Tuesday, August 2, 2011 (Daily Graphic Pg 16)
By Rebecca Kwei
The Executive Director of INDEPTH Network, Accra, Dr Osman Sankoh, has called on research funders to be committed to ‘fair trade, not free trade’ with regard to sharing research data by putting in place mutually binding agreements and measures.
This was in response to a statement of purpose by several research funders on sharing research data to improve public health in an article published on July 30, 2011 in The Lancet, titled; “Sharing research data to improve public health: a perspective from the global south”.
He said although scientists were willing to share research data to improve public health, it must be done in a way such that researchers in resource-poor settings doing much of the work to generate data did not lose out to better-resourced researchers in the global North.
“We have to seek the balance between the rights and responsibilities of those who generate data and those who analyse and publish results using those data”, Dr Sankoh said.
Dr Sankoh made the call at a two-day seminar on “Ethics of Sharing Public Health Research Data: Perspectives from Low- and Middle-Income Countries” in Nairobi, Kenya from July 28-29, 2011.
The seminar, which was organised by INDEPTH Network and the Council on Health Research for Development (COHRED) and hosted by the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC), was to among others, seek solutions on ethics, technical, process, and capacity strengthening issues of sharing public health research data.
More than 30 researchers, demographers and scientists from various INDEPTH member health research centres in Africa and Asia participated in the seminar.
Dr Sankoh said it was welcoming news that after a series of meetings from 2008, 17 health research funders had come up with a joint statement to support public health research scientists to share data in ways that were equitable, ethical and efficient.
He said sharing data had many benefits such as potential to guide policy makers to make informed decisions to improve public health.
What was important, he said, was for scientists in the South to strengthen their capacity so that they would not only generate data but be able to analyse and publish results from those data.
He emphasised that data sharing was not new to Indepth Network, since its various sites had been sharing data with a cross-section of organisations and students.
For his part, Carel IJsselmuiden, the Director of COHRED, said reasons researchers gave for not sharing data was that it would affect patient confidentiality, compiling a data set for sharing was too much work and data might be analysed using invalid methods.
However, he noted that misuse of data was one of the downsides of sharing, but it was a price worth paying.
“If we give priority to the interests of the research subject then answering the question of how widely their data should be shared is easy. Patients volunteer for research because they want to benefit others. It is in their interests for the usefulness of their
contribution to be maximised. Data sharing, rather than data hoarding, achieves this goal,” Dr IJsselmuiden said.
He said key obstacles identified for not sharing data were ‘technical’and personal which could be overcome by filling the gaps in data management, increase incentives to share data and establish data libraries.
A Policy Advisor at the Wellcome Trust, Dave Carr said his organisation was dedicated to ensuring that research outputs were preserved and shared to maximise their long-term value.
He said the trust was committed to supporting high quality health research that was timely and widely used; transparent and available to others and quickly translated into better policies and better health.
However, he said the current situation for public health research was that data analysis and reporting were slow and incomplete and also the lack of access to data limits the capacity for comparative analysis or even checking for accuracy.
Therefore, Mr Carr said it was important to have an ethical balance that will among others ensure the confidentiality of participants in a research, prevent stigmatisation of small communities and better investments in health.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Donate blood to prevent maternal deaths
Saturday, July 16, 2011 (The Mirror Pg 3)
By Rebecca Kwei
The Greater Accra Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in collaboration with the USAID Behaviour Change Support Project has embarked on a campaign to get more community blood donors to donate blood on periodic basis to stock the blood banks.
This is to among others prevent maternal deaths through profuse bleeding.
Acute blood loss in women during childbirth as a result of bleeding can lead to death since the blood volume is drastically reduced and oxygen supply to vital organs is severely compromised.
According to the service women bore the brunt of blood shortage at the blood banks because of bleeding during and after childbirth.
It said bleeding after birth was common in Ghana and that had accounted for so many deaths in health care facilities and the campaign was to create awareness on the problems of bleeding during pregnancy and childbirth as a major cause of maternal mortality and how to address it.
Maternal death is the death of any woman that occurs during pregnancy, labour and within six weeks after birth due to preventable factors. Maternal death remains the best indicator for the quality of women’s health care world-wide.
The Ghana Maternal Health Survey in 2007 indicated that maternal mortality ratio in Ghana was 451 deaths out of 100,000 babies born alive.
In 2008 at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital alone, out of the 10,312 pregnant women who reported, 69 of them died from problems related to child birth.
A total of 905 maternal deaths were recorded in health facilities throughout the country in 2009 and excessive bleeding was known to contribute about a quarter of all these deaths.
The directorate said there were many causes of bleeding but some life saving measures could be used to manage the situation and in the case of excessive bleeding, blood transfusion may be required.
On the role of the National Blood Transfusion Service in preventing maternal deaths, it said the service also created awareness on the need to donate blood voluntarily so that safe blood will always be available as of the time it was needed.
Unfortunately, the blood bank does not always have enough blood to be given to these women and the blood transfusion service is also appealing to all Ghanaians to cultivate the habit of donating blood voluntarily to stock the blood banks.
Males and females between the ages of 17 to 60 who weigh 50 kilograms and above can conveniently donate blood.
The service said blood donation was very simple and safe and could take about five to seven minutes after which the donor is made to rest for 10 minutes and then refreshed.
By Rebecca Kwei
The Greater Accra Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in collaboration with the USAID Behaviour Change Support Project has embarked on a campaign to get more community blood donors to donate blood on periodic basis to stock the blood banks.
This is to among others prevent maternal deaths through profuse bleeding.
Acute blood loss in women during childbirth as a result of bleeding can lead to death since the blood volume is drastically reduced and oxygen supply to vital organs is severely compromised.
