Daily Graphic, Pg 11, Thursday, April 30/09
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
Conditions at the Maternity Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), as a result of inadequate operation theatres, defective elevators, irregular flow of water and lack of other materials and equipment, have hindered the effective operation of health personnel at the unit.
It is disheartening to learn that prior to visits to the unit by the Minister of Health, Dr George Sipa-Adjah Yankey, on April 24 and April 27, the lift to the six-storey block had not been working and women in labour were asked to climb the steps to the various floors of the Maternity Ward of the hospital, while those who could not climb were carried on the stretcher.
According to a Ghana News Agency (GNA) report, the over-aged lifts had been breaking down frequently since February, and stopped working over the past few days.
It took the intervention of the Health Minister to have one of the lifts restored on Monday, after he had directed the Administration of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G) Department to ensure that the lift was replaced within one month.
The report said the minister wondered why the department could not use part of its internally generated funds to make the lifts work, but the Head of the department, Prof. Yao Enyonam Kwawukume, attributed the situation to administrative bottlenecks at the hospital.
“We feel that they don't really care for women,” Prof. Kwawukume said, adding that because of the deplorable conditions at the ward, caesarean sections were performed at times at the Cardiothoracic Centre and other departments.
“We perform between 12 and 15 caesarian sections a day, but only one of the two theatres is currently active,” Prof. Kwawukume said.
The conditions at the Korle Bu Maternity Unit and the Maternity Wards of the Ridge Hospital, as well as other health facilities in parts of the country, in spite of the country’s quest to attain a reduction in maternal and infant mortality, is pathetic considering the fact that delays at the health facility had been identified as one of the causes of pregnancy-related conditions, also known as obstetric complications.
Health experts also say the leading causes of death among women of reproductive age in many developing countries include post-partum haemorrhage (bleeding at delivery), infections, eclampsia (hypertension in pregnancy), prolonged or obstructed labour, and complications of abortion.
In support of set goals and priorities for the Global Safe Motherhood Initiative and also in conformity with national safe motherhood programmes, the stimulation of research, mobilisation of resources, provision of technical assistance and sharing of information, services at the health facilities need to be improved to make childbirth and pregnancy safer.
The fifth target of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) talks about improving maternal health by reducing maternal mortality ratio by three quarters in areas where high risk of women dying during pregnancy or childbirth is prevalent.
Although a pregnant woman for the sake of herself and her unborn baby would like to access quality and skilled antenatal services, the issue of affordability will also determine where a pregnant woman would want to seek care.
With the introduction of free antenatal and delivery services by the government coupled with the availability of skilled health workers at various public health facilities, most women prefer to deliver at the KBTH, and other public health facilities, since they are assured of quality health care. But the current problems bedevilling the Maternity Unit of the nation’s premier hospital are worrying.
The department is supposed to have two operating theatres functioning at any given time but currently only one theatre is functioning. The situation, according to the health officers, has left doctors to decide on which of the expectant mothers needing caesarean section must first be attended to, although they contend that every pregnant case can become critical at any given time.
Also water, which is crucial for the operation at the unit, is sometimes scarce and the problem is compounded by the fact that the hospital does not own a water tanker.
The Maternity Unit has 155 midwives, who attend to about 200 pregnant women and also records between 30 and 50 normal deliveries a day.
For these reasons, some of the health officials interviewed by the Daily Graphic suggested that various departments of the hospital need to be given some level of autonomy to enhance their efficiency and explained that the situation whereby all the departments were dependant on the central administration of the hospital for funds to undertake their day-to-day activities was crippling their operations and that of the hospital as a whole.
In an interview, the Public Relations Officer of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Mr Mustapha Salifu, stated that the management was working on these requests in order to come out with feasible plans and programmes to improve quality healthcare delivery at the hospital.
He also gave the assurance that in the short term, 13 of the hospital’s old lifts would be rehabilitated at a cost of $330,000 with a view of replacing all the them in future.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
'Let's control malaria'
Daily Graphic, Pg. 3. Saturday, April 25/09
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
AS the world celebrates World Malaria Day today, the government and the private sector have been called upon to collaborate more to make malaria control a priority by allocating more resources to the relevant agencies that work towards eradicating the disease from the country.
Mr James Frimpong of the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) noted that malaria is one of the leading causes of death, especially among children under five, and that there was the need for adequate internal funds to ensure sustainability of activities to eliminate it after donor funds ran out.
Mr Frimpong was speaking at a day’s seminar organised by the African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN) for the media as part of activities marking World Malaria Day on the sub-theme, “Counting on the media to eradicate malaria”.
This year’s world theme is, “Counting Malaria Out”.
It is estimated that there are between 300 million and 500 million clinical cases of malaria per year, with 80 per cent of those cases in Africa. In Ghana, about 4,500 deaths traceable to malaria are recorded annually and 1,500 children under five die from malaria every year, while 60 pregnant women die every year from malaria.
Mr Frimpong said the current control strategy was to ensure that there was early diagnosis with the use of a tool known as the Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) kit, prompt laboratory confirmation, especially for in-patients, the use of insecticide-treated bed nets, especially for children and pregnant women, and environmental management.
He said the NMCP was also partnering multilateral and bilateral organisations for financial and technical support to control malaria and collaborate with local and international research groups on malaria-related issues.
The President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, Dr Alex Dodoo, said there was an urgent need for rigorous data to inform malaria policy in Africa.
Consequently, he said, a new project dubbed the INDEPTH Effectiveness and Safety Studies (INESS) of anti-malaria drugs in Africa that would provide the platform for the effectiveness and efficiency of anti-malaria drugs to be studied in real-life settings in Africa was in the offing.
The four-year project, which is being funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will take place in sub-Saharan Africa, which has 90 per cent of all malaria cases world-wide.
The countries involved in the project are Ghana, Tanzania, Mozambique and Burkina Faso. It will, however, start in Ghana and Tanzania.
In Ghana, Dr Dodoo said, the research would be undertaken at three sites, namely, Dodowa, Kintampo and Navrongo, and the participants would be monitored when given Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs).
According to Dr Kwaku Poku Asante of the Kintampo Health Research Centre, a vaccine was being developed to help in eradicating malaria, adding that advanced trials were being undertaken in Ghana, Tanzania and Gabon and that about 1,500 children in Kintampo would be involved in the clinical trial which would be replicated across Africa.
Dr Daniel Ansong of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) said a vaccine would be a key component in defeating malaria.
He noted that the vaccine had the potential to save hundreds of thousands of lives in Africa, saying that it would make a positive impact on the economy and the capacity of the country’s healthcare system.
Dr George Obeng Adjei of the Centre for Tropical Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics of the University of Ghana, Legon, said the efficacy of ACTs in curing uncomplicated malaria was well documented but added that when the drug was misused, it might lead to compromised efficacy.
A media consultant, Mr Kofi Wellington, called on the media to develop closer relations with scientists and also ensure that their stories were well researched and accurate.
The Executive Secretary of AMMERN, Mrs Charity Binka, said the media were the gatekeepers of every society and, therefore, they must not be left out in efforts to hound malaria out of the world.
“It is only through the active participation of the media in malaria eradication efforts that the menace can be conquered,” she said.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
AS the world celebrates World Malaria Day today, the government and the private sector have been called upon to collaborate more to make malaria control a priority by allocating more resources to the relevant agencies that work towards eradicating the disease from the country.
Mr James Frimpong of the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) noted that malaria is one of the leading causes of death, especially among children under five, and that there was the need for adequate internal funds to ensure sustainability of activities to eliminate it after donor funds ran out.
