Saturday, July 24, 2010 (The Mirror Pg 13)
By Rebecca Kwei
This year, 2010, marks 100 years since the medical world was made aware of sickle cell disease through the first publication in the scientific literature and yet it remains a major health problem still seeking solutions that will benefit people with the disease.
Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder that affects red blood cells. One person cannot get it from another one.
The disease is inherited from both parents and not just from the mother. Most people with AS or AC blood are not aware of it and do not know they can have children with sickle cell disease.
It is estimated that more than 350,000 babies are born with sickle cell disease in Africa every year. Less that two per cent of babies born in rural Africa with the most severe form of the disease survive beyond five years and sickle accounts for more than six per cent of all mortality in young children in Africa.
In Ghana, it is estimated that 12,000 babies are born with sickle cell annually.
Clearly with such statistics of people suffering from sickle cell, especially children, the First Lady, Mrs Naadu Mills, hit the nail on the head when she called on scientists and governments at the first global congress on sickle cell disease taking place in Accra to do a lot more about the disease than they had done in the past.
"Being very much concerned over the plight of families affected by the disease, it is my personal hope that the results of the congress will lead to reduced death, pain and suffering of our children and adults with sickle cell disease and that strategies will be adopted to increase health education, screening, and counselling in order to reduce the public health burden of the disease," she said.
Mrs Mills mentioned that examples in several countries show that with early diagnosis of the disease through new-born screening, family health education, antibiotic prophylaxis and organised comprehensive medical care, children need not die early or suffer painful and debilitated lives.
The Minister of Health, Dr Benjamin Kunbour, who acknowledged that modern medical services had not paid much attention to non-communicable, genetic diseases such as sickle cell, however, gave the assurance that his ministry was committed to developing policies to bring about the establishment of sickle cell disease as one of the public health priorities.
"The Ghana Health Service, with support from the World Health Organisation, has recently developed a document titled "Strategic framework for the management, prevention and control of sickle cell disease in Ghana". It is the desire of government to adopt this framework to develop educational, screening, and clinical programmes throughout the country," he assured.
As a first step, Dr Kunbour said government has committed itself to the scale up of the pilot New-born Screening Project carried out in Kumasi and Tikrom into a National Programme of New-born Screening for Sickle Cell Disease.
The pilot screening programme initiated by Prof. Kwaku Ohene-Frempong of the Children's Hospital in Philadelphia, with funding from the US National Institutes of Health and led in Ghana by Prof. Francis Nkrumah of the Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research, has proven the feasibility of this life-saving programme in Africa.
Dr Kunbour said as of December 2009, the new-born screening project in Kumasi and Tikrom had screened more than 300,000 new-borns, found more than 5,000 babies with sickle cell disease and had enrolled close to 4,000 of them at the Sickle Cell Clinic at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi for regular and comprehensive management.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Sicke Cell Foundation of Ghana, Dr Kwame D. Fordwor, said the foundation in the past five years has worked in collaboration with other organisations to initiate the national new-born screening programme with assistance from the government of Brazil which resulted in the signing of the Brazil-Ghana Technical Co-operation Agreement in Sickle Cell Disease in October last year, among others.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Lydia Forson — In love with acting
Saturday, July 17, 2010 (The Mirror Pg 31)
By Rebecca Kwei
SHE kicked into high gear as an actress only a few years ago and though some may put her fast rise as one of the nation’s well-loved on-screen personalities down to mere good luck, bubbly actress Lydia Forson ascribes her current prominent showing on the movie radar to a wholehearted pursuit of something she truly loves.
The award-winning actress, who has recently risen to the status of endorsing high-end consumer products, describes her life as one big movie which has already travelled on some memorable scenes and is set to unravel even more thrilling ones.
Movie lovers and television viewers know her from Run Baby Run, Different Shades of Blue, Scorned, The Perfect Picture and A Sting In A Tale, but she was bitten by the acting bug before those productions came along.
Though she was the Entertainment Prefect during her days at St Louis Secondary School, she didn’t fancy acting till she got to the University of Ghana, Legon, and had the opportunity to play a cameo role in the Hotel St James television series.
“I was very nervous at the beginning but settled later and totally enjoyed myself on the set. Though I was to be in only one episode, the director liked what I did and later wrote more scenes with me in mind. I ended up with more substantial screen time than I had envisaged,” she recalled.
After her stint in Hotel St James, she played a supporting role in the award-winning movie, Run Baby Run in 2006. The flick won four African Movie Academy awards and was also adjudged the Best Narrative Film at the 17th Pan African Film Festival.
