Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Civil society health forum held in Accra

Saturday, September 26, 2009 (The Mirror Pg 18)
By Rebecca Kwei
The Director of the Institute of Local Government Studies, Dr Esther Offei Aboagye, has called on the public sector to recognise the important role civil society organisations (CSOs) play in the health sector.
Dr Aboagye said the CSOs are important stakeholders in health delivery and the public service has no choice but to rely on their initiatives to help reach the unreached in society.
Dr Aboagye made the call at a two-day civil society health forum in Accra which was organised by the Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Health. It was on the theme “Reaching the Unreached: The role of civil society”.
She also called on the public sector to enhance its capacity to be able to accept the ability of civil society to deliver.
“There is an unfortunate tendency on either side to lump all together, public health practitioners seeing all CSOs as charlatans and CSOs seeing public health practitioners as all unfeeling and uncaring”, she noted.
She described the unreached as those who do not have access to acceptable, basic standards of health care.
She commended NGOs and CSOs for their support in health delivery in remote areas despite the numerous challenges that they face.
However, she said for CSOs to play its role effectively, they must be integrated into the sustainable institutions of the state which has the mandate and responsibility to ensure effective, equitable and quality life for all.
The Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Elias Sory, said the contribution of NGOs and CSOs to health delivery in the country was key and they cannot be left out if the health sector was to succeed.
He urged them to organise regular training to build their capacity and efficiency.
Dr Sory said although a good number of NGOs and CSOs were doing well, there were others who had ulterior motives and suggested that they review each other.
He also suggested that the organisations should find innovative ways of reaching the unreachable; not only in the rural areas but in the cities as well.
The Country Representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Daniel Kerpesz, commended NGOs and CSOs for their role in the health sector and other areas and said their commitment had pushed issues of the vulnerable on the world agenda.
A representative of the Royal Netherlands, Mr Theophilus Ayugane, called on NGOs and CSOs to be more transparent and accountable to the constituencies they represent, improve research capacity and institute measures to expose fraudulent organisations.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

GJA launches HIV/AIDS project

Saturday, September 19, 2009 (The Mirror Pg 34)
By Rebecca Kwei
The Acting Director-General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Dr Angela El-Adas, has called on the media to use its agenda setting role to educate the public on the need to lead healthy lifestyles so as to prevent the spread of the HIV infection.
She said the media was an important partner and had a vital role to play in the campaign to reduce HIV related stigma and discrimination in the society.
Dr El-Adas made the call at the launch of a Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) project dubbed “Using the Media to Create Public Awareness on HIV and AIDS” in Accra. The one-year project is being sponsored by the Ghana AIDS Commission.
The Acting Director-General said the commission recognised the need to engage the media in order to deepen knowledge on HIV and AIDS, enhance accurate reporting of HIV issues and keep HIV in the spotlight.
She said this year, the commission had supported more than 24 radio stations and other media houses across the country to intensify programmes aimed at behaviour modification and dispel misinformation/misconception surrounding the disease among others.
On the HIV epidemic, she said from 1986 to 2006, 121,050 AIDS cases were reported by the Ministry of Health and in 2006, about 297,000 Ghanaians were estimated to be living with HIV. Currently, about 240,000 Ghanaians are believed to be living with the virus.
She said the national adult HIV prevalence was 1.7 per cent which was a decline from the 2007 prevalence of 1.9 per cent.
She said the HIV epidemic in Ghana was described as a general one, with pockets of high prevalence among certain sub-populations and geographic areas.
However, she noted that these pockets of high prevalence had the capacity to increase the HIV and AIDS cases in the country and said it was important to use effective interventions to reduce the infection in those areas.
Dr El-Adas said over the next five years the commission would invest in evidence-based prevention interventions to avert new infections, while scaling up treatment and care efforts for those already infected and affected.
The President of the GJA, Mr Ransford Tetteh, said for an area such as HIV and AIDS, which is both technical and scientific, one must get the issues right before attempting to inform and educate the public.
Therefore, he said “we are pleased that through this project, we are going to educate ourselves more of HIV and AIDS, so that we can give this dangerous disease that still has no cure the deserved attention, so that we can employ the necessary mass communication strategies against it to be able to expose its dangers persistently and consistently to our people.”
Mr Tetteh said the project would organise training programmes for journalists specialising in health reporting.
Additionally, there will be an award scheme, where journalists who write exclusive stories on HIV and AIDS and related health issues will be rewarded. The writer of any story that is carried in the media and meets the criteria set will receive GH¢100. There will also be a special award at the 2010 GJA awards night.
The Programme Manager of the National AIDS Control Programme, Dr Akwei Addo, who chaired the launch, said although knowledge of HIV and AIDS was high, only a few of the population adhered to preventive methods.
He also appealed to the media to educate the public on the need to protect themselves from HIV, patronise Voluntary Counselling and Testing and not to stigmatise those who are infected and affected.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Chief Psychiatrist calls for mental health law