Mr Frimpong was speaking at a day’s seminar organised by the African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN) for the media as part of activities marking World Malaria Day on the sub-theme, “Counting on the media to eradicate malaria”.
This year’s world theme is, “Counting Malaria Out”.
It is estimated that there are between 300 million and 500 million clinical cases of malaria per year, with 80 per cent of those cases in Africa. In Ghana, about 4,500 deaths traceable to malaria are recorded annually and 1,500 children under five die from malaria every year, while 60 pregnant women die every year from malaria.
Mr Frimpong said the current control strategy was to ensure that there was early diagnosis with the use of a tool known as the Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) kit, prompt laboratory confirmation, especially for in-patients, the use of insecticide-treated bed nets, especially for children and pregnant women, and environmental management.
He said the NMCP was also partnering multilateral and bilateral organisations for financial and technical support to control malaria and collaborate with local and international research groups on malaria-related issues.
The President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, Dr Alex Dodoo, said there was an urgent need for rigorous data to inform malaria policy in Africa.
Consequently, he said, a new project dubbed the INDEPTH Effectiveness and Safety Studies (INESS) of anti-malaria drugs in Africa that would provide the platform for the effectiveness and efficiency of anti-malaria drugs to be studied in real-life settings in Africa was in the offing.
The four-year project, which is being funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will take place in sub-Saharan Africa, which has 90 per cent of all malaria cases world-wide.
The countries involved in the project are Ghana, Tanzania, Mozambique and Burkina Faso. It will, however, start in Ghana and Tanzania.
In Ghana, Dr Dodoo said, the research would be undertaken at three sites, namely, Dodowa, Kintampo and Navrongo, and the participants would be monitored when given Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs).
According to Dr Kwaku Poku Asante of the Kintampo Health Research Centre, a vaccine was being developed to help in eradicating malaria, adding that advanced trials were being undertaken in Ghana, Tanzania and Gabon and that about 1,500 children in Kintampo would be involved in the clinical trial which would be replicated across Africa.
Dr Daniel Ansong of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) said a vaccine would be a key component in defeating malaria.
He noted that the vaccine had the potential to save hundreds of thousands of lives in Africa, saying that it would make a positive impact on the economy and the capacity of the country’s healthcare system.
Dr George Obeng Adjei of the Centre for Tropical Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics of the University of Ghana, Legon, said the efficacy of ACTs in curing uncomplicated malaria was well documented but added that when the drug was misused, it might lead to compromised efficacy.
A media consultant, Mr Kofi Wellington, called on the media to develop closer relations with scientists and also ensure that their stories were well researched and accurate.
The Executive Secretary of AMMERN, Mrs Charity Binka, said the media were the gatekeepers of every society and, therefore, they must not be left out in efforts to hound malaria out of the world.
“It is only through the active participation of the media in malaria eradication efforts that the menace can be conquered,” she said.
Ministry to ban unapproved malaria drugs
Daily Graphic, Back Page, Monday, April 27/09
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Ministry of Health (MoH) has decided to ban the importation of unapproved malarial drugs into the country.
A directive to this effect is expected to be issued today by the ministry to the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) in Accra.
The Minister of Health, Dr George Sipa-Adjah Yankey, said this at the launch of this year’s World Malaria Day in Accra at the weekend.
The day, which was celebrated globally on the theme; ‘Counting Malaria Out’, is the second to be organised and the minister used the occasion to launch a malarial elimination song, which is expected to be reproduced in the local languages for a wider coverage.
The minister also used the occasion to open an exhibition mounted by both public and private health organisations and institutions including the Noguchi Memorial Institute with their products and services all aimed at controlling malaria.
Dr Yankey said banning the importation of ineffective malarial drugs would help to ensure that only drugs that were tested and proven to be efficacious would be brought into the country.
He said the directive would also help to boost local industries that had the licence to produce MoH-approved Arthesunate-based Combination Therapy (ACT) drugs for the treatment of malaria in the country.
Presently, the use of monotherapies that are single drugs, such as chloroquine, for the treatment of malaria is no longer acceptable in the country and the MoH has recommended Artesunate-Amodiaquine, Arthemeter-Lumefantrine and Quinine as the recommended drugs for the treatment of complicated and uncomplicated malaria.
According to the minister, he was also going to launch a national malarial elimination project this year and called on all stakeholders to join hands in the fights against the disease.
The Programme Manager of the NMCP, Dr Constance Bart-Plange, said the country was on course at controlling the malarial parasite due to the numerous measures that had been put in place to help in the fight against the disease.
She said the country was not doing badly in interventions towards the control of severe malaria, adding that counting out malaria was feasible when people adopted healthy and aggressive measures in controlling the disease.
She mentioned some of the interventions to include the use of treated bed nets especially by children and pregnant women, indoor residual spraying, proper diagnosis of malarial cases, Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) and the use of coils and other repellents to help in the country’s control effort.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Country representative, Dr Daniel Kertesz, said the country needed about $25,000 to eradicate malaria between 2010 and 2020, saying that malaria control was possible and cost-effective.
He said the tools for eradication existed and were available in most countries and, therefore, called on people to use them.
In a statement from the Ghana Health Office Chief at the USAID, Ms Beth-Ann Moskov said although the country had achieved a lot of successes in its control of malaria, there was no time to become complacent, saying that the Demographic Health Survey (DHS) released in 2008 and other surveys showed that much more work remained to be done especially in the area of the use of insecticide treated bed nets by pregnant women and children under five.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Ministry of Health (MoH) has decided to ban the importation of unapproved malarial drugs into the country.
A directive to this effect is expected to be issued today by the ministry to the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) in Accra.
The Minister of Health, Dr George Sipa-Adjah Yankey, said this at the launch of this year’s World Malaria Day in Accra at the weekend.
The day, which was celebrated globally on the theme; ‘Counting Malaria Out’, is the second to be organised and the minister used the occasion to launch a malarial elimination song, which is expected to be reproduced in the local languages for a wider coverage.
The minister also used the occasion to open an exhibition mounted by both public and private health organisations and institutions including the Noguchi Memorial Institute with their products and services all aimed at controlling malaria.
Dr Yankey said banning the importation of ineffective malarial drugs would help to ensure that only drugs that were tested and proven to be efficacious would be brought into the country.
He said the directive would also help to boost local industries that had the licence to produce MoH-approved Arthesunate-based Combination Therapy (ACT) drugs for the treatment of malaria in the country.
Presently, the use of monotherapies that are single drugs, such as chloroquine, for the treatment of malaria is no longer acceptable in the country and the MoH has recommended Artesunate-Amodiaquine, Arthemeter-Lumefantrine and Quinine as the recommended drugs for the treatment of complicated and uncomplicated malaria.
According to the minister, he was also going to launch a national malarial elimination project this year and called on all stakeholders to join hands in the fights against the disease.
The Programme Manager of the NMCP, Dr Constance Bart-Plange, said the country was on course at controlling the malarial parasite due to the numerous measures that had been put in place to help in the fight against the disease.
She said the country was not doing badly in interventions towards the control of severe malaria, adding that counting out malaria was feasible when people adopted healthy and aggressive measures in controlling the disease.
She mentioned some of the interventions to include the use of treated bed nets especially by children and pregnant women, indoor residual spraying, proper diagnosis of malarial cases, Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) and the use of coils and other repellents to help in the country’s control effort.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Country representative, Dr Daniel Kertesz, said the country needed about $25,000 to eradicate malaria between 2010 and 2020, saying that malaria control was possible and cost-effective.