Becoming more active in the movie industry, Lydia had the chance to again star in another television series, Different Shades of Blue.
It was not until she participated in the Next Movie Star reality show in Lagos, Nigeria, where she placed fourth, that she decided acting was what she wanted to do.
“I learnt a lot during the period and I firmly decided that acting was going to be my life. I was confident and did not care what anyone else thought of me. I was determined to push on.”
Lydia, who sounded very religious throughout the interview, said God has a plan for everyone and “if you put your trust and have faith in Him, you will succeed in all your endeavours.”
Her first major break was in 2008 when she played the lead role as Dea in Shirley Frimpong-Manso’s Scorned movie. Lydia said to date, Scorned remains one of her favourite movies because she loved the story line and the role she played.
“I played different characters as Dea and it was something I had always wanted to do so people could see my versatility.”
Scorned definitely brought her into the limelight and this led to her first African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) nomination as the Best Upcoming Female Actress and Joy FM’s Night with the Stars Best Actress for 2009 award.
Lydia has had offers flooding in for her to play roles in various productions. She, however, maintains that she is very particular about good quality scripts that challenge the actor and not willing to compromise on standards so did not accept most of those offers. There has been some backlash for that but she has stood her ground and will not feature in anything she is not comfortable with.
The next critically acclaimed film in which Lydia proved her versatility and validated her status as a serious actress was in the 2009 movie, The Perfect Picture. Critics have praised the film and Lydia’s dynamic performance solidified her presence in the Ghanaian movie industry.
Together with Jackie Appiah and Naa Ashorkor, she received the AMAA Best Actress in Lead Role award recently for their roles in Perfect Picture.
She played the lead role in yet another film from Shirley, A Sting In A Tale last year which was also nominated as the Best Narrative Film at the Pan African Film Festival.
It has not only been movies for Lydia. She recently took part in a play titled Vagina Monologue which she said made her fall in love with stage acting and would be doing more of that in the future.
According to Lydia, this year has been very busy for her as she is working on a lot of projects. She indicated that most of the things she is working on will be in fruition by the latter part of year adding that “Ghanaians should expect something mind blowing.”
There has been a lot of collaboration between Ghanaians and their Nigerian counterparts in the movie business and Lydia sees this as a good move.
“We are always talking about African unity. One way of achieving this is through movie collaboration. I hope in the years to come, more African countries will collaborate to make films,” she said.
She noted that the movie industry has come a long way and to revive and sustain it, there was the need for government, corporate bodies and individuals to invest in it.
Lydia is working on establishing the Free2bme Foundation — a mentorship programme to encourage unconventional and innovative thinking among the youth and inculcate in them the will to be anything but ordinary.
Born to Rev. Dr Mathias Forson of the Methodist Church and Janet Banfro, Lydia went to the United States at the age of six when her father pursued his doctoral degree. While there, she attended Wilmore Elementary School in Kentucky. The family later moved back to Ghana and she continued at the Akosombo International School through to St Louis Secondary School in Kumasi. She obtained a Bachelor’s degree in English Language and Information Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Lydia lights up when she talks about her family. She says her mom is her best friend and loves her brothers, Sam and Emmanuel, to bits.
She also loves dogs but unfortunately her three dogs: Tyson, Angel and Lucky died through poisoning.
She lives by Tupac Shakur’s assertion that “when my heart can beat no more, I hope that I die for a principle or a belief that I had lived for.”
By Rebecca Kwei
SHE kicked into high gear as an actress only a few years ago and though some may put her fast rise as one of the nation’s well-loved on-screen personalities down to mere good luck, bubbly actress Lydia Forson ascribes her current prominent showing on the movie radar to a wholehearted pursuit of something she truly loves.
The award-winning actress, who has recently risen to the status of endorsing high-end consumer products, describes her life as one big movie which has already travelled on some memorable scenes and is set to unravel even more thrilling ones.
Movie lovers and television viewers know her from Run Baby Run, Different Shades of Blue, Scorned, The Perfect Picture and A Sting In A Tale, but she was bitten by the acting bug before those productions came along.
Though she was the Entertainment Prefect during her days at St Louis Secondary School, she didn’t fancy acting till she got to the University of Ghana, Legon, and had the opportunity to play a cameo role in the Hotel St James television series.
“I was very nervous at the beginning but settled later and totally enjoyed myself on the set. Though I was to be in only one episode, the director liked what I did and later wrote more scenes with me in mind. I ended up with more substantial screen time than I had envisaged,” she recalled.
After her stint in Hotel St James, she played a supporting role in the award-winning movie, Run Baby Run in 2006. The flick won four African Movie Academy awards and was also adjudged the Best Narrative Film at the 17th Pan African Film Festival.
