Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Review NHIS for sustainability

Saturday, January 24, 2009 (The Mirror Pg 26)
By Rebecca Kwei
THE Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSGH) has called on the government to review the operations of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to ensure its sustainability.
It noted that reimbursement to pharmacies and other providers was unduly delayed under the scheme, causing several providers to refuse to attend to patients.
In certain cases, pharmacies refused to supply expensive medicines because they did not want their capital to be locked up, it added.
Speaking to The Mirror, the President of the PSGH, Dr Alex Dodoo, said the society was also unhappy that doctors were allowed to prescribe and also dispense medicines to patients in several facilities under the NHIS.
That, he said, was against best practices and led to abuse and excessive prescribing which could make the scheme go bankrupt.
He said it had been shown in countries such as the US and the UK that if doctors did not have a commercial interest in the medicines being prescribed, patients were conservatively managed with fewer medicines and greater benefits to the scheme.
He called also for a re-examination of the drugs that could be dispensed under the NHIS, since patients were complaining that they had to buy expensive medicines themselves.
Dr Dodoo called for a standardised prescription form with security features to be used under the NHIS to prevent fraud.
He said the PSGH believed that the NHIS was a good health initiative which required constant review to ensure its sustainability.
He said he saw pharmacies playing a leading role as the main dispensers of all medicines under the scheme.
“Pharmacists can also act as ‘gatekeepers’ to the scheme, ensuring that only valid prescriptions are served. Members of the PSGH can also give information and advice to patients on how to manage common ailments, thereby reducing attendance at hospitals and cost to the scheme,” he added.

Govt must address women's concerns

Saturday, January 17, 2009 (The Mirror Pg 42)

By Rebecca Kwei
The Women’s Coalition Manifesto, has called on the government to commit itself to addressing the demands made in the “Women’s Manifesto for Ghana”.
The “Women’s Manifesto for Ghana”, is a political document that outlines key issues of concern to women and makes demands for addressing them.
It also provides a platform of a common set of demands for the achievement of gender equality and equity and sustainable national development.
It was initiated in 2004 by ABANTU, for Development in consultation with women’s groups, NGOs and other civil society organisations from across the country.
The demands are centred around 10 critical areas of concern to promote women’s rights.
These are women’s economic empowerment, women and land, women, social policy and social development, women in politics, decision-making and public life; and women, human rights and the law.
The rest are discriminatory cultural practices, women and media, women, conflict and peace, women with special needs and institutions with a mandate to promote women’s right.
For instance, under the women’s economic empowerment, the manifesto among others, demands that government undertakes a fundamental review of economic policies to promote the well-being and security of women and men and ensure a reversal of past economic policy failures; that the government take steps to reverse economic policies which discriminate against women and ensure their active involvement in economic decision-making at all levels.
The section on women in politics and decision-making, the manifesto demands that all arms of government and political parties take action to promote the transformation of the political culture to make it more transparent, accountable and sensitive to the needs and concerns of women; that government ensures that by 2008, 50 per cent of appointees to district assemblies and to the offices of district chief executives and district coordinating director are women; that by the year 2008 at least 50 per cent of appointees to public offices, such as boards of corporations and institutions and the higher echelons of the bureaucracies are women.
In this regard, the coalition congratulated Rt Hon. Mrs Joyce Adeline Bamford- Addo on her appointment as the Speaker of the fifth parliament of the fourth republic.
It said it believes Mrs Bamford-Addo’s appointment was an attempt to fulfil one of the demands made in the manifesto.

Monday, January 12, 2009

President Mills — Moving Ghana forward

Saturday, January 10, 2009 (The Mirror Pg 3)