He said the tools for eradication existed and were available in most countries and, therefore, called on people to use them.
In a statement from the Ghana Health Office Chief at the USAID, Ms Beth-Ann Moskov said although the country had achieved a lot of successes in its control of malaria, there was no time to become complacent, saying that the Demographic Health Survey (DHS) released in 2008 and other surveys showed that much more work remained to be done especially in the area of the use of insecticide treated bed nets by pregnant women and children under five.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Sub-regional workshop on HIV/AIDS in education
Daily Graphic, Pg. 44, Thursday, April 23/09
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THIRTY civil servants and educationist from Anglophone West Africa are in Accra to participate in a five-day workshop on mitigating the impact of HIV and AIDS in the educational sector.
The workshop is aimed at conceptualising and analysing the interaction between the epidemic and educational planning management, as well as planning and developing strategies to mitigate its impact.
Organised by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in collaboration with the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) and the Regional Office for Education in Africa, the workshop is also aimed at heightening awareness of the educational planning and management issues that the epidemic raises for the education sector and to impart planning skills.
The workshop, which is on the theme: “Educational Planning and Management in a world with AIDS”, drew participants from Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cameroon and the Gambia.
The Deputy Minister of Education (Tertiary), Dr Joseph Samuel Annan, in a message said the increase in the number of children and young people living with HIV and the need to support infected learners, teachers and educational workers in general posed new challenges to the education sector.
Quoting a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP 2005) report that described the epidemic as the “single greatest reversal in human development” in modern history, the deputy minister said the stark realities of HIV and AIDS made it “imperative for a concerted and co-ordinated response, stronger leadership and building on successes”, with an aim of achieving the Millennium Development Goal six by 2015.
He said Ghana had made significant strides in controlling the spread of the epidemic since hosting the first ECOWAS sub-regional workshop on Accelerating Education Sector Response on HIV and AIDS in 2004.
Dr Annan said the educational sector also played pivotal roles in the prevention of new infection by establishing a full-time HIV and AIDS secretariat with a mandate to co-ordinate and harmonise all HIV and AIDS activities within the sector.
He said the ongoing implementation of an HIV schools alert programme initiated in 2005 with an aim of increasing knowledge and awareness among teachers, pupils or students and the school community, was a harmonised school-based initiative aimed at reducing the spread of HIV in schools.
He said there was the need to reach out to HIV infected teachers, since they could help in educating people to reduce stigma and to influence the care and support of infected learners saying that “HIV positive teachers are thus gradually being organised by the sector to enable them to play significant roles in the mitigation of the impact of the disease on themselves and on others particularly in the education sector”.
The Director and Representative of the UNESCO Cluster Office, Accra, Ms Elizabeth Moundo, in an address said UNESCO continued to promote comprehensive, scaled-up education sector responses to AIDS and deepened education sector engagement in national responses.
Her speech, which was read on her behalf by the Programme Specialist on Science of the UNESCO Cluster Office, Accra, Mr Abou Amani, said through partnership with UN sister agencies, UNESCO had helped the education sector in Ghana to launch a publication on, ‘A study of the education sector’s response to HIV and AIDS in Ghana’, saying that the case study would help the ministry to know what was happening in the educational front in the country.
She said the study depicted the manner in which a country could plan to inform itself about how the epidemic and the response to it were carried out, showcasing numerous examples of how educational interventions had been implemented across the education sector.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THIRTY civil servants and educationist from Anglophone West Africa are in Accra to participate in a five-day workshop on mitigating the impact of HIV and AIDS in the educational sector.
The workshop is aimed at conceptualising and analysing the interaction between the epidemic and educational planning management, as well as planning and developing strategies to mitigate its impact.
Organised by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in collaboration with the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) and the Regional Office for Education in Africa, the workshop is also aimed at heightening awareness of the educational planning and management issues that the epidemic raises for the education sector and to impart planning skills.
The workshop, which is on the theme: “Educational Planning and Management in a world with AIDS”, drew participants from Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cameroon and the Gambia.
The Deputy Minister of Education (Tertiary), Dr Joseph Samuel Annan, in a message said the increase in the number of children and young people living with HIV and the need to support infected learners, teachers and educational workers in general posed new challenges to the education sector.
Quoting a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP 2005) report that described the epidemic as the “single greatest reversal in human development” in modern history, the deputy minister said the stark realities of HIV and AIDS made it “imperative for a concerted and co-ordinated response, stronger leadership and building on successes”, with an aim of achieving the Millennium Development Goal six by 2015.
He said Ghana had made significant strides in controlling the spread of the epidemic since hosting the first ECOWAS sub-regional workshop on Accelerating Education Sector Response on HIV and AIDS in 2004.
Dr Annan said the educational sector also played pivotal roles in the prevention of new infection by establishing a full-time HIV and AIDS secretariat with a mandate to co-ordinate and harmonise all HIV and AIDS activities within the sector.
He said the ongoing implementation of an HIV schools alert programme initiated in 2005 with an aim of increasing knowledge and awareness among teachers, pupils or students and the school community, was a harmonised school-based initiative aimed at reducing the spread of HIV in schools.
He said there was the need to reach out to HIV infected teachers, since they could help in educating people to reduce stigma and to influence the care and support of infected learners saying that “HIV positive teachers are thus gradually being organised by the sector to enable them to play significant roles in the mitigation of the impact of the disease on themselves and on others particularly in the education sector”.
The Director and Representative of the UNESCO Cluster Office, Accra, Ms Elizabeth Moundo, in an address said UNESCO continued to promote comprehensive, scaled-up education sector responses to AIDS and deepened education sector engagement in national responses.
Her speech, which was read on her behalf by the Programme Specialist on Science of the UNESCO Cluster Office, Accra, Mr Abou Amani, said through partnership with UN sister agencies, UNESCO had helped the education sector in Ghana to launch a publication on, ‘A study of the education sector’s response to HIV and AIDS in Ghana’, saying that the case study would help the ministry to know what was happening in the educational front in the country.
She said the study depicted the manner in which a country could plan to inform itself about how the epidemic and the response to it were carried out, showcasing numerous examples of how educational interventions had been implemented across the education sector.
GHS develops manual on malaria diagnosis
Daily Graphic, Back Page, Thursday, April 23/09
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Ghana Health Service (GHS) has developed a manual to guide laboratory technicians in the accurate diagnosis of malaria in the country.
The manual, which was developed in conjunction with the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP), will help reduce the high cases of malaria reported at various health centres.
The Programme Manager of the NMCP, Dr Constance Bart-Plange, made this known at a media seminar as part of the celebration of this year’s World Malaria Day.
The day, which falls on April 25, 2009, is being celebrated on the theme: “Counting Malaria Out”.
Dr Bart-Plange said the manual would be used in training laboratory technicians and other clinicians to help get the true picture of malaria in the country.
Information at the NMCP indicates that only about 10 per cent of presumptive malaria cases diagnosed at various hospitals and clinics were really malaria.
Other illnesses have the same symptoms as malaria, are most often diagnosed as malaria and are, therefore, treated as such, a situation that she said increased reported cases of malaria.
Dr Bart-Plange said illnesses that had symptoms of fever such as typhoid, HIV and AIDS, pelvic infections, appendicitis, urinary track infection, meningitis and early pregnancy were most often wrongly diagnosed as malaria.
Dr Bart-Plange was of the view that if the incidence of wrong diagnosis was not checked it would lead to a situation where the people could become resistant to the country’s first line drug prescription.
