Daily Graphic (Back Page) Frid. April 30/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A ‘Good Samaritan’ who went to the aid of a junior high school (JHS) student who was being defiled by a man, allegedly ended up defiling her apparently because he was turned on by the nakedness of the victim.
The victim, a 15-year-old student, who wrote the just ended Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), had allegedly been defiled by another man at the Kpehe Roman School on Wednesday at around 3 a.m. when the victim was returning home after helping her mother who is a roadside food vendor.
Mohammed Sani, who is a 20-year-old butcher at the Amasaman slaughter house, is currently in police custody.
The Public Relations Officer of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, Inspector Irene Oppong, told the Daily Graphic in an interview that the suspect had been charged with defilement.
She, however, said the first rapist was nowhere to be found.
According to her, the victim’s mother was a food vendor at Kpehe near Kotobabi and she went there to assist her to sell and around 3 a.m. in the morning on Wednesday, her mother dispatched her to go and sleep.
Inspector Oppong said the girl left in the company of a young boy, a schoolmate, and they went through the Kpehe Roman School park.
She said on their way they met a man who at knifepoint asked the boy to give him his phone and the girl to release all the monies she had on her.
After they obliged and gave him the items which included a phone and GH¢56, the man sacked the young boy to go home and leave the girl with him.
She said after the boy had left the man defiled the girl and Mohammed Sani, who was on his way to the Mosque, chanced upon them and the first rapist ran away.
Seeing that he could not pursue the rapist, he went to assist the young lady and in his statement to the police, he said he was “sexually aroused by seeing the girl half naked” and did not know what came over him.
Luck was not on his side as the young boy who was earlier sacked by the first rapist went and raised an alarm for people to come to her aid.
The young lady, according to Inspector Oppong, had been hospitalised and was currently at home.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Interventions made for attainment of MDG4
Daily Graphic (Back page) April 29/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Ghana Health Service (GHS) has put in place various interventions to ensure that the country achieves the fourth goal of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The MDG4 calls on countries to reduce under-five morality by two thirds and the GHS is aiming at reducing the country’s under five mortality from 80 per every 1000 live births to 40 per every 1000 live births.
At a media briefing to highlight this year’s Child Health Promotion Week, which is organised annually by the GHS, the National Child Health Co-ordinator, Dr Isabella Sagoe-Moses, said some of the interventions were the administration of Vitamin A supplement for children from six months to 59 months, routine immunisation and the use of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs), as well as the weighing and registration of children under five years.
The Child Health Promotion Week, which will begin from May 10 to 14, 2010, will be on the theme: “Men on Board for Healthier Children”, and it is aimed at focusing on men to improve the health and survival of children in the country.
The rationale for focusing this year’s theme on men is that they are key decision markers but most of them do not take active part in seeking health care for their children. The week is therefore aimed at educating and encouraging men to be strong advocates and partners for the health and development of their children.
Dr Sagoe-Moses said the GHS and the Ministry of Health were working at overcoming challenges that would impede the attainment of MDG4 in collaboration with developing partners and other ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
She said the challenges included the high morbidity and mortality rate of children under five, the difficulty in giving special attention to new-borns, how to ensure that key interventions reached the targeted population and also addressing harmful cultural beliefs and practices.
Dr Sagoe-Moses said the health sector had evolved initiatives that would improve the range of interventions and coverage to address those challenges.
Those initiatives include the introduction of new vaccines, malarial control and new drugs, child health promotion weeks, high impact of rapid delivery approach, integrated measles campaign and integrated maternal and child health campaigns.
She said the GHS would continue with the Child Health Promotion Week to ensure that the gains made were sustained.
The Registrar of the Births and Deaths Registry, Mr Steven Kwaku Amoah, said in an address that it was imperative that parents ensured that their children were registered at birth so that the state made provision for their education and health needs, among others.
Two fathers from the Osu Fathers Support Group, a group that encourages men to support their wives through childbirth and care, called on other fathers to ensure that they got involved in the care and upbringing of their children.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Ghana Health Service (GHS) has put in place various interventions to ensure that the country achieves the fourth goal of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The MDG4 calls on countries to reduce under-five morality by two thirds and the GHS is aiming at reducing the country’s under five mortality from 80 per every 1000 live births to 40 per every 1000 live births.
At a media briefing to highlight this year’s Child Health Promotion Week, which is organised annually by the GHS, the National Child Health Co-ordinator, Dr Isabella Sagoe-Moses, said some of the interventions were the administration of Vitamin A supplement for children from six months to 59 months, routine immunisation and the use of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs), as well as the weighing and registration of children under five years.
The Child Health Promotion Week, which will begin from May 10 to 14, 2010, will be on the theme: “Men on Board for Healthier Children”, and it is aimed at focusing on men to improve the health and survival of children in the country.
The rationale for focusing this year’s theme on men is that they are key decision markers but most of them do not take active part in seeking health care for their children. The week is therefore aimed at educating and encouraging men to be strong advocates and partners for the health and development of their children.
Dr Sagoe-Moses said the GHS and the Ministry of Health were working at overcoming challenges that would impede the attainment of MDG4 in collaboration with developing partners and other ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
She said the challenges included the high morbidity and mortality rate of children under five, the difficulty in giving special attention to new-borns, how to ensure that key interventions reached the targeted population and also addressing harmful cultural beliefs and practices.
Dr Sagoe-Moses said the health sector had evolved initiatives that would improve the range of interventions and coverage to address those challenges.
Those initiatives include the introduction of new vaccines, malarial control and new drugs, child health promotion weeks, high impact of rapid delivery approach, integrated measles campaign and integrated maternal and child health campaigns.
She said the GHS would continue with the Child Health Promotion Week to ensure that the gains made were sustained.
The Registrar of the Births and Deaths Registry, Mr Steven Kwaku Amoah, said in an address that it was imperative that parents ensured that their children were registered at birth so that the state made provision for their education and health needs, among others.
Two fathers from the Osu Fathers Support Group, a group that encourages men to support their wives through childbirth and care, called on other fathers to ensure that they got involved in the care and upbringing of their children.
Cost of production inches up
Daily Graphic (pg 54), Thurs. April 29/10
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE cost of producing goods and services in Ghana increased by 0.44 per cent in March, this year over the previous month’s producer prices.
This was contained in the monthly Producer Price Index (PPI) released today by the Director, Economic and Industry Statistics Division of the Ghana Statistical Service, Mr Magnus Ebo Duncan.
The producer price measures the average change of prices received by domestic producers over time for the month.
In real terms the PPI went up from 190.56 points in February to 191.39 points.
The PPI for the country reports the price indices with reference to September 2006 base year period.
Mr Duncan said the respective yearly change in the PPI between March 2009 and March 2010 was 19.58 per cent, indicating 2.55 percentage points lower than the figure for February 2010.
According to him, between March 2009 and March 2010, the mining and quarrying sub-sector exhibited the highest inflation rate, except in February 2010.
He indicated that gold price was the major push of the index for March.
Mr Duncan said manufacturing recorded an inflation rate of 23.53 per cent and added that the rate of inflation for that sector for March was lower than that for February 2010 by 4.11 percentage points.
Additionally, for the mining and quarrying sector, the March 2010 inflation was lower than for February 2010 by 0.44 per cent, while in the utilities sector, the March inflation figure was lower than the February figure of 0.22 percentage points.
He explained further that in the manufacturing sector there was appreciable inflation in the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products by 55.91 per cent, while the manufacture of wood products and cork recorded negative inflation rates of 3.01 per cent.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE cost of producing goods and services in Ghana increased by 0.44 per cent in March, this year over the previous month’s producer prices.
This was contained in the monthly Producer Price Index (PPI) released today by the Director, Economic and Industry Statistics Division of the Ghana Statistical Service, Mr Magnus Ebo Duncan.
The producer price measures the average change of prices received by domestic producers over time for the month.
In real terms the PPI went up from 190.56 points in February to 191.39 points.
The PPI for the country reports the price indices with reference to September 2006 base year period.
Mr Duncan said the respective yearly change in the PPI between March 2009 and March 2010 was 19.58 per cent, indicating 2.55 percentage points lower than the figure for February 2010.
According to him, between March 2009 and March 2010, the mining and quarrying sub-sector exhibited the highest inflation rate, except in February 2010.
He indicated that gold price was the major push of the index for March.
Mr Duncan said manufacturing recorded an inflation rate of 23.53 per cent and added that the rate of inflation for that sector for March was lower than that for February 2010 by 4.11 percentage points.
Additionally, for the mining and quarrying sector, the March 2010 inflation was lower than for February 2010 by 0.44 per cent, while in the utilities sector, the March inflation figure was lower than the February figure of 0.22 percentage points.
He explained further that in the manufacturing sector there was appreciable inflation in the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products by 55.91 per cent, while the manufacture of wood products and cork recorded negative inflation rates of 3.01 per cent.
Chiefs to play key roles in 2010 census
Daily Graphic (pg 51) Wed. April 28/10
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
TRADITIONAL leaders are to play key roles in the upcoming 2010 National Population and Housing Census, according to the National Census Secretariat.
They are to assist in the sensitisation and education of their subjects at the National and Regional Houses of Chiefs and at the district level through the Traditional Councils.
The Director of Field Operations at the Census Secretariat, Mr David Kombat, who made this known to the Daily Graphic in an interview, said to ensure the success of the 2010 census , the secretariat had formed committees at both the district and regional levels to help in diverse ways.
He said his outfit was also working at involving religious groups in the census.
The committees at the regional levels include the Regional Co-ordinating Director, who is the Chairman, the Regional Statistician, the Secretary, with other members including the Regional Population Officer, the Regional Director of Education and the Regional Information Officer. Others are the Regional Planning Officer, the Regional Director of the NCCE, the Regional Social Welfare Officer, the Regional Community Development Officer, the Regional Electoral Officer, the Regional Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and a representative of the Regional House of Chiefs.
At the district level, the committee comprises the District Co-ordinating Director, who is the chairman, the district statistician, the secretary, the district population officer, the district education officer, the district information officer, the district planning officer, the district director of the NCCE, the district social welfare officer, the district community development officer, the district electoral officer, the district director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and a representative of the traditional council.
He said at the national level, a representative of the National House of Chiefs is a member of the National Census Steering Committee.
The 2010 National Census is expected to be held in the last quarter of the year.
Ghana’s 2010 national census, which was originally expected to take place in March, is being delayed because the Census Secretariat needed ample time to capture data from a trial census organised in November last year.