According to the service women bore the brunt of blood shortage at the blood banks because of bleeding during and after childbirth.
It said bleeding after birth was common in Ghana and that had accounted for so many deaths in health care facilities and the campaign was to create awareness on the problems of bleeding during pregnancy and childbirth as a major cause of maternal mortality and how to address it.
Maternal death is the death of any woman that occurs during pregnancy, labour and within six weeks after birth due to preventable factors. Maternal death remains the best indicator for the quality of women’s health care world-wide.
The Ghana Maternal Health Survey in 2007 indicated that maternal mortality ratio in Ghana was 451 deaths out of 100,000 babies born alive.
In 2008 at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital alone, out of the 10,312 pregnant women who reported, 69 of them died from problems related to child birth.
A total of 905 maternal deaths were recorded in health facilities throughout the country in 2009 and excessive bleeding was known to contribute about a quarter of all these deaths.
The directorate said there were many causes of bleeding but some life saving measures could be used to manage the situation and in the case of excessive bleeding, blood transfusion may be required.
On the role of the National Blood Transfusion Service in preventing maternal deaths, it said the service also created awareness on the need to donate blood voluntarily so that safe blood will always be available as of the time it was needed.
Unfortunately, the blood bank does not always have enough blood to be given to these women and the blood transfusion service is also appealing to all Ghanaians to cultivate the habit of donating blood voluntarily to stock the blood banks.
Males and females between the ages of 17 to 60 who weigh 50 kilograms and above can conveniently donate blood.
The service said blood donation was very simple and safe and could take about five to seven minutes after which the donor is made to rest for 10 minutes and then refreshed.
13 Children missing at Dansoman
Saturday, July 2, 2011 (The Mirror Pg 21)
By Rebecca Kwei
Thirteen children between the ages of two and five living at Dansoman, a suburb of Accra, were reported missing during the first quarter of this year.
This is a sharp rise from 15 children that were reported missing from the same area for the whole of 2010 according to records at the Accra Regional Police. Within the same period too, there there was one missing child each in Tudu, Taifa and Chorkor, all suburbs of Accra.
According to ASP Cyprian Zenge of the Public Affairs Unit, five out of the 13 missing children have been found and reunited with their parents.
However, he said, those five were the ones reported to the police and there were cases where the found children were not reported.
ASP Zenge said the trend, especially around Dansoman and its environs was worrying and appealed to parents to take good care of their children and be vigilant.
He said the cases could be attributed to negligence on the part of parents who sometimes failed to pick them from school or fail to leave them in the care of someone they trust when they are leaving for work.
He said parents should ensure that they leave their children in the care of trustworthy people when they cannot take them along to wherever they are going.
“It is a crime for parents to neglect their responsibility to protect and keep safe any child whether biological or not under their care” ASP Zenge said.
He said the police was conducting a lot of education and awareness programmes on safety and security for communities but added that the primarily responsibility lied with the individual to be cautious and vigilant.
The June 18, 2011 issue of The Mirror reported that between February, 2010 and June, this year, the Social Welfare Office at the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service, (DOVVSU) in Accra, had received 172 cases of missing children, and more cases are being recorded daily.
Giving a break-down of the cases, the Head of the Social Welfare Office, Mr Dela Ashiagbor, said from February to December, 2010, 120 missing children were brought from various parts of the city to the unit, out of which 50 had so far been released to their families.
From January to June 14, this year, there were 52 cases out of which 14 had been reunited with their relatives.
Campaign on safe delivery begins
Saturday, June 25, 2011 (The Mirror Pg 13)
By Rebecca Kwei
THE Ghana Health Service (GHS), in collaboration with the USAID Behaviour Change Support (BCS) project, has started a campaign to educate the Ghanaian public, especially women, on birth and emergency preparedness.
This is to ensure that women have healthy pregnancies and safe delivery.
The Ghana 2007 Maternal Health Survey revealed that about 451 women per 100,000 live births died in the country due to pregnancy, unsafe abortion or complications of labour (GSS 2007).
Statistics show that women in sub-Saharan Africa have a one in 22 chance of dying in childbirth, compared to only one in 4,800 for women in the United States.
As part of the project, the Greater Accra Regional Directorate of the GHS has embarked on series of educational programmes to reach out to as many women as possible for them to understand the issues of maternal health and safe motherhood.
Maternal health refers to the health of women during pregnancy, labour and after birth. Pregnancy and childbirth have an enormous impact on the physical, mental, emotional and socio-economic well-being of women and their families.
A release from the Greater Accra Health Directorate identified the main causes of maternal death as delays in recognising danger signs in pregnancy, labour and after birth; delays in making decisions to seek care; delays in reaching health facility; and delays in receiving care.
The release said one of the things that women should do to stay healthy during pregnancy, labour and after birth so that they did not lose their lives was to attend ante-natal care early and visit the clinic as soon as they realised that they were pregnant.
That is to ensure that both baby and mother are well and also to detect and treat any problems early before they become serious.
Pregnant women should eat energy-giving foods such as maize, oil, rice, cassava and yam; and body building foods such as fish, meat, eggs and beans.
For protection against diseases, such women should consume enough fruits and vegetables, which include banana, pawpaw, mango, pineapple, okra, garden eggs and tomatoes.
There is also the need for expectant mothers to take the prescribed iron and folic acids until six weeks after the baby is born. These are blood-forming tablets and will help make the blood richer, make the woman stronger and healthier and make her sleep better. They also make the foetus grow well.
To avoid catching malaria during pregnancy, all pregnant women should take the malaria-preventing drug that will be given to them by health centres as soon as they feel the movement of the foetus. There is the need for women who take the malaria tablets to report to their health centres if they experience fever after taking them.
