Stories from the Road: One Less Drop, Cape Coast, Ghana

Nikhil Bellamkonda, MD, on behalf of the Humanitarian Efforts Committee

Nikhil Bellamkonda, MDJeremy D. Meier, MD, a pediatric otolaryngologist at the University of Utah, founded One Less Drop, a nonprofit organization that collaborates with Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH). CCTH is a 400-bed public tertiary referral facility located in Cape Coast, Ghana, and serves as a teaching hospital for the University of Cape Coast School of Medical Sciences. Since 2014, teams of otolaryngologists, anesthesiologists, and volunteers have traveled to CCTH to reinforce the local capacity for treating complex conditions of the head and neck.

Location and Need

CCTH is the primary referral center for Ghana’s Central Region, which has a population of nearly three million people. Peter Appiah-Thompson, MD, Grace Naa Agowa Amoo-Quaye, MD, and Nana Andoh Mensah Hanson, MD, serve as the three primary otolaryngologists for a catchment area of more than five million people and a high burden of chronic ear disease, sinus disease, and thyroid goiter.

Our Journey

In late January 2026, our team from the University of Utah embarked on the trip, with a brief stop in New York City to brave the polar vortex. We arrived in Accra, Ghana, and met with new collaborating physicians from the University of California, Davis. From there, we traveled by bus for five hours to join the team in Cape Coast. As it is each year, the reunion of what are now decade-long friendships was warm and memorable.

Dr. Amoo-Quaye and Dr. Bellamkonda working through an endoscopic sinus surgery.This was the 12th trip for Dr. Meier and co-founder Jonathan Curtis, MD, and the first for me, Nikhil Bellamkonda, MD. The week began with some unexpected excitement from a patient with a thumbtack lodged in the right mainstem bronchus, which Dr. Meier (affectionately referred to by the Ghanaian team as “The Prof”) helped retrieve within minutes of arriving at the hospital. The week then continued as it has for years, with an intake clinic triaging more than 60 patients and booking approximately 40 for surgery. Each day began with morning rounds, followed by the operating room.

Our primary goal was to teach the local otolaryngology surgeons and residents. There was a diverse array of cases, ranging from thyroglossal duct cysts to tympanoplasties, ossicular chain reconstructions, and cholesteatomas, as well as complex sinus cases for long-standing untreated disease, including mucoceles, sinonasal tumors, and mycetoma. We also worked with general surgery trainees on thyroidectomies, particularly for large goiters.

The otolaryngology surgical team at Cape Coast Teaching Hospital.The endoscopic sinus surgery equipment acquired by the hospital over the last year has undergone remarkable upgrades. As a result, more complex sinus cases were undertaken. During the week, Dr. Amoo-Quaye completed the first endoscopic sphenoidotomy ever performed at the hospital. 

The growth of the otolaryngology program in CCTH has been remarkable over the last decade. One Less Drop is a model for sustainable international surgical collaboration. For more about One Less Drop and other Humanitarian Efforts campaigns happening around the world, visit the AAO-HNSF Humanitarian Efforts online repository of information and resources.

Program Details

Requirements: Please contact Dr. Meier for up-to-date information (jeremy.meier@hsc.utah.edu).

Typical service commitment: ~10 days per year

Clinical emphasis:

• General Otolaryngology
• Head and Neck Surgery /Endocrine Surgery
• Otology
• Laryngology
• Pediatric Otolaryngology
• Rhinology
• Anesthesiology

Financial aspects: Travel costs and living expenses (living expenses are low in Ghana; travel to include cost of internal flights). Unlikely to exceed USD $3,000 in total for a one-week visit, depending on air fares.

Language skills: English

Global region: Africa

Research opportunities: Clinical

Services provided:

• Surgery
• Anesthesia
• Local Hearing Screening
• Pediatric Social Support

Contact Information

Name: Jeremy Meier, MD
Email: jeremy.meier@hsc.utah.edu
Phone: 801-662-5666