About 50,000 field officers are to be recruited and trained for the field operation.
Mr Kombat, who was assisted by the Head, Census Mapping, Mr Kofi Agyeman-Duah, said the involvement of these strategic officers at both the district and regional levels would help the publicity and education of the programme, saying it was through their efforts that the message of the census could reach the hard-to-reach people in the communities.
He said the members of the committee would also help in the recruitment and training of field officials for the programme, adding that the training, which would be at three levels, would be done at the national, regional and district levels.
He said at the national level, a trainers-of-trainers workshop would be organised for officials from the regions, who would in turn train regional officers, who would also train people at the district levels, with the district trainers training the field personnel.
Mr Agyeman-Duah said the members of the committee would also help in mobilising logistics and transport which would convey field materials to the field.
He said they would also help with the monitoring and supervision of the filed officers and provide office space where materials for the programme could be stored.
He advised people not to travel to their home towns for the census because they could be counted in their homes so they should be at home on the night of the census.
Mr Agyeman-Duah said there was the need for people to understand what census was all about, saying censuses organised across the world now did not demand that citizens should go to their home towns to be counted and that enumerators would visit the homes of people to count them.
He said no other programme could be substituted for the census and therefore called on all to support for it to be successful.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
TRADITIONAL leaders are to play key roles in the upcoming 2010 National Population and Housing Census, according to the National Census Secretariat.
They are to assist in the sensitisation and education of their subjects at the National and Regional Houses of Chiefs and at the district level through the Traditional Councils.
The Director of Field Operations at the Census Secretariat, Mr David Kombat, who made this known to the Daily Graphic in an interview, said to ensure the success of the 2010 census , the secretariat had formed committees at both the district and regional levels to help in diverse ways.
He said his outfit was also working at involving religious groups in the census.
The committees at the regional levels include the Regional Co-ordinating Director, who is the Chairman, the Regional Statistician, the Secretary, with other members including the Regional Population Officer, the Regional Director of Education and the Regional Information Officer. Others are the Regional Planning Officer, the Regional Director of the NCCE, the Regional Social Welfare Officer, the Regional Community Development Officer, the Regional Electoral Officer, the Regional Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and a representative of the Regional House of Chiefs.
At the district level, the committee comprises the District Co-ordinating Director, who is the chairman, the district statistician, the secretary, the district population officer, the district education officer, the district information officer, the district planning officer, the district director of the NCCE, the district social welfare officer, the district community development officer, the district electoral officer, the district director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and a representative of the traditional council.
He said at the national level, a representative of the National House of Chiefs is a member of the National Census Steering Committee.
The 2010 National Census is expected to be held in the last quarter of the year.
Ghana’s 2010 national census, which was originally expected to take place in March, is being delayed because the Census Secretariat needed ample time to capture data from a trial census organised in November last year.
About 50,000 field officers are to be recruited and trained for the field operation.
Mr Kombat, who was assisted by the Head, Census Mapping, Mr Kofi Agyeman-Duah, said the involvement of these strategic officers at both the district and regional levels would help the publicity and education of the programme, saying it was through their efforts that the message of the census could reach the hard-to-reach people in the communities.
He said the members of the committee would also help in the recruitment and training of field officials for the programme, adding that the training, which would be at three levels, would be done at the national, regional and district levels.
He said at the national level, a trainers-of-trainers workshop would be organised for officials from the regions, who would in turn train regional officers, who would also train people at the district levels, with the district trainers training the field personnel.
Mr Agyeman-Duah said the members of the committee would also help in mobilising logistics and transport which would convey field materials to the field.
He said they would also help with the monitoring and supervision of the filed officers and provide office space where materials for the programme could be stored.
He advised people not to travel to their home towns for the census because they could be counted in their homes so they should be at home on the night of the census.
Mr Agyeman-Duah said there was the need for people to understand what census was all about, saying censuses organised across the world now did not demand that citizens should go to their home towns to be counted and that enumerators would visit the homes of people to count them.
He said no other programme could be substituted for the census and therefore called on all to support for it to be successful.
Cost of malaria treatment to go down
Daily Graphic (spread composit story) Tues. April 27/10
Cost of medicines for effective Malaria control to reduce)
GHANA will, by August this year, introduce a system that will significantly reduce the cost of medicines for the effective treatment of malaria from GH¢10 to GH¢3 for the next two years.
Other countries to benefit from the initiative are Cambodia, Kenya, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda.
Dubbed, Affordable Medicines Facility-malaria (AMF-m), the project is an innovative financing mechanism to expand access to affordable Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) for the treatment of malaria, thereby saving lives and reducing the use of inappropriate treatment.
The initiative will facilitate the increased use of ACT by reducing the cost of those drugs in malaria-endemic countries and also ensuring that additional activities are carried out to assist in the safe and effective implementation of AFM-m.
This was made known in Accra when the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP), in conjunction with the Johns Hopkins University Centre for Communication Programmes Voices for Malaria-free Future Project organised a day’s briefing session for journalists as part of this year’s World Malaria Day.
Addressing the participants, a Programme Officer of the NMCP (Northern Zone), Mr Sylvester Segbaya, said the initiative was to help people suffering from malaria have access to inexpensive but effective recommended anti-malaria treatment.
He said it was also to promote the use of effective anti-malaria drugs and push away ineffective medicines from the market by reducing the consumer prices of effective medicines to an affordable level.
Mr Segbaya said AFM-m had the potential of introducing in-country supporting interventions to ensure that those suffering from malaria benefited from the reduced price.
He stated that progress towards the achievement of the goals and objectives of AFM-m in the country would be measured by increased affordability, availability and use of ACT, as well as pushing away from the market Arteminisin mono-therapies which were less effective and had the potential of causing drug resistance.
Speaking on the topic, “Adopting Effective Malaria Medication in Ghana”, an official of the NMCP, Mr James Frimpong, stated that Ghana moved away from the use of the mono-therapy malaria medicines it was using previously to the ACT because research had indicated that the ACT aided the rapid reduction in the parasite load in the blood and it had fewer side effects, if any.
The Communication Officer of the NMCP, Mr Kwame D. Gakpey, said as part the country’s efforts to control malaria, many strategies had been put in place, including behavioural change communication strategy to guide the development, implementation and monitoring of activities to ensure success.
For his part, the Country Director of the Johns Hopkins University Centre for Communication Programmes Voices for Malaria-free Future Project, Mr Emmanuel Fiagbey, urged journalists to support fully the effort to control malaria, since the disease affected the achievement of almost all the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The Chairperson for the workshop, who is also the Programme Manager of the NMCP, Dr Mrs Constance Bart-Plange, reiterated the need for doctors not to conclude that all fever cases were malaria but they must conduct the appropriate testing before treatment.
The World Malaria Day, which falls on April 25 each year, was instituted by the World Health Assembly at its 60th session in May 2007. It is a day for recognising the global effort to provide effective control for malaria.
In a related development, the Ministry of Health is to set up a committee to probe the alleged malfeasance that characterised the withdrawal of expired drugs from health facilities in the country, reports Seth J. Bokpe.
The Minister of Health, Dr Benjamin Kunbour, made this known when addressing the opening ceremony of the Ghana Health Summit 2010 and the launch of the World Malaria Day 2010.
He said investigations conducted into the matter indicated that more often than not drugs that were said to have expired and which had to be withdrawn from the warehouses were found on shelves in pharmacy shops, with nothing to show that the drugs had expired.
He said persons found culpable would be dealt with to serve as a deterrent to anyone whose action undermined the health sector and to also save the country the millions of cedis that went down the drain.
The Ghana Health Summit is an annual conference under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and donor partners and it takes stock of developments in the health sector, review performances and make recommendations to improve the health sector.
He said the mismanagement that had become the bane of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) called for a benchmark for public spending to ensure that the policy was of benefit to the people.
The Health Minister pledged the government’s commitment to the one-time premium for health insurance in the country, which he indicated would be implemented.
He said even though the funding gap remained the greatest challenge to implementing the one-time premium, avenues, including uprooting corruption, would ensure that the country achieved the needed results.
Dr Kunbour said more midwives would be trained as part of measures to improve the midwifery deficit in the country.
He called for holistic and co-ordinated interventions to deal with challenges posed by malaria to the health of the people and the economy.
According to the Ghana Health Service, 8,200 malaria cases are reported in Ghana daily, with 4,500 deaths, 1,500 under-five deaths, while 60 pregnant women die from the disease annually.
It has been estimated that the annual economic burden in Africa is $1.7 billion, while a single bout of malaria cost a sum equivalent of over 10 working days in Africa.
The Danish Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Stig Barlyng, noted that even though the country had achieved a lot in the health sector over the past few years, the doctor-patient ratio in the northern part of the country needed to be worked on to curtail the disparities that characterised the distribution of doctors.
He stressed the need for the leadership of the MoH and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and its agencies to establish a new policy framework adapted to the changing dynamics of drug procurement and distribution, funds collection and reimbursement across the multiple agencies and the levels of the health system.
The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, who chaired the function, called for co-ordinated efforts to deal with infant and maternal mortality in the country to save lives.
In yet another development, Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho reports that the General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Dr Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey, has stated that the fight against malaria can be won if researchers and scientists go beyond the “ivory tower” publications and simplified their findings for the public good.
At a seminar for media practitioners as part of activities to mark this year’s World Malaria Day, he said to achieve that, it was imperative for scientists to acquire communications skills and for journalists who were interested in science to specialise in it.
“Scientists should no longer feel comfortable just by publishing their results and papers in ’Ivory Tower’ bulletins and journalists can no longer be comfortable with neutral reporting on events. We must both go beyond our comfort zones and beyond the mundane calls of our professional duties,” he said.
The seminar, which was organised by the African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN), in collaboration with the International Network for the Demographic Evaluation of Population and their Health in Developing Countries (INDEPTH) network, the Dodowa Health Research Centre and the Malaria Clinical Trial Alliance (MCTA), brought together science journalists from the print and the electronic media.
Speaking on the topic: “Linking science with journalism”, Dr Sodzi-Tettey said when scientists were able to acquire communication skills, they would be able to interpret their findings in a way that would make them easier for journalists to understand, while a journalist with a scientific background would be able to write in simple language for the ordinary person to understand.
He said it was the duty of journalists to ensure that there was behavioural change among their audience, saying that journalists were key to ensuring that people understood what they put across.