Becoming more active in the movie industry, Lydia had the chance to again star in another television series, Different Shades of Blue.
It was not until she participated in the Next Movie Star reality show in Lagos, Nigeria, where she placed fourth, that she decided acting was what she wanted to do.
“I learnt a lot during the period and I firmly decided that acting was going to be my life. I was confident and did not care what anyone else thought of me. I was determined to push on.”
Lydia, who sounded very religious throughout the interview, said God has a plan for everyone and “if you put your trust and have faith in Him, you will succeed in all your endeavours.”
Her first major break was in 2008 when she played the lead role as Dea in Shirley Frimpong-Manso’s Scorned movie. Lydia said to date, Scorned remains one of her favourite movies because she loved the story line and the role she played.
“I played different characters as Dea and it was something I had always wanted to do so people could see my versatility.”
Scorned definitely brought her into the limelight and this led to her first African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) nomination as the Best Upcoming Female Actress and Joy FM’s Night with the Stars Best Actress for 2009 award.
Lydia has had offers flooding in for her to play roles in various productions. She, however, maintains that she is very particular about good quality scripts that challenge the actor and not willing to compromise on standards so did not accept most of those offers. There has been some backlash for that but she has stood her ground and will not feature in anything she is not comfortable with.
The next critically acclaimed film in which Lydia proved her versatility and validated her status as a serious actress was in the 2009 movie, The Perfect Picture. Critics have praised the film and Lydia’s dynamic performance solidified her presence in the Ghanaian movie industry.
Together with Jackie Appiah and Naa Ashorkor, she received the AMAA Best Actress in Lead Role award recently for their roles in Perfect Picture.
She played the lead role in yet another film from Shirley, A Sting In A Tale last year which was also nominated as the Best Narrative Film at the Pan African Film Festival.
It has not only been movies for Lydia. She recently took part in a play titled Vagina Monologue which she said made her fall in love with stage acting and would be doing more of that in the future.
According to Lydia, this year has been very busy for her as she is working on a lot of projects. She indicated that most of the things she is working on will be in fruition by the latter part of year adding that “Ghanaians should expect something mind blowing.”
There has been a lot of collaboration between Ghanaians and their Nigerian counterparts in the movie business and Lydia sees this as a good move.
“We are always talking about African unity. One way of achieving this is through movie collaboration. I hope in the years to come, more African countries will collaborate to make films,” she said.
She noted that the movie industry has come a long way and to revive and sustain it, there was the need for government, corporate bodies and individuals to invest in it.
Lydia is working on establishing the Free2bme Foundation — a mentorship programme to encourage unconventional and innovative thinking among the youth and inculcate in them the will to be anything but ordinary.
Born to Rev. Dr Mathias Forson of the Methodist Church and Janet Banfro, Lydia went to the United States at the age of six when her father pursued his doctoral degree. While there, she attended Wilmore Elementary School in Kentucky. The family later moved back to Ghana and she continued at the Akosombo International School through to St Louis Secondary School in Kumasi. She obtained a Bachelor’s degree in English Language and Information Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Lydia lights up when she talks about her family. She says her mom is her best friend and loves her brothers, Sam and Emmanuel, to bits.
She also loves dogs but unfortunately her three dogs: Tyson, Angel and Lucky died through poisoning.
She lives by Tupac Shakur’s assertion that “when my heart can beat no more, I hope that I die for a principle or a belief that I had lived for.”
'Re-evaluate H1N1 vaccination'
Saturday, July 17, 2010 (The Mirror Pg 13)
By Rebecca Kwei
The Director of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Advocacy and Training in Pharmacovigilance, Dr Alex Dodoo, has called for a re-evaluation of the large-scale rollout of the HINI vaccine nationwide.
He said any such large-scale deployment of vaccines should be informed by proper assessment of the risk and a good and rigorous determination of those most vulnerable and hence requiring vaccination.
“There are several people who would benefit from H1N1 vaccination but there are millions more for whom vaccination would present very little benefits” he said in an interview with The Mirror.
Dr Dodoo said the rollout should have been accompanied by very intensive and active monitoring for the occurrence of side effects to ensure that the known benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks posed by the vaccine itself.
“The fact that several people have complained of unacceptable side effects shows how important safety is to the public.Those likely to suffer severe consequences from H1N1 infection include pregnant women, people with serious pre-existing conditions like asthma and certain heart and lung conditions, as well as those with reduced immunity for instance cancer patients, HIV patients” he said.
Dr Dodoo explained that the benefits of vaccination to such people were expected to be higher than any side effects the vaccines might give.