Another intervention which is important for pregnant women is tetanus injection, this is given once or twice to protect the mother and the baby from getting tetanus.
To have safe pregnancy and delivery, a pregnant woman should report to a health facility immediately she experiences severe headache, blurred vision and excessive vomiting, and finds that the inside of their eyelids are pale.
During labour, some of the danger signs which women should not ignore include vaginal bleeding before the baby is born; green, brownish or foul smelling fluid from the vagina, persistent and severe abnormal pain which is tender to touch; no movement of the foetus; fever; baby not born within 24 hours of being in labour; convulsions, which are signs of pregnancy-induced hypertension and the loss of consciousness.
The statement mentioned some of the danger signs a woman could experience after birth to include retained placenta and womb infection which could manifest as fever and chills; abdominal pains and tenderness; and also badly smelling discharge from the vagina.
It said women could help themselves and their unborn babies if they avoided drinking alcohol during pregnancy, stopped smoking or chewing tobacco or not expose themselves to poison as these could make the baby abnormal or underweight.
They are also to sleep under insecticide treated nets (ITN) to prevent mosquito bites, have enough rest and also do daily exercises such as walking to strengthen their muscles.
By Rebecca Kwei
THE Ghana Health Service (GHS), in collaboration with the USAID Behaviour Change Support (BCS) project, has started a campaign to educate the Ghanaian public, especially women, on birth and emergency preparedness.
This is to ensure that women have healthy pregnancies and safe delivery.
The Ghana 2007 Maternal Health Survey revealed that about 451 women per 100,000 live births died in the country due to pregnancy, unsafe abortion or complications of labour (GSS 2007).
Statistics show that women in sub-Saharan Africa have a one in 22 chance of dying in childbirth, compared to only one in 4,800 for women in the United States.
As part of the project, the Greater Accra Regional Directorate of the GHS has embarked on series of educational programmes to reach out to as many women as possible for them to understand the issues of maternal health and safe motherhood.
Maternal health refers to the health of women during pregnancy, labour and after birth. Pregnancy and childbirth have an enormous impact on the physical, mental, emotional and socio-economic well-being of women and their families.
A release from the Greater Accra Health Directorate identified the main causes of maternal death as delays in recognising danger signs in pregnancy, labour and after birth; delays in making decisions to seek care; delays in reaching health facility; and delays in receiving care.
The release said one of the things that women should do to stay healthy during pregnancy, labour and after birth so that they did not lose their lives was to attend ante-natal care early and visit the clinic as soon as they realised that they were pregnant.
That is to ensure that both baby and mother are well and also to detect and treat any problems early before they become serious.
Pregnant women should eat energy-giving foods such as maize, oil, rice, cassava and yam; and body building foods such as fish, meat, eggs and beans.
For protection against diseases, such women should consume enough fruits and vegetables, which include banana, pawpaw, mango, pineapple, okra, garden eggs and tomatoes.
There is also the need for expectant mothers to take the prescribed iron and folic acids until six weeks after the baby is born. These are blood-forming tablets and will help make the blood richer, make the woman stronger and healthier and make her sleep better. They also make the foetus grow well.
To avoid catching malaria during pregnancy, all pregnant women should take the malaria-preventing drug that will be given to them by health centres as soon as they feel the movement of the foetus. There is the need for women who take the malaria tablets to report to their health centres if they experience fever after taking them.
Another intervention which is important for pregnant women is tetanus injection, this is given once or twice to protect the mother and the baby from getting tetanus.
To have safe pregnancy and delivery, a pregnant woman should report to a health facility immediately she experiences severe headache, blurred vision and excessive vomiting, and finds that the inside of their eyelids are pale.
During labour, some of the danger signs which women should not ignore include vaginal bleeding before the baby is born; green, brownish or foul smelling fluid from the vagina, persistent and severe abnormal pain which is tender to touch; no movement of the foetus; fever; baby not born within 24 hours of being in labour; convulsions, which are signs of pregnancy-induced hypertension and the loss of consciousness.
The statement mentioned some of the danger signs a woman could experience after birth to include retained placenta and womb infection which could manifest as fever and chills; abdominal pains and tenderness; and also badly smelling discharge from the vagina.
It said women could help themselves and their unborn babies if they avoided drinking alcohol during pregnancy, stopped smoking or chewing tobacco or not expose themselves to poison as these could make the baby abnormal or underweight.
They are also to sleep under insecticide treated nets (ITN) to prevent mosquito bites, have enough rest and also do daily exercises such as walking to strengthen their muscles.
Nana Boroo is Malaria Ambassador
Saturday, June 16, 2011 (The Mirror Pg 19)
By Rebecca Kwei
Hiplife musician, Nana Boroo (Nana Osei Bonsu), has urged every Ghanaian to sleep under insecticide treated nets to prevent malaria.
He said prevention was better than cure and sleeping under treated nets was a sure way to prevent malaria which was a major cause of death, especially in children and pregnant women in sub Saharan African.
Nana Boroo made the call when he was unveiled as the Malaria Ambassador at a short ceremony held at the Citizen Kofi Entertainment Centre in Accra.
Music easily carries messages across and using it as a behaviour change communication component has worked well over the years.
Thus, Nana Borro was chosen to use the medium of music to encourage people to sleep under treated nets.
The project dubbed ‘Aha yede’ — Always sleep under a treated net’- has been put together by the USAID, Promoting Malaria Prevention and Treatment (ProMPT), the Ghana Health Service and the National Malaria Control Programme.
His hit track ‘Aha yede’ has been remixed as ‘Aha yede-ntom tom be wu’ as the theme song.
