Speakers at a public lecture to mark this year’s International Mother Language Day have stressed the importance of integrating indigenous languages into the training of health professionals in the country.

The event was organized by the Department of Ghanaian Languages and Linguistics, University of Cape Coast.

Dr. Emmanuel A. Ofori and Ms. Catherine E. Mensah from the Department spoke on the topic “Integrating Indigenous Language Proficiency into the Training of Health Professionals: The UCC Exemplar”.

They argued that proficiency in indigenous languages would benefit the health professionals and their patients by overcoming the language barriers that the health practitioners were challenged with when they interact with their patients.

The School of Medical Sciences, U.C.C has introduced Fante language course in the curriculum of medical students. As a follow up to the introduction, a study was conducted among students and medical professionals to find out whether the course had been relevant.

According to Dr. Ofori and Ms. Mensah the results of the study indicated that integrating the indigenous language to the medical school curriculum had been relevant and should be expanded to cover other institutions as well.

The Chair of the function, former Dean of School of Medical Sciences, UCC, Prof. Ivy A. E. Ekem was given a Citation for her significant contribution to advocating for the integration of Fante language into the curriculum.

Other dignitaries present were Provost of College of Humanities and Legal Studies, Prof. Eric Amaquandoh and Dean of Faculty of Arts, Prof. Kwame Osei Kwarteng.