By Rebecca Kwei
ON a bright Wednesday (January 7) morning at the Independence Square in Accra, thousands of Ghanaians waited anxiously for the swearing-in ceremony of President-elect Professor John Evans Atta Mills.
Although the programme had been slated for 11 a.m. many Ghanaians had thronged the Independence Square as early as 2am perhaps to get a good place to sit and watch proceedings.
However, the enthusiastic crowd had to wait patiently as Heads of State, other dignitaries, and special guests filed in one after the other from 12 noon.
Then at 2.35pm Professor John Evans Atta Mills was sworn in as the new President of Ghana.
Dressed in rich Kente, the President took the oath of allegiance in front of thousands of Ghanaians. It was administered by the Chief Justice, Georgina Theodora Wood.
After signing the parliamentary album, Prof. Mills raised the State Sword to symbolise his authority as President, amid cheers from the enthusiastic crowd.
Speaking shortly after he had been sworn in, Prof. Mills said it was a new dawn of a new era of change for a better Ghana.
He said it was not a change for the sake of change but “change in the right direction to move the nation forward”.
Prof. Mills said his administration would pursue a consensus-driven agenda and that he would be a President for all Ghanaians irrespective of political persuasion and which part of the country one came from.
“I will heal wounds and strive to ensure unity of the country,” he said. Touching on security, he said improvement in internal security would be top priority and that no Ghanaian should live in fear of armed robbery.
He assured Ghanaians that his administration would not pursue politics of power and privilege but would ensure that they listen to people and address the concerns of the people.
He said he would immediately hit the road running and that there would be no time for witch-hunting and vendetta.
In the same vein, he said his administration would work on the principles of accountability and justice would be administered irrespective of one’s status.
He reiterated that the elections were over and there was no NDC Ghana or NPP Ghana adding that “we are one people with one destiny”.
He said the NDC was voted into power on four pillars of wealth creation, investing in people, improvement in infrastructure and an open and honest government, on which the success or failure of his government should be measured.
On the business front, he assured the business community that he would resuscitate local industries to go hand in hand with foreign ones and that local industries would not suffer unfair advantage to cheap foreign imports.
With his right hand raised, he said, “Let’s respond to the call to help put Ghana on her feet. With the help of the Almighty we shall succeed. There is nothing we can’t do if we are united.”

Monday, January 5, 2009

Miss Malaika spreads Christmas joy

Saturday, January 3, 2009 (The Mirror Pg 39)
By Rebecca Kwei
In the spirit of the Christmas season, Miss Malaika 2008, Tamara Dzormeku, visited the New Horizon Special School in Accra to share the season’s good tidings with the students on Boxing Day, December 26.
The school caters for children and adults who are intellectually disabled.
According to Tamara, she thought it wise to begin her Miss Malaika task by giving students of the school a special treat to let them know “they are loved and appreciated in society”.
She said “I believe the x-factor needed to partake in a beauty contest is to have the virtue of being passionate about the vulnerable in society.
During the party some of the students engaged in activities such as dancing competition, musical chairs and a question and answer session on malaria.
Those who performed well were given prizes ranging from footballs, pens from the sponsors: Vimto, ATL, Ezal Trading Company and FAACO.
Tamara expressed gratitude to all the sponsors, especially her mother, Miss Stella Beatrice Cochrane, formerly of SSNIT Investment Department, who was the main sponsor for the party.
She advised the students to smile always and be happy no matter the situation they found themselves in.
She said she loved watching the students playing and interacting happily, adding that “I learnt not to sympathise with them but rather encourage them in life”.
Officials of the school used the opportunity to invite individuals and organisations to visit the school since people who come around to show love and care always make the students happy.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

More entertainment on Viasat

Saturday, December 27, 2008 (The Mirror Pg 46)

By Rebecca Kwei
It’s the perfect Christmas gift for television viewers as they would have the opportunity to enjoy exciting programmes during the Yuletide and after with the introduction of Viasat 1, a new free TV channel in the country.
Viasat 1 is the TV branch of Modern Times Group (MTG), a Swedish media group listed on the Stockholm stock exchange. Viasat 1 is the company’s first TV channel in Africa.
At the launch in Accra, the CEO of Viasat Broadcasting Limited, Rune Skogeng said Viasat 1 will predominantly broadcast entertainment programmes.
"As part of a bigger media group we have strong and long-standing relations with all the major Hollywood studios, enabling us to bring the very best blockbuster content to Ghana," he said.
Additionally, he said the company had entered into agreement with some of the biggest African content owners and secured the best African movies, series and current affairs programmes.
He said the station will continuously seek to improve its programme line-up to ensure best services for viewers and advertisers.
Viasat 1 started airing in the country on December 12, this year and according to Mr Skogeng the company had set up transmitter sites in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Central and Western Regions to enable them to cover the commercial and densely populated areas of Ghana.
In early 2009, the company will set up a transmitter site in the Northern region to cover that part of the country.
Mr Skogeng said the company had conducted extensive research studies to provide a clear picture of what viewers actually want and "we believe our schedule will bring something new to the television market in Ghana, and it will be appreciated by both viewers and advertisers."