Saturday, September 12, 2009 (The Mirror Pg 34)

By Rebecca Kwei
The Chief Psychiatrist, Dr Akwasi Osei, says there is an urgent need for the Mental Health Bill to be passed into law since it will protect the rights of people.
He noted that mental health borders mainly on human rights and the law will prevent people from being abused.
“Every day that the bill is delayed, somebody’s right is being abused and the country loses resources,” he said.
Dr Osei was speaking at a day’s workshop for reporters on the Mental Health Bill in Ghana. The workshop was organised by BasicNeeds, an NGO that seeks to bring change in the lives of people with mental illness or epilepsy and their families.
According to Dr Osei, the bill, which has been revised many times and currently with the Attorney General, has nine sections, including a Mental Health Board to oversee the implementation of the law.
There is also a Mental Health Service, which will be separate from the Ghana Health Service, making it autonomous, but will collaborate with the general health system.
Other sections are the Mental Health Review Tribunal to rule on abuse of rights of patients; Visiting Committees to ensure that the right things are being done; Voluntary and Involuntary treatment; Rights of persons with mental disorder and Protection of Vulnerable groups.
Dr Osei said the Mental Health Bill would de-emphasise institutional care and emphasise community care, making mental care cheaper.
He said the bill had gone through a lot of consultation and the World Health Organisation would likely use it as a template for Gambia.
A Psychiatrist Consultant, Dr J. B. Asare, who presented a paper on “A justification for a separate Mental Health Service with an authority”, said the bill sought to improve the care of the mentally ill in the country.
Additionally, it would address the decentralisation of mental health care at community and in spiritual and traditional settings.
Dr Asare said mental health would be much visible and better funded, if it was established as an authority.
On why the bill, which was drafted in 2004, was still in the offing, he said among others that there was lack of interest in mental health by policy makers and very little consideration was given to mental health during health sector reforms.
For his part, a Health Management Consultant, Dr Kofi Ahmed, said an independent Mental Health Law was needed because mentally ill persons, in most cases, could not control themselves and so were regarded as people who needed special attention.
Giving a historical perspective of the Bill, he said in 1888, the colonial government passed the first legislative instrument, the Lunatic Asylum Ordinance, Cap 79.
The Ordinance remained in force with little amendment until 1972, when the Mental Health Decree, NRCD 30, now Mental Health Act, 1972, was introduced.
A representative of the Human Rights Advocacy Centre (HRAC), Ms Maria Amanor-Akrofi, said people with mental disabilities experienced some of the harshest conditions of living that existed in any society.
Most of the hardships, she noted, were caused by discrimination and the absence of legal protection against improper and abusive treatment.
The Director, Legal Services of the Attorney General’s Department, Mrs Estella Appiah, who chaired the function, said everyone had a role to play in the passage of the bill and appealed to journalists not to stigmatise by using words such as ‘mad’ or ‘lunatics’ for mentally ill persons.
Mr Humphrey Kofie of BasicNeeds also appealed to media practitioners to continue advocating the passage of the mental health bill into law since the country stood to gain a lot from it.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Programme to fight against malaria launched