The consequence of such development, she said, would precipitate the introduction of a second line drug, which would not augur well for the country’s health system.
A private medical practitioner, Dr Joseph Somuah Akuamoah, who gave a presentation on the case management of malaria in the country, said a strip to conduct Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) for accurate recordings of malaria would soon be introduced nationwide to help in the accurate diagnosis of malaria.
The strip, which he said detects plasmodial antigens present in the blood, would be able to establish whether or not a patient was suffering from malaria or other conditions.
In a presentation, Dr Keziah Malm of the NMCP said Ghana was currently at the control stage of eliminating malaria from the country, saying that the country had adopted combined methods such as the use of treated nets, insecticides, coils and repellents to get to the pre-elimination and finally the elimination stages.
According to her, seven per cent of children who survive cerebral malaria were left with permanent neurological problems such as weakness, blindness, speech problems, attention deficits and epilepsy.
A medical entomologist with the NMCP, Dr Aba Baffoe Wilmot, who spoke on ‘Epidemiology of malaria and malaria vector control in Ghana’, said the general Ghanaian population was at risk of malarial attack.
The Country Director of the John Hopkins Centre for Communication Programmes — Voices Project, Mr Emmanuel Fiagbey, called for stronger partnership between the media and malaria professionals to bring issues of malaria to the fore front.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Ghana Health Service (GHS) has developed a manual to guide laboratory technicians in the accurate diagnosis of malaria in the country.
The manual, which was developed in conjunction with the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP), will help reduce the high cases of malaria reported at various health centres.
The Programme Manager of the NMCP, Dr Constance Bart-Plange, made this known at a media seminar as part of the celebration of this year’s World Malaria Day.
The day, which falls on April 25, 2009, is being celebrated on the theme: “Counting Malaria Out”.
Dr Bart-Plange said the manual would be used in training laboratory technicians and other clinicians to help get the true picture of malaria in the country.
Information at the NMCP indicates that only about 10 per cent of presumptive malaria cases diagnosed at various hospitals and clinics were really malaria.
Other illnesses have the same symptoms as malaria, are most often diagnosed as malaria and are, therefore, treated as such, a situation that she said increased reported cases of malaria.
Dr Bart-Plange said illnesses that had symptoms of fever such as typhoid, HIV and AIDS, pelvic infections, appendicitis, urinary track infection, meningitis and early pregnancy were most often wrongly diagnosed as malaria.
Dr Bart-Plange was of the view that if the incidence of wrong diagnosis was not checked it would lead to a situation where the people could become resistant to the country’s first line drug prescription.
The consequence of such development, she said, would precipitate the introduction of a second line drug, which would not augur well for the country’s health system.
A private medical practitioner, Dr Joseph Somuah Akuamoah, who gave a presentation on the case management of malaria in the country, said a strip to conduct Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) for accurate recordings of malaria would soon be introduced nationwide to help in the accurate diagnosis of malaria.
The strip, which he said detects plasmodial antigens present in the blood, would be able to establish whether or not a patient was suffering from malaria or other conditions.
In a presentation, Dr Keziah Malm of the NMCP said Ghana was currently at the control stage of eliminating malaria from the country, saying that the country had adopted combined methods such as the use of treated nets, insecticides, coils and repellents to get to the pre-elimination and finally the elimination stages.
According to her, seven per cent of children who survive cerebral malaria were left with permanent neurological problems such as weakness, blindness, speech problems, attention deficits and epilepsy.
A medical entomologist with the NMCP, Dr Aba Baffoe Wilmot, who spoke on ‘Epidemiology of malaria and malaria vector control in Ghana’, said the general Ghanaian population was at risk of malarial attack.
The Country Director of the John Hopkins Centre for Communication Programmes — Voices Project, Mr Emmanuel Fiagbey, called for stronger partnership between the media and malaria professionals to bring issues of malaria to the fore front.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Study confirms child sexual abuse in some schools
Daily Graphic, pg 11. April 18/09
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A survey conducted by Plan Ghana, a child rights, sexual and reproductive health organisation, has established that child sexual abuse exists in some schools in the Awutu-Senya, Effutu and Upper Manya Krobo districts.
The survey also established that child sexual abuse was intense and widespread mostly in senior and junior high schools in the study areas, with girls being more vulnerable than their male counterparts.
The survey, which was conducted in December 2008 among 198 schoolchildren aged between 10 and 17 in eight schools, made up of six basic schools, one SHS and one JHS, from eight communities in the three districts, showed that 15 per cent of the children had been sexual abused.
Sexual abuse, according to the study, manifested itself mostly in the form of both contact, such as touching, fondling and pinching in a sexual way, and non-contact, such as the sending of sexually motivated messages, request for sexual favours and unwelcome sexual advances.
The survey identified factors such as poverty, sexual pleasure, lack of parental control and care and peer influence as the main causes of child sexual abuse among the respondents indicating that the way and manner children are protected and cared for, both at home and in school was weak.
The study revealed that most children did not feel protected at school, home or places of worship, with majority of respondents believing that they were more safer with their peers while majority of the male respondents believed that girls were more at risk than boys.
The survey showed that girls mostly suffered from request for sexual favours, unwelcome sexual advances or attacks, fondling, touching, pinching and sexual messages given to them at school.
Majority of the victims were also found to be living with their parents, or in boarding schools, or were living alone with their mothers.
The survey further identified that sexual abuse of children was a human rights violation affecting all age groups within the childhood period adding that effects of the phenomenon the children was devastating and have both short and long term consequences.
It further identified that the prevalence of sexual abuse was difficult to determine due to the varied definitions and its sensitive nature which is accompanied by shame and stigma experienced by victims.
According to the survey, while substantial improvements have been made in recent years with regard to the promotion and protection of the rights of children through child-related legislation, there still remained a wide gap between enactment on one hand and implementation on the other.
Although Ghana as a country has many laws and policies that protect the rights and fundamental human rights of children, many children continue to experience sexual abuse from their peers, teachers or people in their communities.
Among these laws are specific chapters such as Chapter Five of the 1992 Constitution which spells out the fundamental human rights and freedoms of all citizens including children.
There is also the Children's Act of 1998 (Act 560) and the Criminal Code (Amendment) Act 1998 (Act 554) which defines various aspects of sexual offences and penal measures for offenders.
Aside these laws protecting children from sexual abuse, the country is also a signatory to other international protocols and conventions which include the UN Convention on the Right of the Child (Article 34, CRC, 1990) which also prohibits child sexual abuse.
However, reports from the Ghana Prison Service’s annual report indicate that nationally a total of 662 people were convicted for defilement in 2007, while the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service also recorded 449 defilement cases in 2007 and 552 in 2008.
In the survey, it was established that 77.8 per cent of 148 male schoolchildren between the ages of 10 and 17 have had forced sex or have been lured to have sex before.
The survey further revealed that, 22.2 per cent of a total of 150 girls within the same age and in the same schools, have also experienced similar sexual encounters with men.
The survey which is a prelude to an advocacy campaign dubbed “Learn without fear”, aimed at creating a safer school environment for children, and it captured a total of 411 people made up of 148 male and 150 female schoolchildren and 30 teachers, 21 parents and nine key informants.
According to the survey, the main perpetrators of sexual abuse were classmates, with 88.9 per cent of respondents saying they had been abused by them; 54.7 per cent was perpetrated by female friends; 36.8 per cent by male friends; 35.9 per cent by neighbours; 20.5 per cent by teachers; 12.8 per cent by relatives, while what was perpetrated by adults in the community constituted 13.7 per cent.