The Programme Manager of the NMCP, Dr Bart-Plange, in an update on malaria control in Ghana, said malaria continued to be one of the leading causes of death among children.
The President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, Dr Alex Dodoo, called on journalists to ensure that they were always abreast of current trends so that they could inform and educate their communities effectively.
The Executive Director of AMMREN, Mrs Charity Binka, called on journalists to ensure that they put issues across that would hold their leaders accountable.
She challenged journalists to ask critical questions that would help put the government on its toes.
Cost of medicines for effective Malaria control to reduce)
GHANA will, by August this year, introduce a system that will significantly reduce the cost of medicines for the effective treatment of malaria from GH¢10 to GH¢3 for the next two years.
Other countries to benefit from the initiative are Cambodia, Kenya, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda.
Dubbed, Affordable Medicines Facility-malaria (AMF-m), the project is an innovative financing mechanism to expand access to affordable Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) for the treatment of malaria, thereby saving lives and reducing the use of inappropriate treatment.
The initiative will facilitate the increased use of ACT by reducing the cost of those drugs in malaria-endemic countries and also ensuring that additional activities are carried out to assist in the safe and effective implementation of AFM-m.
This was made known in Accra when the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP), in conjunction with the Johns Hopkins University Centre for Communication Programmes Voices for Malaria-free Future Project organised a day’s briefing session for journalists as part of this year’s World Malaria Day.
Addressing the participants, a Programme Officer of the NMCP (Northern Zone), Mr Sylvester Segbaya, said the initiative was to help people suffering from malaria have access to inexpensive but effective recommended anti-malaria treatment.
He said it was also to promote the use of effective anti-malaria drugs and push away ineffective medicines from the market by reducing the consumer prices of effective medicines to an affordable level.
Mr Segbaya said AFM-m had the potential of introducing in-country supporting interventions to ensure that those suffering from malaria benefited from the reduced price.
He stated that progress towards the achievement of the goals and objectives of AFM-m in the country would be measured by increased affordability, availability and use of ACT, as well as pushing away from the market Arteminisin mono-therapies which were less effective and had the potential of causing drug resistance.
Speaking on the topic, “Adopting Effective Malaria Medication in Ghana”, an official of the NMCP, Mr James Frimpong, stated that Ghana moved away from the use of the mono-therapy malaria medicines it was using previously to the ACT because research had indicated that the ACT aided the rapid reduction in the parasite load in the blood and it had fewer side effects, if any.
The Communication Officer of the NMCP, Mr Kwame D. Gakpey, said as part the country’s efforts to control malaria, many strategies had been put in place, including behavioural change communication strategy to guide the development, implementation and monitoring of activities to ensure success.
For his part, the Country Director of the Johns Hopkins University Centre for Communication Programmes Voices for Malaria-free Future Project, Mr Emmanuel Fiagbey, urged journalists to support fully the effort to control malaria, since the disease affected the achievement of almost all the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The Chairperson for the workshop, who is also the Programme Manager of the NMCP, Dr Mrs Constance Bart-Plange, reiterated the need for doctors not to conclude that all fever cases were malaria but they must conduct the appropriate testing before treatment.
The World Malaria Day, which falls on April 25 each year, was instituted by the World Health Assembly at its 60th session in May 2007. It is a day for recognising the global effort to provide effective control for malaria.
In a related development, the Ministry of Health is to set up a committee to probe the alleged malfeasance that characterised the withdrawal of expired drugs from health facilities in the country, reports Seth J. Bokpe.
The Minister of Health, Dr Benjamin Kunbour, made this known when addressing the opening ceremony of the Ghana Health Summit 2010 and the launch of the World Malaria Day 2010.
He said investigations conducted into the matter indicated that more often than not drugs that were said to have expired and which had to be withdrawn from the warehouses were found on shelves in pharmacy shops, with nothing to show that the drugs had expired.
He said persons found culpable would be dealt with to serve as a deterrent to anyone whose action undermined the health sector and to also save the country the millions of cedis that went down the drain.
The Ghana Health Summit is an annual conference under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and donor partners and it takes stock of developments in the health sector, review performances and make recommendations to improve the health sector.
He said the mismanagement that had become the bane of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) called for a benchmark for public spending to ensure that the policy was of benefit to the people.
The Health Minister pledged the government’s commitment to the one-time premium for health insurance in the country, which he indicated would be implemented.
He said even though the funding gap remained the greatest challenge to implementing the one-time premium, avenues, including uprooting corruption, would ensure that the country achieved the needed results.
Dr Kunbour said more midwives would be trained as part of measures to improve the midwifery deficit in the country.
He called for holistic and co-ordinated interventions to deal with challenges posed by malaria to the health of the people and the economy.
According to the Ghana Health Service, 8,200 malaria cases are reported in Ghana daily, with 4,500 deaths, 1,500 under-five deaths, while 60 pregnant women die from the disease annually.
It has been estimated that the annual economic burden in Africa is $1.7 billion, while a single bout of malaria cost a sum equivalent of over 10 working days in Africa.
The Danish Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Stig Barlyng, noted that even though the country had achieved a lot in the health sector over the past few years, the doctor-patient ratio in the northern part of the country needed to be worked on to curtail the disparities that characterised the distribution of doctors.
He stressed the need for the leadership of the MoH and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and its agencies to establish a new policy framework adapted to the changing dynamics of drug procurement and distribution, funds collection and reimbursement across the multiple agencies and the levels of the health system.
The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, who chaired the function, called for co-ordinated efforts to deal with infant and maternal mortality in the country to save lives.
In yet another development, Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho reports that the General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Dr Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey, has stated that the fight against malaria can be won if researchers and scientists go beyond the “ivory tower” publications and simplified their findings for the public good.
At a seminar for media practitioners as part of activities to mark this year’s World Malaria Day, he said to achieve that, it was imperative for scientists to acquire communications skills and for journalists who were interested in science to specialise in it.
“Scientists should no longer feel comfortable just by publishing their results and papers in ’Ivory Tower’ bulletins and journalists can no longer be comfortable with neutral reporting on events. We must both go beyond our comfort zones and beyond the mundane calls of our professional duties,” he said.
The seminar, which was organised by the African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN), in collaboration with the International Network for the Demographic Evaluation of Population and their Health in Developing Countries (INDEPTH) network, the Dodowa Health Research Centre and the Malaria Clinical Trial Alliance (MCTA), brought together science journalists from the print and the electronic media.
Speaking on the topic: “Linking science with journalism”, Dr Sodzi-Tettey said when scientists were able to acquire communication skills, they would be able to interpret their findings in a way that would make them easier for journalists to understand, while a journalist with a scientific background would be able to write in simple language for the ordinary person to understand.
He said it was the duty of journalists to ensure that there was behavioural change among their audience, saying that journalists were key to ensuring that people understood what they put across.
The Programme Manager of the NMCP, Dr Bart-Plange, in an update on malaria control in Ghana, said malaria continued to be one of the leading causes of death among children.
The President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, Dr Alex Dodoo, called on journalists to ensure that they were always abreast of current trends so that they could inform and educate their communities effectively.
The Executive Director of AMMREN, Mrs Charity Binka, called on journalists to ensure that they put issues across that would hold their leaders accountable.
She challenged journalists to ask critical questions that would help put the government on its toes.
Increase school counselling services - To help sexually abused children
Daily Graphic (pg11) Wed. April 21/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
PLAN Ghana, a child centered international non-governmental organisation, has called for the scaling up of school guidance and counselling services to help sexually abused children.
According to the organisation, most children who were sexually abused in the school environment did not receive adequate counselling to enable them continue with their education.
The Advocacy Advisor of Plan Ghana, Mr George Cobbinah, made this known when he briefed the media in Accra on the outcome of a survey conducted in eight communities by Plan Ghana, in the Upper Manya district of the Eastern Region and the Awutu-Senya and Effutu districts of the Central Region in 2009.
The report which was part of Plan International’s three-year global campaign was dubbed; “Learn Without Fear” and it aimed at creating safer school environments for children. It was undertaken by the Child Research Resource Centre (CRRECENT).
The research took into consideration both contact and non-contact forms of sexual abuse in schools and it showed that about 53 per cent of sexual abuse occurs in school environment and 47 per cent happened in homes.
The survey showed that 100 per cent of girl-victims did not enjoy school again after their ordeal while 73 per cent became afraid of their perpetrators.
He said the research further established that 58 per cent of sexually abused children were unable to concentrate on their studies in school.
The call, which formed part of Plan Ghana’s recommendations after the survey, showed that child sexual abuse was rife in schools and therefore called for more sensitisation on the issue for schoolchildren.
According to Mr Cobbinah, the survey showed that out of 304 children sampled, 14 per cent of them between the ages of 14 and 15 years had been sexually abused.
He said the main perpetrators included classmates who formed 89 per cent, teachers, 21 per cent and relatives 13 per cent.
The recommendation which also included an advocacy campaign for the enforcement of legislation, said nothing was done about the 38 per cent of the cases which were reported while 28 per cent of the perpetrators were only warned not to repeat that act again.
Also a total of 11 per cent of the perpetrators were insulted by the victims and their friends while eight per cent were given ground work to perform by school authorities.
The research further advocated more policies that will help alleviate household poverty as five per cent of victims in the survey said they received cash compensations ranging from GH¢1.00 to GH¢ 25.00.
It further called for the strengthening of institutions mandated to address sexual abuse as about 87 per cent of the children sampled did not know of any institution that supported victims of sexual abuse.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
PLAN Ghana, a child centered international non-governmental organisation, has called for the scaling up of school guidance and counselling services to help sexually abused children.
According to the organisation, most children who were sexually abused in the school environment did not receive adequate counselling to enable them continue with their education.
The Advocacy Advisor of Plan Ghana, Mr George Cobbinah, made this known when he briefed the media in Accra on the outcome of a survey conducted in eight communities by Plan Ghana, in the Upper Manya district of the Eastern Region and the Awutu-Senya and Effutu districts of the Central Region in 2009.
The report which was part of Plan International’s three-year global campaign was dubbed; “Learn Without Fear” and it aimed at creating safer school environments for children. It was undertaken by the Child Research Resource Centre (CRRECENT).
The research took into consideration both contact and non-contact forms of sexual abuse in schools and it showed that about 53 per cent of sexual abuse occurs in school environment and 47 per cent happened in homes.
The survey showed that 100 per cent of girl-victims did not enjoy school again after their ordeal while 73 per cent became afraid of their perpetrators.