Part of the lyrics of the song in English and Akan which says “Let’s come together and drive malaria away- Sleep under treated net every day” talks about the benefits of sleeping under treated nets in an interesting way.
Insecticide Treated Nets have been known to reduce mortality in children under five by about 20 per cent and malarial illnesses among children under five and pregnant women by up to 50 per cent.
A survey showed that almost every household in Ghana had an ITN but “sleeping in the ITN” was the problem.
Therefore, as the Malaria Ambassador, Nana Boroo said he would create more awareness and also intensify education to encourage Ghanaians to sleep in treated nets to prevent malaria.
“The mosquito doesn’t care where you sleep, who you sleep with or what you do when you sleep. The best way to prevent the mosquito bite which results in malaria is to sleep under the treated net,” Nana Boroo emphasised.
Recently at the launch of six different reports published by the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership highlighting the progress and impact made in the fight against malaria, it came to light that in the past 10 years 736,700 children in 34 African countries had been saved from malaria through the use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs), indoor residual spraying (IRS), effective medicines and preventive treatment during pregnancy.
Within the same period, household distribution and ownership of ITNs increased significantly in sub-Saharan Africa from three per cent in 2000 to 42 per cent in 2010.
The Coordinators of the project, Ian Tweedie and Maurice Oquaye, who engaged guests at the event in a pop quiz, said one person died from malaria in Ghana every three hours.
They said severe malaria was also a major cause of permanent brain damage and physical disability.
Treated nets which has been approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) give double protection by preventing the mosquito from landing on you and the insecticide in it repels or kills the mosquito when they land on the net.
By Rebecca Kwei
Hiplife musician, Nana Boroo (Nana Osei Bonsu), has urged every Ghanaian to sleep under insecticide treated nets to prevent malaria.
He said prevention was better than cure and sleeping under treated nets was a sure way to prevent malaria which was a major cause of death, especially in children and pregnant women in sub Saharan African.
Nana Boroo made the call when he was unveiled as the Malaria Ambassador at a short ceremony held at the Citizen Kofi Entertainment Centre in Accra.
Music easily carries messages across and using it as a behaviour change communication component has worked well over the years.
Thus, Nana Borro was chosen to use the medium of music to encourage people to sleep under treated nets.
The project dubbed ‘Aha yede’ — Always sleep under a treated net’- has been put together by the USAID, Promoting Malaria Prevention and Treatment (ProMPT), the Ghana Health Service and the National Malaria Control Programme.
His hit track ‘Aha yede’ has been remixed as ‘Aha yede-ntom tom be wu’ as the theme song.
Part of the lyrics of the song in English and Akan which says “Let’s come together and drive malaria away- Sleep under treated net every day” talks about the benefits of sleeping under treated nets in an interesting way.
Insecticide Treated Nets have been known to reduce mortality in children under five by about 20 per cent and malarial illnesses among children under five and pregnant women by up to 50 per cent.
A survey showed that almost every household in Ghana had an ITN but “sleeping in the ITN” was the problem.
Therefore, as the Malaria Ambassador, Nana Boroo said he would create more awareness and also intensify education to encourage Ghanaians to sleep in treated nets to prevent malaria.
“The mosquito doesn’t care where you sleep, who you sleep with or what you do when you sleep. The best way to prevent the mosquito bite which results in malaria is to sleep under the treated net,” Nana Boroo emphasised.
Recently at the launch of six different reports published by the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership highlighting the progress and impact made in the fight against malaria, it came to light that in the past 10 years 736,700 children in 34 African countries had been saved from malaria through the use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs), indoor residual spraying (IRS), effective medicines and preventive treatment during pregnancy.
Within the same period, household distribution and ownership of ITNs increased significantly in sub-Saharan Africa from three per cent in 2000 to 42 per cent in 2010.
The Coordinators of the project, Ian Tweedie and Maurice Oquaye, who engaged guests at the event in a pop quiz, said one person died from malaria in Ghana every three hours.
They said severe malaria was also a major cause of permanent brain damage and physical disability.
Treated nets which has been approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) give double protection by preventing the mosquito from landing on you and the insecticide in it repels or kills the mosquito when they land on the net.
Omar Captan: Powered by looks and ability
By Rebecca Kwei
He is suave and exudes an aura that easily draws him to others.
There’s little doubt that actor, Omar Shariff Captan’s good looks and acting abilities are the elements that have kept him in the movie business for the past 22 years.
For someone who studied electrical engineering at the Accra Technical Training Centre, little did he know that he would one day be tagged as an international actor.
His ‘accidental landing’ in the industry came about while he was working as a Production Assistant on the movie, ‘Diabolo’.
“It was the late Fred Addy who saw me work as a production assistant and encouraged me to go into acting because he felt I could do well in that field,” Omar recalled.
“I took his advice and even started to believe in myself because I had performed on stage during my time at Snaps and Benkum Secondary schools,” he added.
A year later, in 1990, Omar had his debut in ‘Outrage’ where he starred alongside more experienced screen personalities like Mac Jordan Amartey, Eunice Banini and Super OD.
He then had another role in ‘My Sweetie’ the following year and other movies he could not immediately recall.
Omar’s major break came in 1996 when he played the lead role as a drug baron in ‘Dark Sands’.
He played his part well and offers to star in other movies started to pour in. He has been in some Ghana-Nigeria collaborations and in hit soaps operas like ‘Tentacles’ and ‘Broadway.’
Omar says he has now lost count of the number of movies he has starred in, mostly as a lover boy or a bad guy over the last 22 years.
Omar’s other big break materialised in 2007 when he became part of the cast of M-net’s still-running popular soap opera, ‘Tinsel.’