Also 35 per cent of the respondents were said to have been given sexual photographs, while 25.8 per cent said they had had sexually motivated physical contacts.
It further identified that although majority of the victims indicated that they did not like the sexual abuse they experienced, only 30 per cent reported the incident. That meant that 70 per cent did not report their ordeal to anyone, while among those who reported, 45 per cent said they told their friends, 20.2 per cent told their parents, 12.4 reported to their relatives, 7.4 per cent confided in a teacher, only 1.6 per cent was reported to the police, while the remaining 13.6 per cent mentioned traditional authorities, assembly members and health workers in instances where a pregnancy occurred.
The survey further discovered that majority of the abused children (87.2 per cent) did not know of any institution that supports victims of sexual abuse.
Only 12.8 per cent indicated knowledge of such institutions in their communities, with 2.6 per cent of the children identifying the school, 2.6 per cent identified the police, 1.6 per cent identified Plan Ghana and 1.3 per cent identified traditional authorities.
Among its recommendations, Plan Ghana has called for the sensitisation of children and adults to sexual abuse, the strict implementation of policies, the incorporation of child sexual abuse education in school curriculum, the strengthening of institutions at the district level, poverty reduction at the household level, raising the level of school guidance and counselling services, the provision of recreational facilities and the regulation of pornographic materials in the media.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A survey conducted by Plan Ghana, a child rights, sexual and reproductive health organisation, has established that child sexual abuse exists in some schools in the Awutu-Senya, Effutu and Upper Manya Krobo districts.
The survey also established that child sexual abuse was intense and widespread mostly in senior and junior high schools in the study areas, with girls being more vulnerable than their male counterparts.
The survey, which was conducted in December 2008 among 198 schoolchildren aged between 10 and 17 in eight schools, made up of six basic schools, one SHS and one JHS, from eight communities in the three districts, showed that 15 per cent of the children had been sexual abused.
Sexual abuse, according to the study, manifested itself mostly in the form of both contact, such as touching, fondling and pinching in a sexual way, and non-contact, such as the sending of sexually motivated messages, request for sexual favours and unwelcome sexual advances.
The survey identified factors such as poverty, sexual pleasure, lack of parental control and care and peer influence as the main causes of child sexual abuse among the respondents indicating that the way and manner children are protected and cared for, both at home and in school was weak.
The study revealed that most children did not feel protected at school, home or places of worship, with majority of respondents believing that they were more safer with their peers while majority of the male respondents believed that girls were more at risk than boys.
The survey showed that girls mostly suffered from request for sexual favours, unwelcome sexual advances or attacks, fondling, touching, pinching and sexual messages given to them at school.
Majority of the victims were also found to be living with their parents, or in boarding schools, or were living alone with their mothers.
The survey further identified that sexual abuse of children was a human rights violation affecting all age groups within the childhood period adding that effects of the phenomenon the children was devastating and have both short and long term consequences.
It further identified that the prevalence of sexual abuse was difficult to determine due to the varied definitions and its sensitive nature which is accompanied by shame and stigma experienced by victims.
According to the survey, while substantial improvements have been made in recent years with regard to the promotion and protection of the rights of children through child-related legislation, there still remained a wide gap between enactment on one hand and implementation on the other.
Although Ghana as a country has many laws and policies that protect the rights and fundamental human rights of children, many children continue to experience sexual abuse from their peers, teachers or people in their communities.
Among these laws are specific chapters such as Chapter Five of the 1992 Constitution which spells out the fundamental human rights and freedoms of all citizens including children.
There is also the Children's Act of 1998 (Act 560) and the Criminal Code (Amendment) Act 1998 (Act 554) which defines various aspects of sexual offences and penal measures for offenders.
Aside these laws protecting children from sexual abuse, the country is also a signatory to other international protocols and conventions which include the UN Convention on the Right of the Child (Article 34, CRC, 1990) which also prohibits child sexual abuse.
However, reports from the Ghana Prison Service’s annual report indicate that nationally a total of 662 people were convicted for defilement in 2007, while the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service also recorded 449 defilement cases in 2007 and 552 in 2008.
In the survey, it was established that 77.8 per cent of 148 male schoolchildren between the ages of 10 and 17 have had forced sex or have been lured to have sex before.
The survey further revealed that, 22.2 per cent of a total of 150 girls within the same age and in the same schools, have also experienced similar sexual encounters with men.
The survey which is a prelude to an advocacy campaign dubbed “Learn without fear”, aimed at creating a safer school environment for children, and it captured a total of 411 people made up of 148 male and 150 female schoolchildren and 30 teachers, 21 parents and nine key informants.
According to the survey, the main perpetrators of sexual abuse were classmates, with 88.9 per cent of respondents saying they had been abused by them; 54.7 per cent was perpetrated by female friends; 36.8 per cent by male friends; 35.9 per cent by neighbours; 20.5 per cent by teachers; 12.8 per cent by relatives, while what was perpetrated by adults in the community constituted 13.7 per cent.
Also 35 per cent of the respondents were said to have been given sexual photographs, while 25.8 per cent said they had had sexually motivated physical contacts.
It further identified that although majority of the victims indicated that they did not like the sexual abuse they experienced, only 30 per cent reported the incident. That meant that 70 per cent did not report their ordeal to anyone, while among those who reported, 45 per cent said they told their friends, 20.2 per cent told their parents, 12.4 reported to their relatives, 7.4 per cent confided in a teacher, only 1.6 per cent was reported to the police, while the remaining 13.6 per cent mentioned traditional authorities, assembly members and health workers in instances where a pregnancy occurred.
The survey further discovered that majority of the abused children (87.2 per cent) did not know of any institution that supports victims of sexual abuse.
Only 12.8 per cent indicated knowledge of such institutions in their communities, with 2.6 per cent of the children identifying the school, 2.6 per cent identified the police, 1.6 per cent identified Plan Ghana and 1.3 per cent identified traditional authorities.
Among its recommendations, Plan Ghana has called for the sensitisation of children and adults to sexual abuse, the strict implementation of policies, the incorporation of child sexual abuse education in school curriculum, the strengthening of institutions at the district level, poverty reduction at the household level, raising the level of school guidance and counselling services, the provision of recreational facilities and the regulation of pornographic materials in the media.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Let’s support women in politics
Daily Graphic, Pg 17, Thurs. April 16/09
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
SOME female Members of Parliament (MPs) have called on donor agencies, women groups and gender advocates to support more women with funds and logistics to encourage them take active interest in local governance.
They said the district assemblies served as good grounds for grooming women to push them to into national level politics and also participate in decision-making at various levels, adding that, that was necessary to increase the number of women in parliament.
They made the statement at a reception held for female MPs and women in leadership positions in the country by the Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF), under its ‘We know politics project’, in Accra.
Some of the women, who recounted their experiences during the electioneering before they were elected as MPs, described their experiences as unpleasant, and pointed out that, the situation scared most women to stay out of politics.
The MP for Jomoro, Ms Samia Yaba Nkrumah, recounted how she had to look for funds to support her foot soldiers and how some contestants in the election made everything possible to thwart her efforts.
The MP for Lower West Akim, Ms Gifty Kleenam, who is a farmer, said she was motivated to enter politics because she had a lot to offer her people who are mostly into citrus farming, saying that her aim is to provide employment for most of the youth by training them to add value to whatever they produced from their farms.
The MP for Tarkwa-Nsuaem and former Chairperson of the Women’s Caucus in Parliament, Mrs Gifty Eugenia Kusi, said women in parliament have achieved a lot for their various communities and appealed to the media to focus more on some of their achievements.