However, for most normal adults, the H1N1 infection is likely to lead to mild symptoms. Hence, any severe side effects from the vaccine is not likely to be acceptable.
Since the nationwide H1N1 vaccination started, many people who have been vaccinated have complained of side effects such as dizziness, general weakness, reactions at the site of the injection such as hardening, swelling, pain and redness, fatigue and fever.
However, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in a press statement, vouched for the safety of the H1NI vaccine, indicating that it was to provide beneficiaries with protection against the disease.
It said although those adverse reactions, even after any drug administration were not unusual, the health authorities would deal with the reports with all the seriousness they deserved.
Dr Dodoo said the rollout of H1N1 vaccination to travellers to the World Cup and also to at-risk groups and vulnerable people was a good idea except that the very close monitoring that should have accompanied the rollout appeared to have been absent.
In addition, there has not been published evaluation of those events reported and what the implications of those are to the continuation of the mass immunisation.
Some people also claim they were not given any information on what to expect and what side effects may occur.
“The reported side effects and associated media coverage of them following the large-scale rollout of the H1N1 vaccine to the public, however, raises serious concerns which call for an immediate re-evaluation of the decision to vaccinate everyone.
Apart from the identified vulnerable populations, what are the expected benefits and how much risk is there of contracting H1N1 given that the pandemic appears to have abated and several countries have stayed away from mass immunisation?” he queried.
”If we don’t rollout public health initiatives with good education and appropriate safety monitoring, we risk alienating the public and compromising these laudable initiatives.
“Vaccination is good but only when targeted at the right people and carried out with good education and information provision accompanied with robust safety monitoring and communication systems” Dr Dodoo added.
He said the public needed to be continuously assured of the safety of vaccines and the small risk of adverse reactions that a minority of patients may suffer.
Dr Dodoo also called for a robust risk management plan to accompany the large-scale immunisation of the Ghanaian public with the H1N1 vaccine and regular publication of the adverse events associated with the vaccine as is currently being done in many countries.
In another development, there have been public concerns by several global experts who have questioned the whole management of the pandemic by the WHO, citing possible conflicts of interest and profiteering by the pharmaceutical industry.
In an editorial and investigative piece by the British Medical Journal on June 3, this year, the authors mentioned the example of Poland which refused to be involved in stockpiling vaccines and anti-retrovirals, a decision which now appears very prudent since countries such as France and England which stockpiled these medicines are now finding ways to sell them to other countries.
Other serious issues were raised by the editorial which the WHO had since responded to officially.
By Rebecca Kwei
The Director of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Advocacy and Training in Pharmacovigilance, Dr Alex Dodoo, has called for a re-evaluation of the large-scale rollout of the HINI vaccine nationwide.
He said any such large-scale deployment of vaccines should be informed by proper assessment of the risk and a good and rigorous determination of those most vulnerable and hence requiring vaccination.
“There are several people who would benefit from H1N1 vaccination but there are millions more for whom vaccination would present very little benefits” he said in an interview with The Mirror.
Dr Dodoo said the rollout should have been accompanied by very intensive and active monitoring for the occurrence of side effects to ensure that the known benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks posed by the vaccine itself.
“The fact that several people have complained of unacceptable side effects shows how important safety is to the public.Those likely to suffer severe consequences from H1N1 infection include pregnant women, people with serious pre-existing conditions like asthma and certain heart and lung conditions, as well as those with reduced immunity for instance cancer patients, HIV patients” he said.
Dr Dodoo explained that the benefits of vaccination to such people were expected to be higher than any side effects the vaccines might give.
However, for most normal adults, the H1N1 infection is likely to lead to mild symptoms. Hence, any severe side effects from the vaccine is not likely to be acceptable.
Since the nationwide H1N1 vaccination started, many people who have been vaccinated have complained of side effects such as dizziness, general weakness, reactions at the site of the injection such as hardening, swelling, pain and redness, fatigue and fever.
However, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in a press statement, vouched for the safety of the H1NI vaccine, indicating that it was to provide beneficiaries with protection against the disease.
It said although those adverse reactions, even after any drug administration were not unusual, the health authorities would deal with the reports with all the seriousness they deserved.
Dr Dodoo said the rollout of H1N1 vaccination to travellers to the World Cup and also to at-risk groups and vulnerable people was a good idea except that the very close monitoring that should have accompanied the rollout appeared to have been absent.
In addition, there has not been published evaluation of those events reported and what the implications of those are to the continuation of the mass immunisation.
Some people also claim they were not given any information on what to expect and what side effects may occur.