He said the research further established that 58 per cent of sexually abused children were unable to concentrate on their studies in school.
The call, which formed part of Plan Ghana’s recommendations after the survey, showed that child sexual abuse was rife in schools and therefore called for more sensitisation on the issue for schoolchildren.
According to Mr Cobbinah, the survey showed that out of 304 children sampled, 14 per cent of them between the ages of 14 and 15 years had been sexually abused.
He said the main perpetrators included classmates who formed 89 per cent, teachers, 21 per cent and relatives 13 per cent.
The recommendation which also included an advocacy campaign for the enforcement of legislation, said nothing was done about the 38 per cent of the cases which were reported while 28 per cent of the perpetrators were only warned not to repeat that act again.
Also a total of 11 per cent of the perpetrators were insulted by the victims and their friends while eight per cent were given ground work to perform by school authorities.
The research further advocated more policies that will help alleviate household poverty as five per cent of victims in the survey said they received cash compensations ranging from GH¢1.00 to GH¢ 25.00.
It further called for the strengthening of institutions mandated to address sexual abuse as about 87 per cent of the children sampled did not know of any institution that supported victims of sexual abuse.
We'll reduce poverty level - Ahwoi
Daily Graphic (spread), Tues. April 20/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, has given the assurance that the government will do everything possible to reduce the poverty level in the country.
Given the agricultural sector’s large population and high poverty rate, Mr Ahwoi said any poverty alleviation initiative of the government would substantially benefit farmers.
According to Mr Ahwoi, three out of every 10 Ghanaians woke up each day neither knowing where their next meal would come from nor were they properly housed or clothed.
In a speech read on his behalf at a five-day regional technical training sampling workshop for statisticians from 16 English-speaking African countries in Accra yesterday, Mr Ahwoi said the living condition of people was worse in other African countries.
The workshop, organised by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) in collaboration with the United States Department of Agriculture (UNDA) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), brought together the statisticians to upgrade their technical knowledge and skills in the implementation of the new World Programme for Census of Agricultural Surveys.
According to Mr Ahwoi, the results of the Ghana Living Standard Survey had shown consistently that poverty among people working in the agricultural sector was the highest among all the major economic activity groups in the country.
He said “as leaders and technocrats who are fortunate to escape this situation of falling below the poverty line, I believe we should have the moral obligation to do our best for our compatriots by giving our best to produce accurate information that would provide the basis for evidence-based decisions that would go a long way to improve upon their lives”.
Mr Ahwoi said although governments all over the continent appreciated the important role of statistics in guiding policy planning and decision-making, budgetary constraints made it impossible for them to support other activities including statistics development.
He, however, said the government of Ghana was determined to change the status quo and had, therefore, supported the upcoming 2010 Population and Housing Census with 50 per cent of its budget and expressed the hope to support the next Agricultural Census, which would be undertaken in 2011.
For her part, the Government Statistician, Dr Grace Bediako, said the country was ready to conduct an agricultural sampling 2011, which, according to her, would guide policies in the country.
According to her, the last agricultural sampling in the country was done in 1985 after the 1984 National Population Survey, saying that the time had come for the country to update its records to benefit people in the agricultural sector.
She said the agricultural sector had for a long time not been accorded the needed recognition that it deserved in terms of statistics, although it continued to be the main stay of most people.
She, therefore, called on statisticians to ensure that they produced relevant data that would inform policies and decisions across the continent to change the standard of living of farmers, who formed the majority of the working force on the continent.
The Regional Representative of FAO, Mr Musa Saibou Mbenga, in a brief remark, said the pivotal role which agricultural statistics played in promoting agricultural development and overall socio-economic development on the continent had been repeatedly underscored.
He said it was the hope of FAO that the workshop would impart knowledge of refined tools needed for collection of reliable agricultural statistics in the region, noting that it would help participating countries to face the challenge of organising collection of agricultural statistics in a cost-effective manner.
The USDA Representative, Mrs Theresa Holland, said the US government had a priority to support food security on the African continent, adding that it was ready to help improve on agricultural statistic systems across the continent.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, has given the assurance that the government will do everything possible to reduce the poverty level in the country.
Given the agricultural sector’s large population and high poverty rate, Mr Ahwoi said any poverty alleviation initiative of the government would substantially benefit farmers.
According to Mr Ahwoi, three out of every 10 Ghanaians woke up each day neither knowing where their next meal would come from nor were they properly housed or clothed.
In a speech read on his behalf at a five-day regional technical training sampling workshop for statisticians from 16 English-speaking African countries in Accra yesterday, Mr Ahwoi said the living condition of people was worse in other African countries.
The workshop, organised by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) in collaboration with the United States Department of Agriculture (UNDA) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), brought together the statisticians to upgrade their technical knowledge and skills in the implementation of the new World Programme for Census of Agricultural Surveys.
According to Mr Ahwoi, the results of the Ghana Living Standard Survey had shown consistently that poverty among people working in the agricultural sector was the highest among all the major economic activity groups in the country.
He said “as leaders and technocrats who are fortunate to escape this situation of falling below the poverty line, I believe we should have the moral obligation to do our best for our compatriots by giving our best to produce accurate information that would provide the basis for evidence-based decisions that would go a long way to improve upon their lives”.
Mr Ahwoi said although governments all over the continent appreciated the important role of statistics in guiding policy planning and decision-making, budgetary constraints made it impossible for them to support other activities including statistics development.
He, however, said the government of Ghana was determined to change the status quo and had, therefore, supported the upcoming 2010 Population and Housing Census with 50 per cent of its budget and expressed the hope to support the next Agricultural Census, which would be undertaken in 2011.
For her part, the Government Statistician, Dr Grace Bediako, said the country was ready to conduct an agricultural sampling 2011, which, according to her, would guide policies in the country.
According to her, the last agricultural sampling in the country was done in 1985 after the 1984 National Population Survey, saying that the time had come for the country to update its records to benefit people in the agricultural sector.
She said the agricultural sector had for a long time not been accorded the needed recognition that it deserved in terms of statistics, although it continued to be the main stay of most people.
She, therefore, called on statisticians to ensure that they produced relevant data that would inform policies and decisions across the continent to change the standard of living of farmers, who formed the majority of the working force on the continent.
The Regional Representative of FAO, Mr Musa Saibou Mbenga, in a brief remark, said the pivotal role which agricultural statistics played in promoting agricultural development and overall socio-economic development on the continent had been repeatedly underscored.
He said it was the hope of FAO that the workshop would impart knowledge of refined tools needed for collection of reliable agricultural statistics in the region, noting that it would help participating countries to face the challenge of organising collection of agricultural statistics in a cost-effective manner.
The USDA Representative, Mrs Theresa Holland, said the US government had a priority to support food security on the African continent, adding that it was ready to help improve on agricultural statistic systems across the continent.
Session fails to strengthen Beijing commitments
Daily Graphic (pg 11) Tues. April 20/10
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE 54th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) held in New York in March, reviewed the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA) after 15 years, and the outcome document of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, as well as their application for shaping a gender perspective towards the full realisation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
A five-point declaration made by representatives of governments who were present at the meeting reaffirmed the Beijing Declaration 15 years ago, the outcome document of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, and welcomed the progress made towards achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women. They also pledged to undertake further action to ensure the full and accelerated implementation of the decisions taken at the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly.
They also emphasised that the full and effective implementation of the BPfA was essential to achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the MDGs, and stressed the need to ensure the integration of a gender perspective in the high-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on accelerating s the achievement of all the MDGs by 2015.
They further recognised that the implementation of the BPfA and the fulfilment of the obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women were mutually reinforcing in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women.
The group also called upon the United Nations system, international and regional organisations, as well as all women and men, to fully commit themselves and to intensify their contributions to the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly.
However, at a post-CSW54 briefing on the outcomes of the 54th session and the BPfA review by the Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT) in Accra at the weekend, Mrs Ruth Grant Antwi, the Programme Officer of NETRIGHT, indicated that the outcome document of the CSW’s 54th session failed to strengthen the commitments undertaken in Beijing, and added that it did not come out with concrete actions or measures that would ensure the full implementation of the platform.
She said the fact that effective implementation was still not achieved in key areas of life such as education and training, sexual and reproductive health rights for young women indicates that the MDGs cannot be achieved.
According to her, the CSW54 outcome document was adopted without due consultations with civil society saying that they did not get the opportunity to influence the conduct and outcome of the CSW meetings.
A joint statement issued by women’s groups which Mrs Antwi shared at the meeting, said the document was adopted without due negotiations with civil society organisations (CSOs) and that women’s groups present at the meeting were unhappy about the development.
She said a statement issued by the CSOs stressed that the lack of consultations with civil society, the absence of information on opportunities for civil society to influence the conduct and outcome of the CSW meetings, the declaration and poor logistics and facilities that have prevented women from participating effectively had significantly reduced spaces for influencing decision-making by women’s organisations at the Beijing+15 review.
The Executive Director of Women’s Initiative for Self Empowerment (WISE), Ms Adwoa Bame, who reported on the Ghana NGOs Beijing+15 Review, said Ghana’s shadow report dwelt on: Women and poverty; education and training of women; women and health; violence against women, women in armed conflict and women and the economy.
Other areas that were tackled were women in power and decision-making, institutional mechanism for the advancement of women, human rights of women, women and the media, women and the environment, and the girl-child.
The Convenor of the Women’s Manifesto, Mrs Hamida Harrison, who spoke of CSOs’ engagement with national, regional, and global institutions, said after 15 years of accepting the Beijing declarations, the world was still grappling with the issue of women empowerment and gender equity.
She said although much progress had been made, there were still many challenges to women empowerment and despite the fact that the CSOs were working hard to uplift the status of women across the globe, their impact was yet to be felt.
According to her, CSOs needed a permanent place in policy and decision-making positions so as to influence policy change at all levels.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE 54th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) held in New York in March, reviewed the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA) after 15 years, and the outcome document of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, as well as their application for shaping a gender perspective towards the full realisation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
A five-point declaration made by representatives of governments who were present at the meeting reaffirmed the Beijing Declaration 15 years ago, the outcome document of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, and welcomed the progress made towards achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women. They also pledged to undertake further action to ensure the full and accelerated implementation of the decisions taken at the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly.
They also emphasised that the full and effective implementation of the BPfA was essential to achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the MDGs, and stressed the need to ensure the integration of a gender perspective in the high-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on accelerating s the achievement of all the MDGs by 2015.