Saturday, September 5, 2009 (The Mirror Pg 32)

By Rebecca Kwei
The Minister of Health, Dr George Sipa-Adjah Yankey has called for the commitment and support of all in the fight against malaria.
Dr Yankey was speaking at the launch of Team Ghana-United Against Malaria (UAM) in Accra.
The UAM is a campaign involving football teams and heroes, celebrities, health and advocacy organisations, governments and corporate organisations to unite through sports to support the global fight against malaria.
It is also directed at strengthening political and public will in donor countries to increase malaria programming and funding.
The health minister said malaria was a bane to development and pledged the Government’s commitment to do everything possible including vector control and clinical treatment to help eliminate the disease.
Dr Yankey reminded personalities and organisations that “as we sign up to Team Ghana-United Against Malaria, we are making a decision to make a difference. It is a decision to change the course of the disease, change the course of our country and, therefore, the course of the sub Saharan Africa where malaria kills nearly one million children and adults every year and $12 billion of GDP is lost due to its impact.”
He said, “when the mosquito comes to bite you, it does not ask if you are NPP or NDC, ” adding “As long as God gives me breath, mosquito will have no peace.”
Explaining the UAM, Mr Emmanuel Fiagbey of Voices for Malaria-Free Future of the Johns Hopkins University, said the strategy sought to select groups of partners committed to ending malaria and willing to offer their good name and support in conjunction with the heightened activity around the FIFA 2010 World Cup to dramatically reduce deaths from malaria by 2015.
He said football provided a platform to draw everybody on board and the 2010 World Cup which would take place in South Africa would give malaria unparalleled visibility.
Already, the Irish National Team and the Eagles of Mali have signed up to UAM.
At the forum, the President of the Ghana Football Association(GFA), Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi pledged the support of the Ghana Black Stars to the UAM campaign.
Coincidentally, the Minister of Sports Mr Rashid Pelpuo could not attend the programme because he was down with malaria and was represented by the acting CEO of the National Sports Council, Mr Worlanyo Agrah.
Mr Worlanyo said the formation of Team Ghana-United Against Malaria was a laudable effort through which “we can all employ our popular sport — football to motivate our young people, sportsmen and women to adopt the right malaria prevention and treatment practices.”
The UAM is supported by the Ghana Malaria Voices, National Malaria Control Programme, Roll Back Malaria, United Nations Foundation, MTN, among others.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Kofi Akordor — Journalist of the Year

Saturday, August 29, 2009 (The Mirror Pg 11)

By Rebecca Kwei
At the 14th Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) awards ceremony, one man stood tall — Mr Stephen Kofi Akordor of the Graphic Communications Group Limited. He was adjudged the GJA Journalist of the Year 2008.
He was also named the GJA Columnist of the Year at the ceremony.
Mr Akordor joined the Editorial staff of the Daily Graphic in February, 1982 as Staff Reporter.
That same year, he was adjudged the Best Reporter on the News Desk by the company.
In 1983, he was posted to Ho as the Volta Regional Correspondent until 1992, when he returned to Accra to work on the Sub-Desk of the Daily Graphic.
Again in 1995, Mr Akordor was transferred to The Mirror, a weekly paper of the Graphic Communications Group and while there, wrote a column; The International Front, which won him The Best GJA Columnist Award in 2003.
During another change in 2003, he was re-posted to the Daily Graphic as Chief Sub-Editor.
In 2005, Mr Akordor won the GJA Best Feature Writer Award and it was in the same year that he started a new column; ‘From my Rooftop’ which touched on mostly social and national development issues in the Daily Graphic.
Yet another feather in his cap, Mr Akordor in 2006 won the GJA Columnist of the Year Award.
On how he feels about winning all these awards, Mr Akordor said, “I feel honoured and also appreciate the fact that my employers and readers acknowledge my contribution to the development of journalism in the country.”
Mr Akordor said he was inspired to write because he wants to “see my country move from this miserable state to a developed country. The media can be used as a development agent to sensitise and inspire people to bring about change.”
Mr Akordor has performed various assignments on the Political, Features and the Sub desks of the Daily Graphic.
However, he continued writing his column “From my Rooftop” ,which he never missed even when he is on leave.
“The only time this column was not featured was a week in June, 2005 when I was involved in a motor accident,” he recalled.
Mr Akordor advised media practitioners to focus on the national development agenda and not their parochial interest, adding that “at the end of the day a better Ghana means a better life for all of us.”
For emerging the best journalist of the year 2008, Mr Akordor will attend a four-week journalism programme at the Thomson Foundation in Cardiff University in the United Kingdom (UK), a four-week familiarisation tour of some media facilities in the UK and a visit to Unilever Headquarters in UK. He also received a certificate, a plaque and a laptop.
He attended Mawuli School for his secondary education; then continued at the Ghana Institute of Journalism and later at the School of Communication Studies of the University of Ghana, Legon.
He is married with six children.