“The reported side effects and associated media coverage of them following the large-scale rollout of the H1N1 vaccine to the public, however, raises serious concerns which call for an immediate re-evaluation of the decision to vaccinate everyone.
Apart from the identified vulnerable populations, what are the expected benefits and how much risk is there of contracting H1N1 given that the pandemic appears to have abated and several countries have stayed away from mass immunisation?” he queried.
”If we don’t rollout public health initiatives with good education and appropriate safety monitoring, we risk alienating the public and compromising these laudable initiatives.
“Vaccination is good but only when targeted at the right people and carried out with good education and information provision accompanied with robust safety monitoring and communication systems” Dr Dodoo added.
He said the public needed to be continuously assured of the safety of vaccines and the small risk of adverse reactions that a minority of patients may suffer.
Dr Dodoo also called for a robust risk management plan to accompany the large-scale immunisation of the Ghanaian public with the H1N1 vaccine and regular publication of the adverse events associated with the vaccine as is currently being done in many countries.
In another development, there have been public concerns by several global experts who have questioned the whole management of the pandemic by the WHO, citing possible conflicts of interest and profiteering by the pharmaceutical industry.
In an editorial and investigative piece by the British Medical Journal on June 3, this year, the authors mentioned the example of Poland which refused to be involved in stockpiling vaccines and anti-retrovirals, a decision which now appears very prudent since countries such as France and England which stockpiled these medicines are now finding ways to sell them to other countries.
Other serious issues were raised by the editorial which the WHO had since responded to officially.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Ghana to benefit from cleft lip, palate management project
Saturday, July 10, 2010 (The Mirror Pg 13)
By Rebecca Kwei
TRANSFORMING Faces Worldwide (TFW), a Canadian charity which helps cleft lip and palate management projects in developing countries, has extended its operations in Ghana for the next three years.
At a press briefing on the operations of the Cleft Lip and Palate Management Project (CLPMP), Ghana, the non-governmental organisation which had been working in the country since 2002 revealed that it has so far supported about 500 patients through surgery and a larger number of patients have received multi-disciplinary services.
The project which is located at the Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Centre (RPSBC) at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital draws various health experts from both public and private health institutions to form a multi-disciplinary team.
Cleft lip and palate is a congenital anomaly or defect which causes a split of the lip and/or the roof of the mouth; a defect which allows someone to look into the mouth of a patient without the patient opening the mouth. Parents who want a ‘perfect baby’ are usually shocked when they are presented with such babies.
Problems associated with the defect are related to appearance, social stigma, failure to name the child, child not sent for immunisations, child not being sent to school, some not being allowed to live and also being abandoned by parents, mostly their fathers.
Medical problems linked with cleft lip are feeding problems, repeated ear infections, speech problems, hearing problems, learning difficulties, as well as other congenital problems such as heart, skeletal and genital problems.
According to Mr James Hottor, a representative of TFW, the NGO supports cleft lip and palate management projects in developing countries by providing funds for medical supplies, treatment and training of local cleft specialists among others.
He said TFW has projects in Bulgaria, Peru, Argentina, India, Nepal, Ethiopia, China and Thailand.
He said the goal of CLPMP, Ghana, was to evolve and sustain a comprehensive cleft lip and palate management in Ghana, pursue partnerships for the sustenance of the project and also provide assistance to poor persons with cleft lip and palate management.
The Executive Director of TFW, Mr Esteban Lasso, said close to 90,000 interventions have been performed for more than 6,000 patients.
These included reconstructive surgery, speech therapy, hearing tests and aids, breastfeeding counselling, dentistry/orthodontics, nutritional support, psychological counselling, ear, nose and throat (ENT) services.
He said a child was born with a cleft lip and palate every 11 minutes and that in many developing countries, access to multidisciplinary treatment was limited or lacking in quality.
Other challenges, he said, had to do with the ‘brain drain’ of local medical specialists which undermined the development of cleft centres and the fact that cleft lip and palate was a low priority for the overburdened health systems as well as limited funds.
He said there was, therefore, the need for long-term partnerships to build multidisciplinary teams and emphasis placed on building local capacity and training.
Dr Albert Paintsil, a member of the CLPMP, Ghana, said the cleft lip and palate defect occurred during the development of the face of the foetus in the first three months of pregnancy.
He noted that most mothers may not be aware of the pregnancy during that time and may engage in activities such as intake of alcohol and certain drugs, smoking, anticonvulsants, retinoic acid, steroids, lack of folic acid and vitamins and some herbal concoctions which may increase the risk factors of the baby developing the defect.
He said defects in the genetic material passed on to the child from the parents was also a factor.