Shot in Nigeria, ‘Tinsel’ is packed with drama, passion, secrets and betrayal and is set against the background of a Lagos-based film studio in which romance, ambition and family feuds turn the boardroom into a battleground, and life into a rollercoaster of emotions and adventure.
Omar plays the role of Reginald Okoh, a smooth-talking workaholic who finds himself caught up in a love triangle.
“Being part of ‘Tinsel’ has been amazing. I have learnt a lot of things from how to go about shooting in a studio to improving my acting skills,” he said.
Omar’s view is that the movie business in Ghana has seen tremendous improvement but he was not happy about the fact that old actors were not being featured in movies even when their inputs were needed.
“Why must you paint the beard of a young man white just to portray him as an old man when there are old actors who can play that role?” he queried.
“The Harrison Fords, Sean Connerys and Michael Douglases are still acting. Even in neighbouring Nigeria, you still have old actors in active roles. Why not Ghana?”
Another challenge with the movie business, according to Omar, has to do with executive producers whom he described as businessmen and not producers.
He explained that because the executive producers are businessmen, their desire is often to make quick profit out of what they had invested. This sometimes leads to the influx of low-quality movies on the market.
Aside acting, Omar has learnt on the job to be a cameraman, sound technician and editor.
In between his acting career, he has also worked with various corporate organisations such as Mitsubishi, Corporate Guardian and AFGO.
He currently manages D’Imago, an advertising, film production and event management firm.
He does not see himself retiring from the movie business soon since he aspires to be an executive producer as well as a director in the near future.
Born in Accra to Samir Captan, the current Chairman of the Ghana Boxing Association and Naomi Awuku, Omar has two daughters: Paula, 10 and Doreen, 7.
On his relationship status, Omar says “I dey” with a coy smile.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Elizabeth-Irene, two others win Burt Award
Saturday, April 30, 2011 (The Mirror Pg 47)
By Rebecca Kwei
“The more you read, the more you know” is a popular saying which the august gathering at the British Council for the launch of the Burt Award Winning Books made even more pressing as speaker after speaker emphasised the need to invest in books, revive creative writing and put information on Ghana on the shelves and stands globally.
For Prof Ablade Glover, Director of the Arts Alliance Gallery, what was more refreshing was the fact that, “we are seeing African writers tapping into our own African dreams and aspirations.
“A very special place of honour must be accorded these men and women who today are devoting time and energies to write for us, particularly young minds, and helping in a major way to win these young minds from the lures of alien cultures currently swallowing us, well almost”.
He expressed the hope that the award winning books will be made available for the young and that “when they are made available they will not lie on the shelves untouched, but they will be read and read copiously”.
Prof Glover urged policy makers to formulate policies and programmes that will plant African efforts in literature firmly in the educational system.
The President of the Ghana Writers Association (GAW), Mr Kwasi Gyan -Apenteng, who chaired the function said it was the position of the association and like-minded bodies like the Ghana Book Publishers Association to send a request to the government to institute a policy that will ensure that government buys a minimum of 1000 copies of every book published in Ghana that passes a quality threshold.
He said the association was keen on being part of the educational agenda of the country and has started a schools outreach programme which showed that many schools have Writers Clubs.
Consequently, Mr Gyan-Apenteng said the association would re-launch a magazine, Takra, which used to be a GAW literary publication in the 70s to encourage young writers to publish their stories, poems and reviews.
Again he said the Ghana Literary Awards would be revived.
The Deputy Director General of the Ghana Education Service, Mr Charles Tsegah, said the ministry would collaborate with the Ghana Book Trust to provide some of the copies of the winning titles for school libraries to complement efforts being made under the Ghana Education Service’s National Literacy Acceleration Programme (NALAP) to improve the reading skills and habits of the youth.
The Executive Director of the Ghana Book Trust, Mr Robert Amoako, said Bill Burt established the awards after he had visited some African countries and saw the need for relevant reading materials.
The Burt Award honours, which is co-ordinated by the Ghana Book Trust, supports the writing and publication of excellent young adults literature by and for Africans. It is sponsored by CODE, a Canadian NGO, with support from a Canadian Philanthropist, Bill Burt.
The awards are restricted to authors who are Ghanaian citizens and resident in Ghana.
For the maiden edition of the award, Elizabeth-Irene Baitie won the first prize with her book The Twelfth Heart. She received GH¢16,000.
Kwabena Ankomah-Kwakye’s The Deliverer took the second prize of GH¢8,000 while The Mystery of the Haunted House written by Ruby Yayra Goka received the third prize of GH¢4,000.
Mr Amoako said the trust had purchased 3,000 each of the three award winning books to be donated to schools and libraries across the country.
He said as part of the Burt Award, the trust also organises training for writers and editors to improve their capacity to write.
The awards have also been established in Tanzania and Ethiopia.
By Rebecca Kwei
“The more you read, the more you know” is a popular saying which the august gathering at the British Council for the launch of the Burt Award Winning Books made even more pressing as speaker after speaker emphasised the need to invest in books, revive creative writing and put information on Ghana on the shelves and stands globally.
For Prof Ablade Glover, Director of the Arts Alliance Gallery, what was more refreshing was the fact that, “we are seeing African writers tapping into our own African dreams and aspirations.
“A very special place of honour must be accorded these men and women who today are devoting time and energies to write for us, particularly young minds, and helping in a major way to win these young minds from the lures of alien cultures currently swallowing us, well almost”.
He expressed the hope that the award winning books will be made available for the young and that “when they are made available they will not lie on the shelves untouched, but they will be read and read copiously”.
Prof Glover urged policy makers to formulate policies and programmes that will plant African efforts in literature firmly in the educational system.
