raising efforts on behalf of Dr David Abdulai of Shekhina Clinic in Tamale.
I’d like to share some information, if I may. H.E. the President directed the Ghana Air Force to evacuate Dr Abdulai to Accra three days ago, so he can receive optimal care.
He was flown to Accra yesterday and is currently receiving the care he needs. In my humble opinion, even though the President has intervened, the fund-raising efforts are in the right direction, and proceeds will surely be appreciated by Dr Abdulai. I will keep you all updated. Thank you.
TAMALE, Ghana – They call him the “Mad Doctor of Tamale.” He sees 30 new patients a day, and doesn’t receive a salary. He houses lepers, HIV/AIDS patients, the mentally and physically disabled and the destitute – all of whom would be otherwise left to die.
He is Dr. David Abdulai, the founder of the Shekhina Clinic, located in Tamale, in Ghana’s northern region, where poverty strikes every corner of the city. Dr. Abdulai grew up poor and alone in Tamale, losing his father to leprosy, and his mother and 10 siblings to poverty-related illnesses.
After attending University of Ghana Medical School, Dr. Abdulai began work at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and 37 Military Hospital, both located in Ghana’s capital, Accra, in the south of the country. But still, he was not satisfied. Eventually, Dr. Abdulai left his job to serve those most in need, opening the Shekhina Clinic in 1989.
“I knew what it meant to suffer,” Dr. Abdulai said, remembering his own struggle to survive.
This suffering has shaped Dr. Abdulai’s work mentality. “I’m an outlaw in the medical field,” he said. Smiling and laughing, Dr. Abdulai explains that he is ashamed to be called a doctor. “Doctors aren’t interested in this type of help because there is no money in it. When the money motive is at stake, everything else isn’t,” he said.
All of Dr. Abdulai’s services are funded by donations, including those from the U.S. Department of State and former Ghanaian President Jerry John Rawlings.
Get well soon Doc!