She said parliament for a long time, had been dominated by men, stressing that the few women who found themselves in the House have to work hard to contribute to debates and move motions or play major roles on the floor of the House.
The MP for Ayawaso West Wogon, Ms Frema Osei Opare on her part, called for more support for women in parliament, saying that most often, they were unable to get access to research materials to enable them make meaningful contributions on the floor of the House.
The Minister for Trade and Industries, Ms Hanna Tetteh, called on women to put aside partisan politics and forge ahead as one people with a common goal saying, that is the only way that issues concerning women and children will be effectively addressed.
“If we really mean what we say about promoting women in politics than we must move beyond party lines” she said.
The Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Ms Akua Sena Dansua said through collaboration with other women oriented organisations, the issues of women and children could be tackled effectively saying that her ministry was ready to collaborate and work with women’s groups to achieve their aim.
The Director of the Institute of Local Government Studies, Dr (Mrs) Esther Ofei Aboagye, who reviewed women’s participation in the 2008 general election, said the outcome was not encouraging as the number of women has reduced from 25 in the previous House to 20.
She said there was the need for a vigorous efforts from both NGO’s and government to help increase the number of women in the House, saying that women’s participation was vital to the overall development of the country.
A former Council of State Member, Mrs Gifty Afenyie- Dadzie, who gave a brief remark of some of the challenges that women entrepreneurs go through, said although it was difficult in the beginning, one had to combine the work in the office and at home effectively.
Mrs Afenyie- Dadzie, who is the Vice-president of the First African Forex Bureau, called on women to build up confidence in everything they did, polish their skills and always remember that there are people who looks up to them.
The Director of Programmes of the African Women Development Fund (AWDF), Ms Sarah Mukasa gave the assurance that her organisation was ready to help with women oriented initiatives and therefore called on the female MPs to take advantage of the AWDF programmes to help develop their communities.
The Board Chairperson of WiLDAF, Dr Cherub Antwi-Nsiah, said the interaction provided an opportunity to link the female MPs with other women in decision-making positions to consult on issues of common interest, as well as interact with some partners in development agencies.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
SOME female Members of Parliament (MPs) have called on donor agencies, women groups and gender advocates to support more women with funds and logistics to encourage them take active interest in local governance.
They said the district assemblies served as good grounds for grooming women to push them to into national level politics and also participate in decision-making at various levels, adding that, that was necessary to increase the number of women in parliament.
They made the statement at a reception held for female MPs and women in leadership positions in the country by the Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF), under its ‘We know politics project’, in Accra.
Some of the women, who recounted their experiences during the electioneering before they were elected as MPs, described their experiences as unpleasant, and pointed out that, the situation scared most women to stay out of politics.
The MP for Jomoro, Ms Samia Yaba Nkrumah, recounted how she had to look for funds to support her foot soldiers and how some contestants in the election made everything possible to thwart her efforts.
The MP for Lower West Akim, Ms Gifty Kleenam, who is a farmer, said she was motivated to enter politics because she had a lot to offer her people who are mostly into citrus farming, saying that her aim is to provide employment for most of the youth by training them to add value to whatever they produced from their farms.
The MP for Tarkwa-Nsuaem and former Chairperson of the Women’s Caucus in Parliament, Mrs Gifty Eugenia Kusi, said women in parliament have achieved a lot for their various communities and appealed to the media to focus more on some of their achievements.
She said parliament for a long time, had been dominated by men, stressing that the few women who found themselves in the House have to work hard to contribute to debates and move motions or play major roles on the floor of the House.
The MP for Ayawaso West Wogon, Ms Frema Osei Opare on her part, called for more support for women in parliament, saying that most often, they were unable to get access to research materials to enable them make meaningful contributions on the floor of the House.
The Minister for Trade and Industries, Ms Hanna Tetteh, called on women to put aside partisan politics and forge ahead as one people with a common goal saying, that is the only way that issues concerning women and children will be effectively addressed.
“If we really mean what we say about promoting women in politics than we must move beyond party lines” she said.
The Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Ms Akua Sena Dansua said through collaboration with other women oriented organisations, the issues of women and children could be tackled effectively saying that her ministry was ready to collaborate and work with women’s groups to achieve their aim.
The Director of the Institute of Local Government Studies, Dr (Mrs) Esther Ofei Aboagye, who reviewed women’s participation in the 2008 general election, said the outcome was not encouraging as the number of women has reduced from 25 in the previous House to 20.
She said there was the need for a vigorous efforts from both NGO’s and government to help increase the number of women in the House, saying that women’s participation was vital to the overall development of the country.
A former Council of State Member, Mrs Gifty Afenyie- Dadzie, who gave a brief remark of some of the challenges that women entrepreneurs go through, said although it was difficult in the beginning, one had to combine the work in the office and at home effectively.
Mrs Afenyie- Dadzie, who is the Vice-president of the First African Forex Bureau, called on women to build up confidence in everything they did, polish their skills and always remember that there are people who looks up to them.
The Director of Programmes of the African Women Development Fund (AWDF), Ms Sarah Mukasa gave the assurance that her organisation was ready to help with women oriented initiatives and therefore called on the female MPs to take advantage of the AWDF programmes to help develop their communities.
The Board Chairperson of WiLDAF, Dr Cherub Antwi-Nsiah, said the interaction provided an opportunity to link the female MPs with other women in decision-making positions to consult on issues of common interest, as well as interact with some partners in development agencies.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Fighting maternal mortality-MDG campaign coalition launches poster
Daily Graphic, Pg. 11. Tuesday, April 14/09
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
The Ghana Millennium Development Goal (MDG) campaign coalition has launched a poster aimed at educating people on maternal mortality issues.
The move forms part of efforts to promote women’s access to quality health care and enhance the attainment of MDG5, which aims at reducing maternal mortality by three quarters by 2015 globally.
Dubbed 'Nye Bloaa', (translated to mean ‘make noise’) the poster is a social call on people to put in more effort to help reduce the maternal mortality ratio in the country. The caption of the poster, which was originally developed in Swahili and dubbed ‘Piga Debee’, literally translated to mean ‘to shout’, was adopted by the MDG campaign coalition.
In Ghana it is estimated that 210 women out of every 100,000 die from pregnancy related cases and the MDG5 aims to improve maternal health under two targets. One is to reduce maternal deaths and the other to provide universal access to reproductive health. However, according to health experts, little progress has been made over the past two decades.
It is further estimated that every year more than 500,000 women die in pregnancy and childbirth and over 50 million suffer from poor reproductive health. Many pregnant women in developing countries have little or no access to health services or trained professionals like midwives, and according to health experts, changing this station will be the difference between life and death for many mothers and their unborn children.
It is said that most women die because there is not enough skilled, regular and emergency care. Although some women have access to skilled birth care in some parts of the world such as in developed countries and sub-Saharan Africa, it is estimated that one in 16 women stand the risk of dying during pregnancy or childbirth over a lifetime, compared with about one in 2,800 women in the developed world.
Ms Akua Sena Dansua, the Minster for Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), launched the poster on behalf of the coalition at a public forum on the theme “Reducing maternal mortality, a women's right”, organised by the Ghana MDGs Campaign under the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) in Accra.
She said “women faced various challenges mainly due to their disadvantaged situation of lower education and poverty which resulted in lack of self-confidence to assert what is their basic right in the area of reproductive health rights.”
According to her, MOWAC acknowledges that achieving the MDG5 is central to the achievement of all the other MDGs, stressing that the country’s inability to achieve MDG5 would hamper other critical efforts necessary for the achievement of the other MDGs.