The President of the Ghana Writers Association (GAW), Mr Kwasi Gyan -Apenteng, who chaired the function said it was the position of the association and like-minded bodies like the Ghana Book Publishers Association to send a request to the government to institute a policy that will ensure that government buys a minimum of 1000 copies of every book published in Ghana that passes a quality threshold.
He said the association was keen on being part of the educational agenda of the country and has started a schools outreach programme which showed that many schools have Writers Clubs.
Consequently, Mr Gyan-Apenteng said the association would re-launch a magazine, Takra, which used to be a GAW literary publication in the 70s to encourage young writers to publish their stories, poems and reviews.
Again he said the Ghana Literary Awards would be revived.
The Deputy Director General of the Ghana Education Service, Mr Charles Tsegah, said the ministry would collaborate with the Ghana Book Trust to provide some of the copies of the winning titles for school libraries to complement efforts being made under the Ghana Education Service’s National Literacy Acceleration Programme (NALAP) to improve the reading skills and habits of the youth.
The Executive Director of the Ghana Book Trust, Mr Robert Amoako, said Bill Burt established the awards after he had visited some African countries and saw the need for relevant reading materials.
The Burt Award honours, which is co-ordinated by the Ghana Book Trust, supports the writing and publication of excellent young adults literature by and for Africans. It is sponsored by CODE, a Canadian NGO, with support from a Canadian Philanthropist, Bill Burt.
The awards are restricted to authors who are Ghanaian citizens and resident in Ghana.
For the maiden edition of the award, Elizabeth-Irene Baitie won the first prize with her book The Twelfth Heart. She received GH¢16,000.
Kwabena Ankomah-Kwakye’s The Deliverer took the second prize of GH¢8,000 while The Mystery of the Haunted House written by Ruby Yayra Goka received the third prize of GH¢4,000.
Mr Amoako said the trust had purchased 3,000 each of the three award winning books to be donated to schools and libraries across the country.
He said as part of the Burt Award, the trust also organises training for writers and editors to improve their capacity to write.
The awards have also been established in Tanzania and Ethiopia.
Dream! We'll make it happen
Saturday, April 30, 2011 (The Mirror Pg 46)
By Rebecca Kwei
Do you have a dream? One that can have your home totally transformed for you?
Then continue to dream big, because it may soon come true, thanks to a new series on television, Dream Makeovers.
Dream Makeovers is a family-oriented infotainment show that rewards beneficiaries with a free makeover.
The show, which started airing on GTV in February this year and is aired at 6.30 p.m. every Saturday, seeks to, among others, celebrate unsung heroes in society and show that every home can be transformed using the basic elements of design.
The beneficiaries range from people with touching stories, local philanthropists, professionals who show exceptional commitment on and for the jobs they do in public or private service and celebrities who are making significant contributions to society.
So far, nine beneficiaries have been rewarded with a total transformation of their homes.
They are Ghana’s first policewoman, Madam Rose Nkansah, whose bedroom was transformed and also provided with a new bathroom; Daniel Boahene, a teacher of the St John’s Grammar School who has taught for 25 years, was rewarded with two fully furnished bedrooms for his children; the Teshie Orphanage had its living room given a new look; Basics International at Chorkor in Accra also had its hostel transformed, while Mrs Kate Duggan, a philanthropist, also had her living room changed beautifully.
The others are Tina Odamtey, a hair stylist for children who had her living room changed to make it more child-friendly; Dr Mawuli Ametepey, a surgeon at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, was rewarded with a brand new living and dining room; Mr Nat Botchway had a new office set for the Help Age branch at Bubuashie, a suburb of Accra, while Steven Grant, who runs a school for children of squatters, received a new single room plus kitchen.
“As an interior designer, I realised that many people wanted to know how to transform their living areas without the transformation costing them an arm and a leg. From experience, I knew how and wanted to teach little tricks on how to transform a home at very little cost,” Zoe Akosua Akumia, the creator and host of the show, said concerning how it all started.
She said in order to teach how to redo a home, she needed someone’s house and the idea of also rewarding someone who was making a positive impact on society came.
On how those beneficiaries got rewarded, Zoe explained that people nominated the beneficiaries, giving reasons, after which the story was investigated to find out if it was credible.
Dream Makeovers is designed such that viewers get to know the beneficiary, why he or she was selected and the impact the show will have on people’s lives. It is also interlaced with good housekeeping, design and home improvement tips.
The excitement on the faces of the beneficiaries when they see their makeover homes is a sight to behold.
As I watched the episodes, the surprises, excitement and appreciation on the faces of the beneficiaries, their families and friends gave me goose bumps all over.
“I am so excited! God bless you!” were the words of Tina Odamtey, a beneficiary, as tears welled up in her eyes.
For the children of the Teshie Orphanage, they could not have been happier and more thankful for their new environment.
“I love doing things for people and when the beneficiaries get all excited about their new homes, that is the high point for me,” Zoe said.
Season One of Dream Makeovers ends on May 7 and, according to Zoe, she had invested a lot of money in the project, adding that for Season Two to be feasible, she would need a lot of funding.
“I intend to take Dream Makeovers across the whole country so I’m appealing to corporate Ghana to come on board to help make the dreams of unsung heroes a reality,” she said.
She was grateful to her sponsors — Latex Foam, Syriatex, Global Lighting Centre, Sikelele, West African Decor Tiles and Manet.
Why don’t you make a date with GTV at 6.30 p.m. tonight to find out who the 10th beneficiary of a dream makeover will be?
By Rebecca Kwei
Do you have a dream? One that can have your home totally transformed for you?
Then continue to dream big, because it may soon come true, thanks to a new series on television, Dream Makeovers.