Dr Paintsil emphasised that cleft lip and palate was not the result of witchcraft, unfaithfulness on the part of the woman, curse or the effect of a ‘bad look’ during pregnancy.
By Rebecca Kwei
TRANSFORMING Faces Worldwide (TFW), a Canadian charity which helps cleft lip and palate management projects in developing countries, has extended its operations in Ghana for the next three years.
At a press briefing on the operations of the Cleft Lip and Palate Management Project (CLPMP), Ghana, the non-governmental organisation which had been working in the country since 2002 revealed that it has so far supported about 500 patients through surgery and a larger number of patients have received multi-disciplinary services.
The project which is located at the Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Centre (RPSBC) at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital draws various health experts from both public and private health institutions to form a multi-disciplinary team.
Cleft lip and palate is a congenital anomaly or defect which causes a split of the lip and/or the roof of the mouth; a defect which allows someone to look into the mouth of a patient without the patient opening the mouth. Parents who want a ‘perfect baby’ are usually shocked when they are presented with such babies.
Problems associated with the defect are related to appearance, social stigma, failure to name the child, child not sent for immunisations, child not being sent to school, some not being allowed to live and also being abandoned by parents, mostly their fathers.
Medical problems linked with cleft lip are feeding problems, repeated ear infections, speech problems, hearing problems, learning difficulties, as well as other congenital problems such as heart, skeletal and genital problems.
According to Mr James Hottor, a representative of TFW, the NGO supports cleft lip and palate management projects in developing countries by providing funds for medical supplies, treatment and training of local cleft specialists among others.
He said TFW has projects in Bulgaria, Peru, Argentina, India, Nepal, Ethiopia, China and Thailand.
He said the goal of CLPMP, Ghana, was to evolve and sustain a comprehensive cleft lip and palate management in Ghana, pursue partnerships for the sustenance of the project and also provide assistance to poor persons with cleft lip and palate management.
The Executive Director of TFW, Mr Esteban Lasso, said close to 90,000 interventions have been performed for more than 6,000 patients.
These included reconstructive surgery, speech therapy, hearing tests and aids, breastfeeding counselling, dentistry/orthodontics, nutritional support, psychological counselling, ear, nose and throat (ENT) services.
He said a child was born with a cleft lip and palate every 11 minutes and that in many developing countries, access to multidisciplinary treatment was limited or lacking in quality.
Other challenges, he said, had to do with the ‘brain drain’ of local medical specialists which undermined the development of cleft centres and the fact that cleft lip and palate was a low priority for the overburdened health systems as well as limited funds.
He said there was, therefore, the need for long-term partnerships to build multidisciplinary teams and emphasis placed on building local capacity and training.
Dr Albert Paintsil, a member of the CLPMP, Ghana, said the cleft lip and palate defect occurred during the development of the face of the foetus in the first three months of pregnancy.
He noted that most mothers may not be aware of the pregnancy during that time and may engage in activities such as intake of alcohol and certain drugs, smoking, anticonvulsants, retinoic acid, steroids, lack of folic acid and vitamins and some herbal concoctions which may increase the risk factors of the baby developing the defect.
He said defects in the genetic material passed on to the child from the parents was also a factor.
Dr Paintsil emphasised that cleft lip and palate was not the result of witchcraft, unfaithfulness on the part of the woman, curse or the effect of a ‘bad look’ during pregnancy.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Are beauty queens getting 'ugly'
Saturday, July 3, 2010 (The Mirror Pg 27)
By Rebecca Kwei
As Ghanaians bask in the exploits of the Black Stars at the ongoing World Cup, one lady who may not be having fun right now is TV3’s Ghana’s Most Beautiful, Nasara Mariam Abdul Rauf.
Nasara has been stripped of her title by the organisers of the pageant, TV3, for allegedly stealing a mobile phone belonging to Miss UK when they camped in the Philippines in preparation for the Miss Earth 2009.
Nasara, however, insists she did not steal any phone but only ‘borrowed’ the phone to make calls.
“As far as I know, I am still Ghana’s Most Beautiful. I don’t have any problem with TV3, everything that is being said about me is false rumour and I leave it all to God” she told the Graphic Showbiz.
TV3 also says it arrived at the decision to strip Nasara of her title after series of investigations, internal discussions and evidence it had. The lady whose phone has caused the controversy is Miss UK, Kirsty Nichol who works as a model and lives in London. She is also a trained singer under the Royal Associated Board and the Academy Of Contemporary Music. She was crowned Miss Earth England 2009 at the Royal Leamington Spa in Warwickshire, England.