They further recognised that the implementation of the BPfA and the fulfilment of the obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women were mutually reinforcing in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women.
The group also called upon the United Nations system, international and regional organisations, as well as all women and men, to fully commit themselves and to intensify their contributions to the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly.
However, at a post-CSW54 briefing on the outcomes of the 54th session and the BPfA review by the Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT) in Accra at the weekend, Mrs Ruth Grant Antwi, the Programme Officer of NETRIGHT, indicated that the outcome document of the CSW’s 54th session failed to strengthen the commitments undertaken in Beijing, and added that it did not come out with concrete actions or measures that would ensure the full implementation of the platform.
She said the fact that effective implementation was still not achieved in key areas of life such as education and training, sexual and reproductive health rights for young women indicates that the MDGs cannot be achieved.
According to her, the CSW54 outcome document was adopted without due consultations with civil society saying that they did not get the opportunity to influence the conduct and outcome of the CSW meetings.
A joint statement issued by women’s groups which Mrs Antwi shared at the meeting, said the document was adopted without due negotiations with civil society organisations (CSOs) and that women’s groups present at the meeting were unhappy about the development.
She said a statement issued by the CSOs stressed that the lack of consultations with civil society, the absence of information on opportunities for civil society to influence the conduct and outcome of the CSW meetings, the declaration and poor logistics and facilities that have prevented women from participating effectively had significantly reduced spaces for influencing decision-making by women’s organisations at the Beijing+15 review.
The Executive Director of Women’s Initiative for Self Empowerment (WISE), Ms Adwoa Bame, who reported on the Ghana NGOs Beijing+15 Review, said Ghana’s shadow report dwelt on: Women and poverty; education and training of women; women and health; violence against women, women in armed conflict and women and the economy.
Other areas that were tackled were women in power and decision-making, institutional mechanism for the advancement of women, human rights of women, women and the media, women and the environment, and the girl-child.
The Convenor of the Women’s Manifesto, Mrs Hamida Harrison, who spoke of CSOs’ engagement with national, regional, and global institutions, said after 15 years of accepting the Beijing declarations, the world was still grappling with the issue of women empowerment and gender equity.
She said although much progress had been made, there were still many challenges to women empowerment and despite the fact that the CSOs were working hard to uplift the status of women across the globe, their impact was yet to be felt.
According to her, CSOs needed a permanent place in policy and decision-making positions so as to influence policy change at all levels.
Shun greed, avarice - CJ
Daily Graphic (spread) Sat. April 17/10
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Wood, has called on newly qualified lawyers to shun greed and avarice and work honestly to lift the image of the profession.
"My honest advice to you is that you desist from all manner of corrupt influences and practices. Guard jealously your integrity, compromising it is not an option, for I believe that your career will be the richer for having the courage at all times to stand up to what is right," she said.
The Chief Justice gave the advice when she swore in 52 newly qualified lawyers who were called to the Bar at a ceremony in Accra yesterday.
The ceremony, which was organised under the auspices of the General Legal Council, was also attended by the Chief Justice of Uganda, Mr Justice Benjamin Odoki.
"I ask that you remain mindful of the fact that the distinguished profession you have joined is a demanding one. It will demand of you a firm commitment to excellence marked by a zeal for integrity and honest hard work. I am not looking at success in monetary and material terms only," she charged the newly qualified lawyers.
"I assure you that if you do an honest day's work, maintaining high standards of integrity and good faith, you will reap the rewards of a good harvest," she added.
She also called on them to offer free legal services, saying that they should desist from only looking at what they would gain materially, "especially, that which is achieved through fraudulent practices, as sadly, this is the dishonourable path some have chosen for themselves and wreaked their lives".
"I extol the success that derives from professional values and work that impacts positively on society as a whole, particularly, on the lives of the under-privileged, the poor, or the voiceless," she added.
Mrs Justice Wood, who is also the Chairman of the General Legal Council, urged them to endeavour to take their time and study the craft, saying that it would take years of practice, dedication and commitment to learn the procedures of court and the fine nuances of the law.
She also urged them to ensure that they undertook a required six months’ internship under the tutelage and supervision of senior legal practitioners to ensure that they received a good foundation in the practice of law.
"I am very much aware of the many complaints about the appallingly low standards exhibited by young lawyers in the courts. I believe that this is partly as a result of their failure to apply themselves conscientiously to this aspect of legal training.
"I therefore urge you, for your own good, to register with reputable and well-established legal firms and law chambers to undertake your pupilage,” she added.
According to her, the council was in the process of instituting measures that would ensure that in future, law students on the professional law course would be enrolled as lawyers only upon proof that they had done their six months of internship.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Wood, has called on newly qualified lawyers to shun greed and avarice and work honestly to lift the image of the profession.
"My honest advice to you is that you desist from all manner of corrupt influences and practices. Guard jealously your integrity, compromising it is not an option, for I believe that your career will be the richer for having the courage at all times to stand up to what is right," she said.
The Chief Justice gave the advice when she swore in 52 newly qualified lawyers who were called to the Bar at a ceremony in Accra yesterday.
The ceremony, which was organised under the auspices of the General Legal Council, was also attended by the Chief Justice of Uganda, Mr Justice Benjamin Odoki.
"I ask that you remain mindful of the fact that the distinguished profession you have joined is a demanding one. It will demand of you a firm commitment to excellence marked by a zeal for integrity and honest hard work. I am not looking at success in monetary and material terms only," she charged the newly qualified lawyers.
"I assure you that if you do an honest day's work, maintaining high standards of integrity and good faith, you will reap the rewards of a good harvest," she added.
She also called on them to offer free legal services, saying that they should desist from only looking at what they would gain materially, "especially, that which is achieved through fraudulent practices, as sadly, this is the dishonourable path some have chosen for themselves and wreaked their lives".
"I extol the success that derives from professional values and work that impacts positively on society as a whole, particularly, on the lives of the under-privileged, the poor, or the voiceless," she added.
Mrs Justice Wood, who is also the Chairman of the General Legal Council, urged them to endeavour to take their time and study the craft, saying that it would take years of practice, dedication and commitment to learn the procedures of court and the fine nuances of the law.
She also urged them to ensure that they undertook a required six months’ internship under the tutelage and supervision of senior legal practitioners to ensure that they received a good foundation in the practice of law.
"I am very much aware of the many complaints about the appallingly low standards exhibited by young lawyers in the courts. I believe that this is partly as a result of their failure to apply themselves conscientiously to this aspect of legal training.
"I therefore urge you, for your own good, to register with reputable and well-established legal firms and law chambers to undertake your pupilage,” she added.
According to her, the council was in the process of instituting measures that would ensure that in future, law students on the professional law course would be enrolled as lawyers only upon proof that they had done their six months of internship.
We'll resist political trial- Abudus
Daily Graphic (spread) Tues. April 13/10
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Abudu Royal Family in the Dagbon chieftaincy divide has indicated that it will resist any political trial by the government aimed at convicting innocent people to satisfy the Andani Royal Family.
According to the Abudu Family, “while we welcome any investigation into the unfortunate events of March 2002, we are disappointed that the Mills government has elected to embark on a political trial that has the sole objective of increasing its electoral fortunes by energising its political base in Dagbon”.
At a press briefing in Accra yesterday to register their displeasure at the arrest of seven members of the Abudu Royal Family in Yendi on Saturday, April 10, 2010 and one other in Tema in connection with the murder of the King of Dagbon, Ya Na Yakubu Andani II and 40 others in March 2002, the Abudu Family said it would resist any “kangaroo” trial and condemned the mode of arrest by some security operatives.
In March 2002 the King of Dagbon and 40 others were gruesomely murdered. The Wuaku Commission was set up by the then government to investigate the circumstances which led to the death of the king and the others.
After the completion of the work of the commission, a committee of three eminent chiefs was put in place to plot out the details of a road map towards the restoration of peace in Dagbon.
A representative of the Abudu Family, Dr Ziblim Iddi, who read the statement on behalf of the family, said, “No amount of political intimidation and persecution can break the spirit of the Abudu Family.”
“We are not going to stand in the way of justice but all we want is a fair trial,” he noted, saying that what was currently going on was a recipe for a mis-trial.
He said all the 40 Abudus who were initially picked up and screened in Yendi before seven of them were sent to Accra had not been told why they had been arrested, nor were they advised on their constitutional right to legal representation.
Describing the modus operandi of the arrest as being reminiscent of the dark and painful revolutionary days of the PNDC and the AFRC, Dr Iddi said various agents of the government had indulged in constitutional violations over the past 48 hours in their eagerness to appease the Andani Family in partial fulfilment of the NDC’s campaign pledge to the Andani Family.
“It is a sad day for Ghana’s democracy that the pursuit of justice has given way to the appeasement of political allies,” he said.
He said four persons out of the seven who were brought to Accra from Yendi were kept incommunicado from Saturday to Monday, while all efforts by their families to locate and communicate with them had failed.
They mentioned the four as Mahamadu Kojo, Alhassan Kpatuya, Yidana Sugri and Mahama Sayibu.
“We wish to reiterate our message to the President following his inaugural address that we intend to co-operate with any credible investigation initiated by the President to find the perpetrators of the events of March 2002,” Dr Iddi added.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Abudu Royal Family in the Dagbon chieftaincy divide has indicated that it will resist any political trial by the government aimed at convicting innocent people to satisfy the Andani Royal Family.
According to the Abudu Family, “while we welcome any investigation into the unfortunate events of March 2002, we are disappointed that the Mills government has elected to embark on a political trial that has the sole objective of increasing its electoral fortunes by energising its political base in Dagbon”.
At a press briefing in Accra yesterday to register their displeasure at the arrest of seven members of the Abudu Royal Family in Yendi on Saturday, April 10, 2010 and one other in Tema in connection with the murder of the King of Dagbon, Ya Na Yakubu Andani II and 40 others in March 2002, the Abudu Family said it would resist any “kangaroo” trial and condemned the mode of arrest by some security operatives.
In March 2002 the King of Dagbon and 40 others were gruesomely murdered. The Wuaku Commission was set up by the then government to investigate the circumstances which led to the death of the king and the others.
After the completion of the work of the commission, a committee of three eminent chiefs was put in place to plot out the details of a road map towards the restoration of peace in Dagbon.
A representative of the Abudu Family, Dr Ziblim Iddi, who read the statement on behalf of the family, said, “No amount of political intimidation and persecution can break the spirit of the Abudu Family.”