Dream Makeovers is a family-oriented infotainment show that rewards beneficiaries with a free makeover.
The show, which started airing on GTV in February this year and is aired at 6.30 p.m. every Saturday, seeks to, among others, celebrate unsung heroes in society and show that every home can be transformed using the basic elements of design.
The beneficiaries range from people with touching stories, local philanthropists, professionals who show exceptional commitment on and for the jobs they do in public or private service and celebrities who are making significant contributions to society.
So far, nine beneficiaries have been rewarded with a total transformation of their homes.
They are Ghana’s first policewoman, Madam Rose Nkansah, whose bedroom was transformed and also provided with a new bathroom; Daniel Boahene, a teacher of the St John’s Grammar School who has taught for 25 years, was rewarded with two fully furnished bedrooms for his children; the Teshie Orphanage had its living room given a new look; Basics International at Chorkor in Accra also had its hostel transformed, while Mrs Kate Duggan, a philanthropist, also had her living room changed beautifully.
The others are Tina Odamtey, a hair stylist for children who had her living room changed to make it more child-friendly; Dr Mawuli Ametepey, a surgeon at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, was rewarded with a brand new living and dining room; Mr Nat Botchway had a new office set for the Help Age branch at Bubuashie, a suburb of Accra, while Steven Grant, who runs a school for children of squatters, received a new single room plus kitchen.
“As an interior designer, I realised that many people wanted to know how to transform their living areas without the transformation costing them an arm and a leg. From experience, I knew how and wanted to teach little tricks on how to transform a home at very little cost,” Zoe Akosua Akumia, the creator and host of the show, said concerning how it all started.
She said in order to teach how to redo a home, she needed someone’s house and the idea of also rewarding someone who was making a positive impact on society came.
On how those beneficiaries got rewarded, Zoe explained that people nominated the beneficiaries, giving reasons, after which the story was investigated to find out if it was credible.
Dream Makeovers is designed such that viewers get to know the beneficiary, why he or she was selected and the impact the show will have on people’s lives. It is also interlaced with good housekeeping, design and home improvement tips.
The excitement on the faces of the beneficiaries when they see their makeover homes is a sight to behold.
As I watched the episodes, the surprises, excitement and appreciation on the faces of the beneficiaries, their families and friends gave me goose bumps all over.
“I am so excited! God bless you!” were the words of Tina Odamtey, a beneficiary, as tears welled up in her eyes.
For the children of the Teshie Orphanage, they could not have been happier and more thankful for their new environment.
“I love doing things for people and when the beneficiaries get all excited about their new homes, that is the high point for me,” Zoe said.
Season One of Dream Makeovers ends on May 7 and, according to Zoe, she had invested a lot of money in the project, adding that for Season Two to be feasible, she would need a lot of funding.
“I intend to take Dream Makeovers across the whole country so I’m appealing to corporate Ghana to come on board to help make the dreams of unsung heroes a reality,” she said.
She was grateful to her sponsors — Latex Foam, Syriatex, Global Lighting Centre, Sikelele, West African Decor Tiles and Manet.
Why don’t you make a date with GTV at 6.30 p.m. tonight to find out who the 10th beneficiary of a dream makeover will be?
Journalists promote use of bednets
Saturday, April 30, 2011 (The Mirror Pg 34)
From Rebecca Kwei, Ahwiam
As part of the World Malaria Day celebrations which fell on Monday, April 25, members of the African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN) in collaboration with other partners promoted the use of bednets in some communities of the Dangme West District.
Malaria affects about three million people annually in Ghana resulting in about 38,000 deaths most of whom are women and children under five. Studies have shown that the use of insecticide treated nets reduced mortality in children under five by about 20 per cent and malarial illnesses among children under five and pregnant women by up to 50 per cent.
One thousand Long Lasting Insecticide Treated Nets (LLITNs) were provided by Exxon Mobil through NetsforLife, a partnership for malaria prevention which were hung in the homes of the people of Ahwiam and other communities in the Dawa and Osuwem Area Councils of the district.
In times past ITNs were distributed to people to hang themselves but they were not being used for the purpose for which they were meant and this has resulted in a paradigm shift in the strategy for deploying ITNs known as the Hang Up method being championed by Netsforlife.
Under this volunteers actually go to homes and hang up the ITNs over the sleeping areas of households.
For the Executive Secretary of AMMREN, Mrs Charity Binka, the event was very important since this time round, journalists were not only there to report but were part of the process getting the ITNs to the people of the community.
She called on the government to waive taxes on ITNs and other anti-malarials as has been done in other African countries so that children and pregnant women would not die needlessly of malaria.
“After 11 years of the Abuja Declaration, why are we still dying of malaria? We need to engage policy makers and hold them accountable to the declarations they have signed” Mrs Binka said.
Stressing on the need to use ITNs, the Director of the Dodowa Health Research Centre, Dr Margaret Gyapong, said globally and nationally countries were striving to meet the MDG targets and with regard to malaria, the promotion and use of LLINs was one of the control measures.
She said national data showed that the use of ITN increased successively from 3.5 per cent in 2002 to a peak of 55.3 per cent in 2007.
However, the proportion of children under five years sleeping under ITNs declined significantly to 40.5 per cent in 2008. Similarly, ITN use among pregnant women has been encouraging until 2008 where it declined drastically to 30.2 per cent from a peak of 52.5 per cent in the 2007.
On her part, the District Director of Health Services, Dangme West District, Dr Evelyn K. Ansah, emphasised in the local dialect that malaria was caused by the female anopheles mosquito which liked to breed in clean and not dirty water contrary to local beliefs that malaria was caused by working in the sun, eating unripe mangoes and eating oily food.