The evidence TV3 had was an e-mail from Miss UK which was an itemised phone bill with lots of calls to Ghana at a time that the chip had disappeared. Efforts to get her comments on the unfolding drama were not successful.
In another development, Laura Anness, a teacher who was crowned Miss Cornwall and was set to participate in the Miss England final in Birmingham, has lost her crown after the organisers of the pageant discovered she had deceived them.
Her entry forms for 2010 said she was 22. So, too, were her entry forms for the competition in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Laura is, in fact, 27. Entrants have to be aged between 17 and 24. To make matters worse, the new Miss Cornwall actually lived in Plymouth — in Devon.
She was found out when Miss Cornwall organiser, Becky Chapman, spotted the age inconsistencies on the entry forms and then went to visit her Devon home.
Laura apologised and handed back her sash, crown, her 12-month modelling contract and £2,000 worth of prizes.
Another beauty queen, Venus Raj, who won the Pilipinas Universe title in the Philippines on March 6, 2010, was also stripped of her crown when the organisers discovered inconsistencies contained in her birth records, in contrast to her personal account of her birth.
In 2008, there was the case of a Mexican beauty queen, Laura Zuniga, who was detained on suspicion of drug and weapons violation was stripped of her crown in the Hispanoamerican queen pageant.
Laura was detained on December 22, 2008 along with seven men, some of them suspected to be drug traffickers. Authorities found a large stash of weapons, ammunition and $53,300 with them inside a vehicle.
By Rebecca Kwei
As Ghanaians bask in the exploits of the Black Stars at the ongoing World Cup, one lady who may not be having fun right now is TV3’s Ghana’s Most Beautiful, Nasara Mariam Abdul Rauf.
Nasara has been stripped of her title by the organisers of the pageant, TV3, for allegedly stealing a mobile phone belonging to Miss UK when they camped in the Philippines in preparation for the Miss Earth 2009.
Nasara, however, insists she did not steal any phone but only ‘borrowed’ the phone to make calls.
“As far as I know, I am still Ghana’s Most Beautiful. I don’t have any problem with TV3, everything that is being said about me is false rumour and I leave it all to God” she told the Graphic Showbiz.
TV3 also says it arrived at the decision to strip Nasara of her title after series of investigations, internal discussions and evidence it had. The lady whose phone has caused the controversy is Miss UK, Kirsty Nichol who works as a model and lives in London. She is also a trained singer under the Royal Associated Board and the Academy Of Contemporary Music. She was crowned Miss Earth England 2009 at the Royal Leamington Spa in Warwickshire, England.
The evidence TV3 had was an e-mail from Miss UK which was an itemised phone bill with lots of calls to Ghana at a time that the chip had disappeared. Efforts to get her comments on the unfolding drama were not successful.
In another development, Laura Anness, a teacher who was crowned Miss Cornwall and was set to participate in the Miss England final in Birmingham, has lost her crown after the organisers of the pageant discovered she had deceived them.
Her entry forms for 2010 said she was 22. So, too, were her entry forms for the competition in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Laura is, in fact, 27. Entrants have to be aged between 17 and 24. To make matters worse, the new Miss Cornwall actually lived in Plymouth — in Devon.
She was found out when Miss Cornwall organiser, Becky Chapman, spotted the age inconsistencies on the entry forms and then went to visit her Devon home.
Laura apologised and handed back her sash, crown, her 12-month modelling contract and £2,000 worth of prizes.
Another beauty queen, Venus Raj, who won the Pilipinas Universe title in the Philippines on March 6, 2010, was also stripped of her crown when the organisers discovered inconsistencies contained in her birth records, in contrast to her personal account of her birth.
In 2008, there was the case of a Mexican beauty queen, Laura Zuniga, who was detained on suspicion of drug and weapons violation was stripped of her crown in the Hispanoamerican queen pageant.
Laura was detained on December 22, 2008 along with seven men, some of them suspected to be drug traffickers. Authorities found a large stash of weapons, ammunition and $53,300 with them inside a vehicle.
Commit more resources to cervical cancer screening
Saturday, June 26, 2010 (The Mirror Pg 34)
By Rebecca Kwei
A CANCER CONTROL FOCAL PERSON of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Kofi Nyarko, has called on the government to commit more resources to the effective screening of cervical cancer in the country.
He said cervical cancer was the most common cancer affecting women in Ghana and the lack of an effective and systematic national testing or treatment as compared to other developed countries was increasing the cases of the disease.
Cervical cancer affects tissues of the cervix (the organ connecting the uterus and vagina). It is usually a slow-growing cancer that may not have symptoms but can be found with regular Pap tests (a procedure in which cells are scraped from the cervix and looked at under a microscope). Cervical cancer is almost always caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infection.