“We are not going to stand in the way of justice but all we want is a fair trial,” he noted, saying that what was currently going on was a recipe for a mis-trial.
He said all the 40 Abudus who were initially picked up and screened in Yendi before seven of them were sent to Accra had not been told why they had been arrested, nor were they advised on their constitutional right to legal representation.
Describing the modus operandi of the arrest as being reminiscent of the dark and painful revolutionary days of the PNDC and the AFRC, Dr Iddi said various agents of the government had indulged in constitutional violations over the past 48 hours in their eagerness to appease the Andani Family in partial fulfilment of the NDC’s campaign pledge to the Andani Family.
“It is a sad day for Ghana’s democracy that the pursuit of justice has given way to the appeasement of political allies,” he said.
He said four persons out of the seven who were brought to Accra from Yendi were kept incommunicado from Saturday to Monday, while all efforts by their families to locate and communicate with them had failed.
They mentioned the four as Mahamadu Kojo, Alhassan Kpatuya, Yidana Sugri and Mahama Sayibu.
“We wish to reiterate our message to the President following his inaugural address that we intend to co-operate with any credible investigation initiated by the President to find the perpetrators of the events of March 2002,” Dr Iddi added.
Ghanaian Scientist receives Ronald Ross medal
Daily Graphic (pg 14) Tues. April 13/10
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A Ghanaian Scientist, Professor Fred Binka, has been awarded the ‘Ronald Ross Medal’ for 2010, by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Prof. Binka, who is currently the Dean of the Faculty of School of Public Health in the College of Medical Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, was given the recognition due to his contribution to research on a wide range of disease problems in the tropics, especially on malaria.
Regarded as one of British most prestigious award in science, the award was instituted in 1997 to award scientist who research into malaria. Prof. Binka is the first scientist from a developing country to be awarded the medal.
It was named after Ronald Ross, a British scientist who was the first to discover that malaria was transmitted to man by a mosquito bite, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1902. The medal was set up to commemorate the centenary of Ross’s discovery of the transmission of malaria by the mosquito.
At a lunch organised in his honour after the award by the INDEPTH Network in Accra, Prof. Binka said “I feel good about this award because it is Ronald Ross who is regarded as the father of Malaria”.
Prof. Binka, who dedicated his award to INDEPTH, a health and demographic surveillance system based in Africa, Asia, Central America and Oceania, did most of his research work when he was the head of the Navrongo Health Research Institute and researched into several other areas such as the importance of Vitamin A supplementation for children, the use of the insecticide treated bed nets, among others.
The current chair of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Africa Regional Advisory Committee of experts on malaria, Prof. Binka in an interview with the Daily Graphic after the lunch challenged young scientists to ensure that they published their research work, saying that it was only when they published them that they would be recognised.
“The problem with scientists in the developing world is that they do not publish their research work; research and publishing are synonymous,” he added
The main force behind the setting up of the Malaria Clinical Trails Alliance (MCTA) funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, aimed at strengthening the capacity of research centres in Africa to conduct trials of malarial treatment and vaccines, Prof. Binka commended Ghana and the African continent as a whole, saying that although there were many diseases, malaria continued to get the most attention.
He said the country was doing well in its fight against malaria and called on all, especially policy makers and politicians, to commit more resources into finding a lasting solution to the menace of malaria in the country.
Prof. Binka, who also initiated the setting up of the INDEPTH Effectiveness and Safety Studies (INESS) to assess the effectiveness and safety of new anti-malarial drugs as they were introduced to African countries, also called on the government to ensure that chloroquine, which, according to him, was still being used by at least 30 per cent of the country’s population, was totally taken off the shelves.
The Director of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Elias Sory, who was present at the lunch, commended Prof. Binka for his achievement.
He called on all in the medical fraternity to devote themselves to selfless and dedicated services to ensure that healthcare delivery in the country became the envy of all on the continent.
Dr Sory also commended the leadership skills of Prof. Binka, saying that he was a visionary leader who nurtured and trained people to take over effectively from him.
The Executive Director of INDEPTH, Dr Osman Sankoh, in his appreciation to Prof. Binka for dedicating the award to the network, said the award would put the organisation on an international pedestal.
In a related development, Prof. Binka has also been awarded by the British Medical Journal, the Research Paper of the Year Award for 2010.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A Ghanaian Scientist, Professor Fred Binka, has been awarded the ‘Ronald Ross Medal’ for 2010, by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Prof. Binka, who is currently the Dean of the Faculty of School of Public Health in the College of Medical Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, was given the recognition due to his contribution to research on a wide range of disease problems in the tropics, especially on malaria.
Regarded as one of British most prestigious award in science, the award was instituted in 1997 to award scientist who research into malaria. Prof. Binka is the first scientist from a developing country to be awarded the medal.
It was named after Ronald Ross, a British scientist who was the first to discover that malaria was transmitted to man by a mosquito bite, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1902. The medal was set up to commemorate the centenary of Ross’s discovery of the transmission of malaria by the mosquito.
At a lunch organised in his honour after the award by the INDEPTH Network in Accra, Prof. Binka said “I feel good about this award because it is Ronald Ross who is regarded as the father of Malaria”.
Prof. Binka, who dedicated his award to INDEPTH, a health and demographic surveillance system based in Africa, Asia, Central America and Oceania, did most of his research work when he was the head of the Navrongo Health Research Institute and researched into several other areas such as the importance of Vitamin A supplementation for children, the use of the insecticide treated bed nets, among others.
The current chair of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Africa Regional Advisory Committee of experts on malaria, Prof. Binka in an interview with the Daily Graphic after the lunch challenged young scientists to ensure that they published their research work, saying that it was only when they published them that they would be recognised.
“The problem with scientists in the developing world is that they do not publish their research work; research and publishing are synonymous,” he added
The main force behind the setting up of the Malaria Clinical Trails Alliance (MCTA) funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, aimed at strengthening the capacity of research centres in Africa to conduct trials of malarial treatment and vaccines, Prof. Binka commended Ghana and the African continent as a whole, saying that although there were many diseases, malaria continued to get the most attention.
He said the country was doing well in its fight against malaria and called on all, especially policy makers and politicians, to commit more resources into finding a lasting solution to the menace of malaria in the country.
Prof. Binka, who also initiated the setting up of the INDEPTH Effectiveness and Safety Studies (INESS) to assess the effectiveness and safety of new anti-malarial drugs as they were introduced to African countries, also called on the government to ensure that chloroquine, which, according to him, was still being used by at least 30 per cent of the country’s population, was totally taken off the shelves.
The Director of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Elias Sory, who was present at the lunch, commended Prof. Binka for his achievement.
He called on all in the medical fraternity to devote themselves to selfless and dedicated services to ensure that healthcare delivery in the country became the envy of all on the continent.
Dr Sory also commended the leadership skills of Prof. Binka, saying that he was a visionary leader who nurtured and trained people to take over effectively from him.
The Executive Director of INDEPTH, Dr Osman Sankoh, in his appreciation to Prof. Binka for dedicating the award to the network, said the award would put the organisation on an international pedestal.
In a related development, Prof. Binka has also been awarded by the British Medical Journal, the Research Paper of the Year Award for 2010.
Consolidated African judicial system would foster trade - CJ
Daily Graphic (Spread) Sat. April 10/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
The Chief Justice (CJ), Mrs Justice Georgina Wood, says a consolidated African judicial system would foster trade and ease legal barriers among countries.
"Co-operation and consolidation of the judicial system will in the long run harmonise the laws relating to commerce especially with respect to the oil and gas industry."
The Chief Justice said this at the opening of a two-day International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC) Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Accra.
The conference, which brought together representatives of ILAC from different countries, was on the theme: "Co-operation and mutual consolidation of African Judicial systems."
ILAC, set up in 2002, is a worldwide consortium of non-governmental organisations, providing technical and legal assistance to post-conflict countries.
It has more than 20 member organisations with three million representatives of judges, prosecutors, lawyers and academics from across the world.
ILAC has carried out assessment missions and initiated legal reform projects in Afghanistan, Algeria, Morocco, Palestine and Rwanda.
According to the CJ, consolidating African judicial systems would also lead to the integration and development of the continent and bridge the gaps between regional economic blocks.
She said the world had become a global village and with the advent of the Internet and video links, “collaboration and mutual consolidation of African judicial systems is not an impossibility".
This, she said, made harmonisation imperative, adding that “even if continental consolidation does not appear to be achievable within the shortest possible time, regional consolidation should not elude us”.
She gave an assurance that the government and people of Ghana were determined to make constitutional democracy with its core values of an independent judiciary, the rule of law, promotion of human rights and freedoms continue to flourish.
"With the institutional support of partners like ILAC, the Ghanaian judiciary is determined to play its role in the nation's constitutional development effectively."
The Chairman of ILAC, Mr Paul Haddinott, commended the country’s justice system, saying that it was a beacon on the continent.
The Sweden Consul General in Ghana, Mr Amarkai Amartefio, who chaired the opening of the AGM, called on the international community, especially stakeholders in peace, security and development, to support ILAC to achieve its noble objectives.
He also urged ILAC to work tirelessly with the same commitment and dedication to the implementation of some of the UN treaties as it aims at restoring civil order after strife and conflicts.
This, he said, could be made possible if members impressed upon their governments to adopt the rights of the child under the UN Treaty in domestic legislation, among others.
Mr Amartefio invited delegates to support the initiative of the World Federation of Consults to amend the Vienna Convention on Consular relations to remove the inequalities between honorary consults and career consults to facilitate the performance of their duties.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
The Chief Justice (CJ), Mrs Justice Georgina Wood, says a consolidated African judicial system would foster trade and ease legal barriers among countries.
"Co-operation and consolidation of the judicial system will in the long run harmonise the laws relating to commerce especially with respect to the oil and gas industry."
The Chief Justice said this at the opening of a two-day International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC) Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Accra.
The conference, which brought together representatives of ILAC from different countries, was on the theme: "Co-operation and mutual consolidation of African Judicial systems."
ILAC, set up in 2002, is a worldwide consortium of non-governmental organisations, providing technical and legal assistance to post-conflict countries.
It has more than 20 member organisations with three million representatives of judges, prosecutors, lawyers and academics from across the world.
ILAC has carried out assessment missions and initiated legal reform projects in Afghanistan, Algeria, Morocco, Palestine and Rwanda.
According to the CJ, consolidating African judicial systems would also lead to the integration and development of the continent and bridge the gaps between regional economic blocks.