She said majority of women who died through child birth or pregnancy were adolescent girls and this was because “we have failed to provide them with adequate adolescent friendly services and information about their sexuality to enable them take decisions concerning their lives and well-being”.
She therefore stressed the need for collaboration between religious bodies and organisations to establish youth friendly faculties to enable the youth take decisions and make informed choices concerning their lives and for their well-being.
She said although some churches were not in favour of contraceptive usage, the reality was that church members were not abstaining from sex while some married couples in the church do not want to practise family planning.
“I believe we can save lives and promote life by planning our families to prevent unwanted pregnancies which are likely to result in unsafe abortions. The demands for religious doctrines notwithstanding, we should be able in our rationality to appreciate the proven benefits of science in safe contraceptive methods”, she added.
A gynaecologist at the La General Hospital, Dr Emmanuel Ameh, mentioned some of the immediate causes of maternal mortality as haemorrhage, which according to him, contributes to 25 per cent of maternal deaths; pregnancy induced hypertension, 17 per cent; infection 22 per cent; obstructed labour 11 per cent; unsafe abortion 13 per cent, while other causes account for 22 per cent.
He said most of these deaths, which are associated with remote socio-cultural causes such as the status of women, cultural practices, religion, education, economic and environmental/infrastructure were preventable.
The Executive Secretary of the Society for Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA), Mrs Cecilia Lordonu, who also gave a presentation on maternal mortality said although ante-natal and delivery services were free, women still did not have easy access to such facilities.
According to her most women were losing their lives because they were still patronising the services of traditional birth attendance (TBAs), some of whom lacked professional competence. She therefore called on the government to ensure that TBAs were given professional training as a way of helping to reduce the country’s maternal mortality.
Mrs Lordonu also mentioned some customs and traditional practices as contributory factors to maternal mortality and that in some rural communities, custom demanded that women had to seek permission from their husbands before they attended ante-natal care.
The General Secretary of the CCG, Reverend Fred Deegbe, said there was the need for more women to be educated on their reproductive rights, adding that when women are given such education, other members of the family, including their children and husbands also benefit.
He said the causes of maternal mortality were known and, therefore, there was the need for proactive measures to reduce it.
Rev. Alfred Kwabi of the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) campaign of the Ghana MDG Secretariat, said the level of infant mortality in the country was unacceptable and called for a concerted effort to address it.
He called on the Ministry of Health to intensify efforts to ensure that every pregnant woman seeks ante-natal care, through the provision of more ante-natal care centres across the country.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
The Ghana Millennium Development Goal (MDG) campaign coalition has launched a poster aimed at educating people on maternal mortality issues.
The move forms part of efforts to promote women’s access to quality health care and enhance the attainment of MDG5, which aims at reducing maternal mortality by three quarters by 2015 globally.
Dubbed 'Nye Bloaa', (translated to mean ‘make noise’) the poster is a social call on people to put in more effort to help reduce the maternal mortality ratio in the country. The caption of the poster, which was originally developed in Swahili and dubbed ‘Piga Debee’, literally translated to mean ‘to shout’, was adopted by the MDG campaign coalition.
In Ghana it is estimated that 210 women out of every 100,000 die from pregnancy related cases and the MDG5 aims to improve maternal health under two targets. One is to reduce maternal deaths and the other to provide universal access to reproductive health. However, according to health experts, little progress has been made over the past two decades.
It is further estimated that every year more than 500,000 women die in pregnancy and childbirth and over 50 million suffer from poor reproductive health. Many pregnant women in developing countries have little or no access to health services or trained professionals like midwives, and according to health experts, changing this station will be the difference between life and death for many mothers and their unborn children.
It is said that most women die because there is not enough skilled, regular and emergency care. Although some women have access to skilled birth care in some parts of the world such as in developed countries and sub-Saharan Africa, it is estimated that one in 16 women stand the risk of dying during pregnancy or childbirth over a lifetime, compared with about one in 2,800 women in the developed world.
Ms Akua Sena Dansua, the Minster for Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), launched the poster on behalf of the coalition at a public forum on the theme “Reducing maternal mortality, a women's right”, organised by the Ghana MDGs Campaign under the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) in Accra.
She said “women faced various challenges mainly due to their disadvantaged situation of lower education and poverty which resulted in lack of self-confidence to assert what is their basic right in the area of reproductive health rights.”
According to her, MOWAC acknowledges that achieving the MDG5 is central to the achievement of all the other MDGs, stressing that the country’s inability to achieve MDG5 would hamper other critical efforts necessary for the achievement of the other MDGs.
She said majority of women who died through child birth or pregnancy were adolescent girls and this was because “we have failed to provide them with adequate adolescent friendly services and information about their sexuality to enable them take decisions concerning their lives and well-being”.
She therefore stressed the need for collaboration between religious bodies and organisations to establish youth friendly faculties to enable the youth take decisions and make informed choices concerning their lives and for their well-being.
She said although some churches were not in favour of contraceptive usage, the reality was that church members were not abstaining from sex while some married couples in the church do not want to practise family planning.
“I believe we can save lives and promote life by planning our families to prevent unwanted pregnancies which are likely to result in unsafe abortions. The demands for religious doctrines notwithstanding, we should be able in our rationality to appreciate the proven benefits of science in safe contraceptive methods”, she added.
A gynaecologist at the La General Hospital, Dr Emmanuel Ameh, mentioned some of the immediate causes of maternal mortality as haemorrhage, which according to him, contributes to 25 per cent of maternal deaths; pregnancy induced hypertension, 17 per cent; infection 22 per cent; obstructed labour 11 per cent; unsafe abortion 13 per cent, while other causes account for 22 per cent.
He said most of these deaths, which are associated with remote socio-cultural causes such as the status of women, cultural practices, religion, education, economic and environmental/infrastructure were preventable.
The Executive Secretary of the Society for Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA), Mrs Cecilia Lordonu, who also gave a presentation on maternal mortality said although ante-natal and delivery services were free, women still did not have easy access to such facilities.
According to her most women were losing their lives because they were still patronising the services of traditional birth attendance (TBAs), some of whom lacked professional competence. She therefore called on the government to ensure that TBAs were given professional training as a way of helping to reduce the country’s maternal mortality.
Mrs Lordonu also mentioned some customs and traditional practices as contributory factors to maternal mortality and that in some rural communities, custom demanded that women had to seek permission from their husbands before they attended ante-natal care.
The General Secretary of the CCG, Reverend Fred Deegbe, said there was the need for more women to be educated on their reproductive rights, adding that when women are given such education, other members of the family, including their children and husbands also benefit.
He said the causes of maternal mortality were known and, therefore, there was the need for proactive measures to reduce it.
Rev. Alfred Kwabi of the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) campaign of the Ghana MDG Secretariat, said the level of infant mortality in the country was unacceptable and called for a concerted effort to address it.
He called on the Ministry of Health to intensify efforts to ensure that every pregnant woman seeks ante-natal care, through the provision of more ante-natal care centres across the country.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Speed up passage of Co-operative Bill
Daily Graphic, Pg. 44, Mon. April 06/09
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Co-operative Movement of Ghana (CMG) has appealed to parliament to speed up the passage of the Co-operative Bill to meet the peculiar needs of co-operative societies.
Making the call at a seminar organised in Accra by the CMG for members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises in Accra, members of the CMG maintained that, if passed, the Co-operative Law would replace the existing NLC Decree of 1968, which, according to the CMG, has outlived its usefulness.