Kris Stars: New kids on the block

Saturday, August 22, 2009 (The Mirror Pg 14)

By Rebecca Kwei
“So you think you can dance” is an American dance reality show and competition that airs on Fox in the United States of America.
But if you were to pose this question “So you think you can dance? to Kris Stars, the current Malta Guinness Street Dance champions the answer will be a resounding “Yes”!
Kris Stars comprises six young guys between the ages of 20 and 26 from Teshie, a suburb of Accra.
They are Henry Afotey Odai (Spirit) who is the leader of the group, Anselm Afotey Otu (Wonder), Enoch Oko (Young Saint), Solomon Afotey Odai (Wise King), Joseph Okai (Volume) and Manesseh Tawiah Nartey (Madmax).
According to group, four of them namely Henry, Anselm, Enoch and Solomon having been dancing together with the 2001 National Dance Champ, Paa T for the past eight years.
But when Malta Guinness introduced the Street Dance competitions, they recruited Joseph and Manesseh who were also top street dancers in their neighbourhood to join them.
“Winning the competition really makes us feel good” said Henry but for Joseph, it was more of surprise.
“We presented the best choreography, we had energy and were creative,” Anselm chipped in.
The group believes when it comes to dance moves of flipping, cramping, popping, locking and tricks, nobody can beat them.
Henry said the group took part in last year’s competition and although did not win, they did not rest on their laurels but strategised and participated again adding that “champions never quit.”
All the members of Kris Stars are Junior High School graduates but “because of financial problems, we could not further our education,” Anselm explained.
Dancing now is their career and they are loving every bit of it.
For emerging winners the group has qualified to represent Ghana at the Malta Guinness Street Dance International to be held in Nairobi, Kenya on September 12, 2009. They also received GH¢5,000 and a year supply of Malta Guinness products.
Henry said the group is preparing feverishly for the competition in Kenya and are hopeful to win the ultimate prize. They will face the very best crews from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America, with teams coming from Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Cameroon, the Philippines, Holland, France and the USA.
Last year’s winners 2Puff who represented Ghana went on to win the international award and Kris Stars said “we are aware of the task before us and we dare not fail Ghana. With God all things are possible.”
The group appealed to the government and other stakeholders in the arts and entertainment industry to take an interest in dance because a lot of talents abound in that sector.
“It should not always be about football, there are a lot of people who can dance and if their talents can developed it will go a long way in helping the country,” Enoch said.
The group said it was grateful to Malta Guinness and appealed to all Ghanaians to support them to enable them win the ultimate prize in Kenya.
Perhaps the words of the Managing Director of Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited (GGBL), Mr Ekwunife Okoli, at the finals held on August 14, at the National Theatre “judging by the high level of energy, vitality and goodness displayed by the winners, Kris Stars have the potential to make Ghana and GGBL proud in Kenya next month by becoming the World Champions in the International Malta Guinness Street Dance competition,” will come true.