Dr Nyarko made this known during a press conference in Accra ahead of the 4th Stop Cervical Cancer in Africa to be held in Accra between July 25 and July 27 this year.
It will be on the theme: “Africa unite in action, mobilising political and financial support to strengthen cervical cancer prevention”.
The three-day international conference is in collaboration with Princess Nikky Breast and Cervical Cancer Foundation, a Nigerian based non-governmental organisation (NGO) at the forefront of breast and cervical cancer prevention and control in Africa.
Giving the cervical cancer statistics, Dr Nyarko said 274,000 deaths were recorded annually, out of which 61,000 (78 per cent) of those deaths were from Africa. About 79,000 women are diagnosed of cervical cancer in Africa each year.
He said women in developing world had the highest risk of developing cervical cancer because few are effectively screened.
He said although there had been interventions in Ghana such as the cervicare project to prevent and treat cervical cancer, there was the need for a systematic national campaign to increase awareness of the disease.
For his part, the Minister of Health, Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, quoting from a World Health Organisation (WHO) studies, said that 18 per cent of all cancer deaths in Ghana was due to cervical cancer.
He noted that unfortunately, most of the cancers seen at the country’s health facilities were advanced cases which could have been cured if they had been detected early and that management of those advanced cases was very expensive.
“Prevention, early detection and treatment of early stages of cervical cancer is very cost effective and has good outcome,” he said.
Dr Kunbuor expressed the hope that conference would accelerate Ghana’s efforts at advocacy and awareness creation, as well as enhance the country’s efforts to implement a comprehensive cervical cancer prevention programme.
The Executive Director of Princess Nikky Breast Cancer Foundation, Princess Nikky Onyeri, said the conference was expected to advocate increased awareness of cervical cancer in Africa; to reduce stigmatisation of people suffering and living with cervical cancer.
She said the conference also had the objective to mobilise the needed resources for the development of policies, strategies and action to fight cervical cancer at national, regional and international levels.
By Rebecca Kwei
A CANCER CONTROL FOCAL PERSON of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Kofi Nyarko, has called on the government to commit more resources to the effective screening of cervical cancer in the country.
He said cervical cancer was the most common cancer affecting women in Ghana and the lack of an effective and systematic national testing or treatment as compared to other developed countries was increasing the cases of the disease.
Cervical cancer affects tissues of the cervix (the organ connecting the uterus and vagina). It is usually a slow-growing cancer that may not have symptoms but can be found with regular Pap tests (a procedure in which cells are scraped from the cervix and looked at under a microscope). Cervical cancer is almost always caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infection.
Dr Nyarko made this known during a press conference in Accra ahead of the 4th Stop Cervical Cancer in Africa to be held in Accra between July 25 and July 27 this year.
It will be on the theme: “Africa unite in action, mobilising political and financial support to strengthen cervical cancer prevention”.
The three-day international conference is in collaboration with Princess Nikky Breast and Cervical Cancer Foundation, a Nigerian based non-governmental organisation (NGO) at the forefront of breast and cervical cancer prevention and control in Africa.
Giving the cervical cancer statistics, Dr Nyarko said 274,000 deaths were recorded annually, out of which 61,000 (78 per cent) of those deaths were from Africa. About 79,000 women are diagnosed of cervical cancer in Africa each year.
He said women in developing world had the highest risk of developing cervical cancer because few are effectively screened.
He said although there had been interventions in Ghana such as the cervicare project to prevent and treat cervical cancer, there was the need for a systematic national campaign to increase awareness of the disease.
For his part, the Minister of Health, Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, quoting from a World Health Organisation (WHO) studies, said that 18 per cent of all cancer deaths in Ghana was due to cervical cancer.
He noted that unfortunately, most of the cancers seen at the country’s health facilities were advanced cases which could have been cured if they had been detected early and that management of those advanced cases was very expensive.
“Prevention, early detection and treatment of early stages of cervical cancer is very cost effective and has good outcome,” he said.
Dr Kunbuor expressed the hope that conference would accelerate Ghana’s efforts at advocacy and awareness creation, as well as enhance the country’s efforts to implement a comprehensive cervical cancer prevention programme.
The Executive Director of Princess Nikky Breast Cancer Foundation, Princess Nikky Onyeri, said the conference was expected to advocate increased awareness of cervical cancer in Africa; to reduce stigmatisation of people suffering and living with cervical cancer.
She said the conference also had the objective to mobilise the needed resources for the development of policies, strategies and action to fight cervical cancer at national, regional and international levels.
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