According to the CMG, “the NLC Decree does not meet the peculiar needs of co-operatives that are evolving, and it does not meet the current macro-economic environment and therefore does not promote growth of the co-operatives”.
According to the President of CMG, Mrs Aba Smith, the co-operative system has become so viable, especially in its contribution to community development, that it has become an enterprise to reckon with.
She said poverty remained the biggest challenge to the development of Ghana and it was the aspiration of the CMG to generate wealth and improve the lives of people, stressing that “co-operatives can work together with the government, to help reduce poverty”.
She further stated that a collaboration between the co-operative movement and government would help improve business confidence in the informal sector, which employs majority of people in the country.
“If this joint venture is achieved together, I hope we would collectively create wealth for our people and therefore push the private sector forward and make it truly the engine of growth.”
She therefore appealed to the parliamentarians to combine their efforts to ensure the speedy development of co-operatives and the passage of the Co-operative Bill into law for the benefit of all Ghanaians.
The General Secretary of the CMG, Mr Albert Prempeh, who briefed the parliamentarians on the past, present and future of the CMG, said it presently had 4,320 societies, 128 district unions, 34 regional unions and 16 national associations, saying that the Co-operative Council was the supra national apex body of the movement, which is currently made up of 14 national associations and unions.
According to him, the government has been supportive to co-operative development, but however pointed out that there were some areas where government actions were inimical to the development of the movement and cited the takeover of the Ghana Co-operative Bank by the Bank of Ghana in 1986, among others.
The parliamentarians in their submissions on some of the issues raised by the CMG, called on the CMG to work at ensuring a better recognition of the movement in the country.
They also called on the executive of the movement to furnish members of the committee with specifics on what the draft bill was about so that they could study and make meaningful contributions when it was brought before the House.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Co-operative Movement of Ghana (CMG) has appealed to parliament to speed up the passage of the Co-operative Bill to meet the peculiar needs of co-operative societies.
Making the call at a seminar organised in Accra by the CMG for members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises in Accra, members of the CMG maintained that, if passed, the Co-operative Law would replace the existing NLC Decree of 1968, which, according to the CMG, has outlived its usefulness.
According to the CMG, “the NLC Decree does not meet the peculiar needs of co-operatives that are evolving, and it does not meet the current macro-economic environment and therefore does not promote growth of the co-operatives”.
According to the President of CMG, Mrs Aba Smith, the co-operative system has become so viable, especially in its contribution to community development, that it has become an enterprise to reckon with.
She said poverty remained the biggest challenge to the development of Ghana and it was the aspiration of the CMG to generate wealth and improve the lives of people, stressing that “co-operatives can work together with the government, to help reduce poverty”.
She further stated that a collaboration between the co-operative movement and government would help improve business confidence in the informal sector, which employs majority of people in the country.
“If this joint venture is achieved together, I hope we would collectively create wealth for our people and therefore push the private sector forward and make it truly the engine of growth.”
She therefore appealed to the parliamentarians to combine their efforts to ensure the speedy development of co-operatives and the passage of the Co-operative Bill into law for the benefit of all Ghanaians.
The General Secretary of the CMG, Mr Albert Prempeh, who briefed the parliamentarians on the past, present and future of the CMG, said it presently had 4,320 societies, 128 district unions, 34 regional unions and 16 national associations, saying that the Co-operative Council was the supra national apex body of the movement, which is currently made up of 14 national associations and unions.
According to him, the government has been supportive to co-operative development, but however pointed out that there were some areas where government actions were inimical to the development of the movement and cited the takeover of the Ghana Co-operative Bank by the Bank of Ghana in 1986, among others.
The parliamentarians in their submissions on some of the issues raised by the CMG, called on the CMG to work at ensuring a better recognition of the movement in the country.
They also called on the executive of the movement to furnish members of the committee with specifics on what the draft bill was about so that they could study and make meaningful contributions when it was brought before the House.
Minister interracts with employees
Daily Graphic, pg. 13. Fri. April 04/09
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), Ms Akua Sena Dansua, has paid a working visit to the Department of Women and Children to interact with the staff to know their problems and challenges.
The minister said the 2009 budget of the ministry had made provisions for the construction of an office complex for the ministry to be completed within a two-year period to offer accommodation to all departments and implementing agencies under the ministry.
She said the ministry was finalising a scheme of service to re-outline the specific roles of the two departments, as well as help address concerns of its employees, and to streamline their activities to make them more effective.
At the Department of Children, the minister was received by its acting director, Mr Peter Eduful, who briefed her on some of the problems hindering the progress of the department.
According to him, the department which was poorly resourced financially, also lacked equipment such as computers, and that made it difficult for the staff to meet their annual targets.
He also called for capacity building and skills training for the staff, saying that since issues concerning children demanded special skills there was the need for the staff to be trained adequately to live up to their task.
Some of the staff also raised concerns such as poor remuneration, poor working environment and lack of motivation.
The minister in response said the ministry had appealed to some of its partners for computers and other logistics, and therefore promised that when ever they were made available, she would ensure that the department got its share.
She said the children’s park, which was also under the department, would be given a face-lift by a private developer to ensure that it attracted more revenue for the department.
At the Department of Women, the minister praised the acting Director of the Department, Mrs Francesca Pobee-Hayford, for ensuring commitment and hard work on the part of the staff and encouraged them to continue to exhibit seriousness at all levels to help in the advancement of the status of women in the country.
She said her aim was to work to help better the lot of women and, therefore called on the department to help her achieve that.
She called on the staff to desist from any lackadaisical attitudes and work as a team and share ideas to achieve the objectives of the department and the ministry as a whole.
At both departments the minister stressed the need for them to keep records of their activities for continuity, and also called for attitudinal change on the part of the members of staff.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), Ms Akua Sena Dansua, has paid a working visit to the Department of Women and Children to interact with the staff to know their problems and challenges.
The minister said the 2009 budget of the ministry had made provisions for the construction of an office complex for the ministry to be completed within a two-year period to offer accommodation to all departments and implementing agencies under the ministry.
She said the ministry was finalising a scheme of service to re-outline the specific roles of the two departments, as well as help address concerns of its employees, and to streamline their activities to make them more effective.
At the Department of Children, the minister was received by its acting director, Mr Peter Eduful, who briefed her on some of the problems hindering the progress of the department.
According to him, the department which was poorly resourced financially, also lacked equipment such as computers, and that made it difficult for the staff to meet their annual targets.
He also called for capacity building and skills training for the staff, saying that since issues concerning children demanded special skills there was the need for the staff to be trained adequately to live up to their task.
Some of the staff also raised concerns such as poor remuneration, poor working environment and lack of motivation.
The minister in response said the ministry had appealed to some of its partners for computers and other logistics, and therefore promised that when ever they were made available, she would ensure that the department got its share.
She said the children’s park, which was also under the department, would be given a face-lift by a private developer to ensure that it attracted more revenue for the department.
At the Department of Women, the minister praised the acting Director of the Department, Mrs Francesca Pobee-Hayford, for ensuring commitment and hard work on the part of the staff and encouraged them to continue to exhibit seriousness at all levels to help in the advancement of the status of women in the country.
She said her aim was to work to help better the lot of women and, therefore called on the department to help her achieve that.
She called on the staff to desist from any lackadaisical attitudes and work as a team and share ideas to achieve the objectives of the department and the ministry as a whole.
At both departments the minister stressed the need for them to keep records of their activities for continuity, and also called for attitudinal change on the part of the members of staff.
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