She said the world had become a global village and with the advent of the Internet and video links, “collaboration and mutual consolidation of African judicial systems is not an impossibility".
This, she said, made harmonisation imperative, adding that “even if continental consolidation does not appear to be achievable within the shortest possible time, regional consolidation should not elude us”.
She gave an assurance that the government and people of Ghana were determined to make constitutional democracy with its core values of an independent judiciary, the rule of law, promotion of human rights and freedoms continue to flourish.
"With the institutional support of partners like ILAC, the Ghanaian judiciary is determined to play its role in the nation's constitutional development effectively."
The Chairman of ILAC, Mr Paul Haddinott, commended the country’s justice system, saying that it was a beacon on the continent.
The Sweden Consul General in Ghana, Mr Amarkai Amartefio, who chaired the opening of the AGM, called on the international community, especially stakeholders in peace, security and development, to support ILAC to achieve its noble objectives.
He also urged ILAC to work tirelessly with the same commitment and dedication to the implementation of some of the UN treaties as it aims at restoring civil order after strife and conflicts.
This, he said, could be made possible if members impressed upon their governments to adopt the rights of the child under the UN Treaty in domestic legislation, among others.
Mr Amartefio invited delegates to support the initiative of the World Federation of Consults to amend the Vienna Convention on Consular relations to remove the inequalities between honorary consults and career consults to facilitate the performance of their duties.
ILO to delebrate on rights of domstic workers
Daily Graphic (pg11) Sat. April 10/10
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
DOMESTIC workers, or domestic assistants render invaluable services in most homes to support families, mostly in the working class. They are referred to as domestic assistants when they are aged between 15 and 17, and domestic workers when they are above 18 years. They include house boys, gardeners, caretakers, child minders, cooks and drivers among others.
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), although they help in the development of a country’s economy since they perform duties which otherwise should have been performed by their employers who are mostly employees and therefore, do not have the time to perform those chores, domestic assistants or domestic workers cnstitute a group of neglected people. This is because issues relating to their rghts addressed.
To discuss pertinent issues relating to the rights of domestic workers which is crucial to their survival and development, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) will in June this year hold a meeting on the issue.
At the forthcoming ILO meeting, delegates will debate on a draft convention on domestic workers, which when adopted, will be binding on all 182 member states of the ILO across the world.
An official from ILO-Ghana, Ms Adwoa Sekyi at an advocacy forum organised by LAWA-Ghana with support from the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) in Accra, who briefed the gathering on the proposed ILO Convention for Domestic Workers and the Women’s Movement, said the adoption of the convention has become imperative, as most laws do not protect the rights of domestic workers in most countries.
The forum will also aim at giving the participants an overview of a draft Domestic Workers’ Regulation of 2007, which is being spearheaded by LAWA-Ghana, and to evaluate a monitoring instrument which has been instituted to access a pilot survey being conducted on some domestic workers and their employers in Accra and Kumasi.
According to Ms Sekyi, most domestic workers were abused or maltreated while others were not paid adequately for the services that they rendered.
A Legal Practitioner, Ms Fidnette Adjatey, who is also a member of LAWA-Ghana gave an overview of the Draft Domestic Workers’ Regulation and said the aim of the organisation was to ensure that the regulation becomes a Legislative Instrument (LI), under the country’s Labour Act.
She said the present act does not provide enough protection to this group of people and the aim of the regulation was to promote their human right.
She said the regulation, which is in seven parts, talks about the purpose and definition of who a domestic worker or assistant is , employment contracts, wages and benefits, maximum hours of work; rest periods and leave, rights at work and enforcement.
Ms Adjetey said when the LI comes into being, it will effectuate the national policies of protecting workers and encourage development of the nation through development of workers.
The LI she said, will also help to formalise the employment relationship between domestic workers and their employers so as to begin the process of professionalising the operations of domestic workers and ensuring that they were not exploited.
The purpose of adopting the LI, she said, was also to recognise the important role of domestic workers to almost every household in the country.
Also,she said the LI would ensure that domestic work was recognised as an honourable and adequately remunerated profession so that more young people can take it up as a profession to help reduce the number of youth on the street.
A Development Consultant, Mr Samuel Asah who gave an overview of the instrument used in monitoring the pilot project, said domestic work was largely an urban phenomenon which has been largely promoted by urbanisation.
He said the issue of rural-urban migration has led to the situation where young people from rural areas moved to the urban centres in seach of non-existence jobs resulting in most of them offering cheap labour in most homes without contract or proper remuneration.
He said the issue of domestic work was an old phenomenon which employs a huge number of people and called for the necessary legislation to help regulate it.
The Executive Director of LAWA-Ghana, Mrs Barbara Ayensu in an address said the draft regulation was the result of a fact finding research organised in March 2003 by LAWA-Ghana, in partnership with the Georgetown University, USA, with the aim to look into the activities of people in that field.
He said the result of the research called for legal reforms which included the passage of a regulation on domestic work, the amendment of some laws such as section 42 of the Criminal Code to adequately cater for such people, a law to prohibit trafficking of children and curtail domestic violence.
She said so far LAWA-Ghana was piloting its research findings in the Ashanti, Western, Volta, Central and Greater Accra regions and hopes to cover the other regions in the country.
She said the focus of her organisation was to ensure that the government adopts the regulation to give a better security to people working in that field.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
DOMESTIC workers, or domestic assistants render invaluable services in most homes to support families, mostly in the working class. They are referred to as domestic assistants when they are aged between 15 and 17, and domestic workers when they are above 18 years. They include house boys, gardeners, caretakers, child minders, cooks and drivers among others.
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), although they help in the development of a country’s economy since they perform duties which otherwise should have been performed by their employers who are mostly employees and therefore, do not have the time to perform those chores, domestic assistants or domestic workers cnstitute a group of neglected people. This is because issues relating to their rghts addressed.
To discuss pertinent issues relating to the rights of domestic workers which is crucial to their survival and development, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) will in June this year hold a meeting on the issue.
At the forthcoming ILO meeting, delegates will debate on a draft convention on domestic workers, which when adopted, will be binding on all 182 member states of the ILO across the world.
An official from ILO-Ghana, Ms Adwoa Sekyi at an advocacy forum organised by LAWA-Ghana with support from the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) in Accra, who briefed the gathering on the proposed ILO Convention for Domestic Workers and the Women’s Movement, said the adoption of the convention has become imperative, as most laws do not protect the rights of domestic workers in most countries.
The forum will also aim at giving the participants an overview of a draft Domestic Workers’ Regulation of 2007, which is being spearheaded by LAWA-Ghana, and to evaluate a monitoring instrument which has been instituted to access a pilot survey being conducted on some domestic workers and their employers in Accra and Kumasi.
According to Ms Sekyi, most domestic workers were abused or maltreated while others were not paid adequately for the services that they rendered.
A Legal Practitioner, Ms Fidnette Adjatey, who is also a member of LAWA-Ghana gave an overview of the Draft Domestic Workers’ Regulation and said the aim of the organisation was to ensure that the regulation becomes a Legislative Instrument (LI), under the country’s Labour Act.
She said the present act does not provide enough protection to this group of people and the aim of the regulation was to promote their human right.
She said the regulation, which is in seven parts, talks about the purpose and definition of who a domestic worker or assistant is , employment contracts, wages and benefits, maximum hours of work; rest periods and leave, rights at work and enforcement.
Ms Adjetey said when the LI comes into being, it will effectuate the national policies of protecting workers and encourage development of the nation through development of workers.
The LI she said, will also help to formalise the employment relationship between domestic workers and their employers so as to begin the process of professionalising the operations of domestic workers and ensuring that they were not exploited.
The purpose of adopting the LI, she said, was also to recognise the important role of domestic workers to almost every household in the country.
Also,she said the LI would ensure that domestic work was recognised as an honourable and adequately remunerated profession so that more young people can take it up as a profession to help reduce the number of youth on the street.
A Development Consultant, Mr Samuel Asah who gave an overview of the instrument used in monitoring the pilot project, said domestic work was largely an urban phenomenon which has been largely promoted by urbanisation.
He said the issue of rural-urban migration has led to the situation where young people from rural areas moved to the urban centres in seach of non-existence jobs resulting in most of them offering cheap labour in most homes without contract or proper remuneration.
He said the issue of domestic work was an old phenomenon which employs a huge number of people and called for the necessary legislation to help regulate it.
The Executive Director of LAWA-Ghana, Mrs Barbara Ayensu in an address said the draft regulation was the result of a fact finding research organised in March 2003 by LAWA-Ghana, in partnership with the Georgetown University, USA, with the aim to look into the activities of people in that field.
He said the result of the research called for legal reforms which included the passage of a regulation on domestic work, the amendment of some laws such as section 42 of the Criminal Code to adequately cater for such people, a law to prohibit trafficking of children and curtail domestic violence.
She said so far LAWA-Ghana was piloting its research findings in the Ashanti, Western, Volta, Central and Greater Accra regions and hopes to cover the other regions in the country.
She said the focus of her organisation was to ensure that the government adopts the regulation to give a better security to people working in that field.
AGI pledges GH¢24m for 2010 census
Daily Graphic (Pg3) Sat. April 10/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) has expressed its readiness to provide an amount of GH¢24 million to support the funding of the 2010 National Census.
The assurance was given by the President of the association, Nana Owusu Afari, in response to an appeal from Dr Kwabena Duffuor, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, and Ms Hannah Tetteh, the Minister of Trade and Industry, to the private sector to support the funding of the census, estimated at GH¢70 million.
The government has committed itself to providing about 50 per cent of the funding, while the country’s development partners have pledged to provide 20 per cent, leaving a gap of 30 per cent in the budget for the exercise, which is expected to come off in the last quarter of the year.
At a breakfast meeting organised by the Ministry of Finance in Accra yesterday to solicit the support of the private sector towards the exercise, Nana Afari, however, called on the government to package its appeal processes in a way that would be enticing to the private sector.
The meeting was attended by representatives from financial institutions, corporate organisations, industries and enterprises.
Nana Afari commended the government for involving the association in the national data collection, saying that the data, when generated, would help members of the association in their planning processes.
Dr Duffuor said the private sector would gain a lot from a detailed demographic census, adding that most investment decisions and marketing strategies were based on reliable and comprehensive data and information.
He said the government recognised the important role played by the private sector in promoting the development of the country and saw the business community as an indispensable ally in the forthcoming population and housing census.
He, therefore, called on the business community to contribute generously to the conduct of the census.
For her part, Ms Tetteh underlined the need for the country to update its national data, saying today’s market had become competitive and so the business sector needed to have an idea of its target market before it could set up branches.
The Government Statistician, Dr Grace Bediako, who gave an overview of the 2010 Population and Housing Census, said the exercise would capture the geographic and international characteristics, as well as the educational and economic background of people who would be in the country on the census night.
Other areas that data would be generated, she said, were disability, information and communications technology (ICT), agriculture, housing and community facilities, among others.
She underscored the importance of the 2010 census and said the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) had so far mapped out 36,500 enumeration areas, comprising 104,500 localities that would be covered during the census.
About 60,000 field officers are expected to be recruited through the Internet this month as the beginning of the preparations for the conduct of the 2010 Population and Housing Census.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) has expressed its readiness to provide an amount of GH¢24 million to support the funding of the 2010 National Census.
The assurance was given by the President of the association, Nana Owusu Afari, in response to an appeal from Dr Kwabena Duffuor, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, and Ms Hannah Tetteh, the Minister of Trade and Industry, to the private sector to support the funding of the census, estimated at GH¢70 million.
The government has committed itself to providing about 50 per cent of the funding, while the country’s development partners have pledged to provide 20 per cent, leaving a gap of 30 per cent in the budget for the exercise, which is expected to come off in the last quarter of the year.
At a breakfast meeting organised by the Ministry of Finance in Accra yesterday to solicit the support of the private sector towards the exercise, Nana Afari, however, called on the government to package its appeal processes in a way that would be enticing to the private sector.
The meeting was attended by representatives from financial institutions, corporate organisations, industries and enterprises.
Nana Afari commended the government for involving the association in the national data collection, saying that the data, when generated, would help members of the association in their planning processes.
Dr Duffuor said the private sector would gain a lot from a detailed demographic census, adding that most investment decisions and marketing strategies were based on reliable and comprehensive data and information.
He said the government recognised the important role played by the private sector in promoting the development of the country and saw the business community as an indispensable ally in the forthcoming population and housing census.
He, therefore, called on the business community to contribute generously to the conduct of the census.
For her part, Ms Tetteh underlined the need for the country to update its national data, saying today’s market had become competitive and so the business sector needed to have an idea of its target market before it could set up branches.
The Government Statistician, Dr Grace Bediako, who gave an overview of the 2010 Population and Housing Census, said the exercise would capture the geographic and international characteristics, as well as the educational and economic background of people who would be in the country on the census night.
Other areas that data would be generated, she said, were disability, information and communications technology (ICT), agriculture, housing and community facilities, among others.
She underscored the importance of the 2010 census and said the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) had so far mapped out 36,500 enumeration areas, comprising 104,500 localities that would be covered during the census.
About 60,000 field officers are expected to be recruited through the Internet this month as the beginning of the preparations for the conduct of the 2010 Population and Housing Census.
Chinese company to set up clinic
Daily Graphic (spread), Tues. April 06/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
Tasly, a Chinese pharmaceutical company, is to open a specialised Traditional Chinese Medicine Service Centre (TCM) in Accra in May, 2010, to concentrate mainly on treating chronic pains.
The centre will also specialise in treating hypertension, diabetes, stroke, hepatitis and malaria, using acupuncture, cupping (a traditional Chinese therapy) and medical massage.
The Managing Director of Tasly Ghana Limited, Mr Tom Xu, in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra, said the clinic which would be managed by a doctor from China would be the third in Africa after South Africa and Nigeria.
Tasly has 24 pharmaceutical outlets across the world with 12 in Africa, including Ghana.
He said the clinic which would be purely a herbal treatment centre would combine Chinese therapy and not use any chemical in its treatment in order to avoid any side effects.
“Tasly, the third largest pharmaceutical company in China, has been in Ghana for five years and has been helping more than one million people but we want to serve more people”, he added.
So far, he said, Tasly which was an international pharmaceutical and health industry had 60,000 distributors in the country, with 200 speciality shops located in Accra, Tema, Kumasi and Takoradi.
He said the company which had a $22 billion stock value with a net capital of $2 billion was hoping to open more outlets across the country.
Mr Xu praised the Ghanaian economy, saying “Ghana is a good place to do business”.
The MD who was accompanied by the Administrative Manager of Tasly Ghana, Mr Shawn Lin, also said the company since it came to Ghana occasionally undertook free health screening for hypertension, diabetes and other general illnesses.
He said the company also worked with Family International, a non-governmental organisation, in its communal service.
Mr Xu said Tasly, which was a network of group of companies, also rewarded its hardworking distributors out of which 40 of them had received salon cars and three others had received 4x4 vehicles with 30 others being sponsored in international travels.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
Tasly, a Chinese pharmaceutical company, is to open a specialised Traditional Chinese Medicine Service Centre (TCM) in Accra in May, 2010, to concentrate mainly on treating chronic pains.
The centre will also specialise in treating hypertension, diabetes, stroke, hepatitis and malaria, using acupuncture, cupping (a traditional Chinese therapy) and medical massage.
The Managing Director of Tasly Ghana Limited, Mr Tom Xu, in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra, said the clinic which would be managed by a doctor from China would be the third in Africa after South Africa and Nigeria.
Tasly has 24 pharmaceutical outlets across the world with 12 in Africa, including Ghana.
He said the clinic which would be purely a herbal treatment centre would combine Chinese therapy and not use any chemical in its treatment in order to avoid any side effects.
“Tasly, the third largest pharmaceutical company in China, has been in Ghana for five years and has been helping more than one million people but we want to serve more people”, he added.
So far, he said, Tasly which was an international pharmaceutical and health industry had 60,000 distributors in the country, with 200 speciality shops located in Accra, Tema, Kumasi and Takoradi.
He said the company which had a $22 billion stock value with a net capital of $2 billion was hoping to open more outlets across the country.
Mr Xu praised the Ghanaian economy, saying “Ghana is a good place to do business”.
The MD who was accompanied by the Administrative Manager of Tasly Ghana, Mr Shawn Lin, also said the company since it came to Ghana occasionally undertook free health screening for hypertension, diabetes and other general illnesses.
He said the company also worked with Family International, a non-governmental organisation, in its communal service.
Mr Xu said Tasly, which was a network of group of companies, also rewarded its hardworking distributors out of which 40 of them had received salon cars and three others had received 4x4 vehicles with 30 others being sponsored in international travels.
Population housing census - 60,000 Field Officers to be recruited
Daily Graphic (Back Page), Tues, April 6/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
SIXTY thousand field officers are to be recruited through the Internet this month as the beginning of the preparations for the conduct of the 2010 National Population and Housing Census.
The National Census Steering Committee has fixed the date for the start of the 2010 National Census in the last quarter of the year but is awaiting confirmation from the Cabinet.
Ghana’s 2010 national census, which was originally expected to take place in March, was delayed because the Census Secretariat needed ample time to capture data from a trial census organised in November last year.
A member of the Recruitment and Training Unit of the Census Secretariat, Mr John Kwabena Agyaho, told the Daily Graphic in Accra that the secretariat would do the recruitment through online applications.
Three new areas, namely agriculture, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and disability, have been introduced into the 2010 questionnaire for the future use of such data.
Some of the normal questions that would appear on the questionnaire would elicit information on age, fertility, religious affiliation, as well as educational and economic characteristics of people.
This year’s census will also capture all housing structures, including kiosks, mosques, churches and school buildings in the country.
The Census Secretariat has estimated to capture about 25 million people, who will be residing within the country during the census.
According to Mr Agyaho, after the trail census, the secretariat realised that some unscrupulous persons sold recruitment forms for GH¢10 and therefore the online application was a way of eliminating such fraudulent deals.
He said the minimum qualification for an applicant would be a Higher National Diploma (HND), adding that an online recruitment, which would attract about 100,000 applicants, would make it faster and easier for qualified applicants to be selected.
He said the online application process will also give all the applicants an equal opportunity for them to be selected.
Mr Agyaho, who is an Assistant Statistician at the Ghana Statistical Service, added that the service would make available its offices at the regional and district levels and also open satellite offices where people who would want to be enumerators or field officers would go and fill the online application forms.
He said the site www.statsghana.gov.gh would be open till the end of May to give ample time for all interested applicants to apply.
He added that the applicants would be shortlisted for an interview and those who would be successful would be trained before they were put on the field.
He said the secretariat was in talks with the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the regional and district directors of education to ensure that teachers were encouraged to apply as enumerators or field officers.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
SIXTY thousand field officers are to be recruited through the Internet this month as the beginning of the preparations for the conduct of the 2010 National Population and Housing Census.
The National Census Steering Committee has fixed the date for the start of the 2010 National Census in the last quarter of the year but is awaiting confirmation from the Cabinet.
Ghana’s 2010 national census, which was originally expected to take place in March, was delayed because the Census Secretariat needed ample time to capture data from a trial census organised in November last year.
A member of the Recruitment and Training Unit of the Census Secretariat, Mr John Kwabena Agyaho, told the Daily Graphic in Accra that the secretariat would do the recruitment through online applications.
Three new areas, namely agriculture, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and disability, have been introduced into the 2010 questionnaire for the future use of such data.
Some of the normal questions that would appear on the questionnaire would elicit information on age, fertility, religious affiliation, as well as educational and economic characteristics of people.
This year’s census will also capture all housing structures, including kiosks, mosques, churches and school buildings in the country.
The Census Secretariat has estimated to capture about 25 million people, who will be residing within the country during the census.
According to Mr Agyaho, after the trail census, the secretariat realised that some unscrupulous persons sold recruitment forms for GH¢10 and therefore the online application was a way of eliminating such fraudulent deals.
He said the minimum qualification for an applicant would be a Higher National Diploma (HND), adding that an online recruitment, which would attract about 100,000 applicants, would make it faster and easier for qualified applicants to be selected.
He said the online application process will also give all the applicants an equal opportunity for them to be selected.
Mr Agyaho, who is an Assistant Statistician at the Ghana Statistical Service, added that the service would make available its offices at the regional and district levels and also open satellite offices where people who would want to be enumerators or field officers would go and fill the online application forms.
He said the site www.statsghana.gov.gh would be open till the end of May to give ample time for all interested applicants to apply.
He added that the applicants would be shortlisted for an interview and those who would be successful would be trained before they were put on the field.
He said the secretariat was in talks with the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the regional and district directors of education to ensure that teachers were encouraged to apply as enumerators or field officers.
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