The Monitoring and Evaluation Manager of NetsforLife, Mr Samuel Asiedu said the organisation in collaboration with its partners had distributed 4.8 million LLINs across 17 African countries with 1.2 million of those in Ghana.
This year’s World Malaria Day had the global theme “Achieving Progress and Impact” while the event had the sub theme of “Ensuring Universal Coverage of Bednets”.
It was organised in collaboration with the Dodowa Health Research Centre, the District Health Service with funding from the Malaria Clinical Trials Alliance (MCTA) of the INDEPTH Network.
From Rebecca Kwei, Ahwiam
As part of the World Malaria Day celebrations which fell on Monday, April 25, members of the African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN) in collaboration with other partners promoted the use of bednets in some communities of the Dangme West District.
Malaria affects about three million people annually in Ghana resulting in about 38,000 deaths most of whom are women and children under five. Studies have shown that the use of insecticide treated nets reduced mortality in children under five by about 20 per cent and malarial illnesses among children under five and pregnant women by up to 50 per cent.
One thousand Long Lasting Insecticide Treated Nets (LLITNs) were provided by Exxon Mobil through NetsforLife, a partnership for malaria prevention which were hung in the homes of the people of Ahwiam and other communities in the Dawa and Osuwem Area Councils of the district.
In times past ITNs were distributed to people to hang themselves but they were not being used for the purpose for which they were meant and this has resulted in a paradigm shift in the strategy for deploying ITNs known as the Hang Up method being championed by Netsforlife.
Under this volunteers actually go to homes and hang up the ITNs over the sleeping areas of households.
For the Executive Secretary of AMMREN, Mrs Charity Binka, the event was very important since this time round, journalists were not only there to report but were part of the process getting the ITNs to the people of the community.
She called on the government to waive taxes on ITNs and other anti-malarials as has been done in other African countries so that children and pregnant women would not die needlessly of malaria.
“After 11 years of the Abuja Declaration, why are we still dying of malaria? We need to engage policy makers and hold them accountable to the declarations they have signed” Mrs Binka said.
Stressing on the need to use ITNs, the Director of the Dodowa Health Research Centre, Dr Margaret Gyapong, said globally and nationally countries were striving to meet the MDG targets and with regard to malaria, the promotion and use of LLINs was one of the control measures.
She said national data showed that the use of ITN increased successively from 3.5 per cent in 2002 to a peak of 55.3 per cent in 2007.
However, the proportion of children under five years sleeping under ITNs declined significantly to 40.5 per cent in 2008. Similarly, ITN use among pregnant women has been encouraging until 2008 where it declined drastically to 30.2 per cent from a peak of 52.5 per cent in the 2007.
On her part, the District Director of Health Services, Dangme West District, Dr Evelyn K. Ansah, emphasised in the local dialect that malaria was caused by the female anopheles mosquito which liked to breed in clean and not dirty water contrary to local beliefs that malaria was caused by working in the sun, eating unripe mangoes and eating oily food.
The Monitoring and Evaluation Manager of NetsforLife, Mr Samuel Asiedu said the organisation in collaboration with its partners had distributed 4.8 million LLINs across 17 African countries with 1.2 million of those in Ghana.
This year’s World Malaria Day had the global theme “Achieving Progress and Impact” while the event had the sub theme of “Ensuring Universal Coverage of Bednets”.
It was organised in collaboration with the Dodowa Health Research Centre, the District Health Service with funding from the Malaria Clinical Trials Alliance (MCTA) of the INDEPTH Network.
Daring ‘419’ at Ghana Music Awards - As VIP snap top prize
By Rebecca Kwei
Despite the tight security measures organisers adopted to check overcrowding at last Saturday’s MTN Ghana Music Awards by ensuring that ticket sales matched the number of seats available at the Dome, some cheats still managed to print and sell fake tickets.
Close to 100 fake tickets from punters were confiscated from patrons who had purchased them from a young man who is currently in custody at the Ministries Police Station in Accra while investigations go on.
This year’s cache seems to be the largest of all incidences of fake tickets impounded by Charterhouse security at any of their public events.
It will be recalled that Charterhouse, organisers of many other special events, had always been criticised for poor protocol management.
People who attended their events and faced difficulty finding seats accused Charterhouse of selling more tickets than there were seats.
Although Charterhouse had explained that no matter how hard they tried to put things in place, people always managed to beat the system by either coming in through the backstage or some unauthorised exit.
This year’s event, which took place at the Dome, a huge makeshift tent marquee set on the car park of the Accra International Conference Centre, saw yet another full house.
While efforts were made this year to stop people from entering the main hall through unauthorised routes and exits, a good number still managed to infiltrate using the fake tickets, perhaps, unknowingly.
“If you consider that our quota for paid VIP tickets was only 150 seats, the remaining seats in that area were reserved for nominees, award presenters and sponsors. You can begin to appreciate that we cannot afford to have even one seat unaccounted for. Someone would have bought an official ticket for that seat so anyone who takes up that one seat, with a fake ticket, causes a major problem for our protocol arrangements,” explained Ms Hedwig Quist, head of security and protocol for the event.
“Now that the kingpin of ticket racketeering has been caught, perhaps, it will make our protocol work easier,” she added.
All that notwithstanding, the show took off to a flying start, kicking off with a brilliant performance from Sherifa Gunu, Bertha and Efya who did a medley of Osibisa tunes namely Welcome Home, Osa (Warrior Song) and Celebration which saw the legendary leader of Osibisa Teddy Osei himself joining the girls, and blowing his trumpet!
Teddy Osei received the Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of Osibisa, and it was presented to him by the former Vice President of the International Federation of Musicians (FIM), Alhaji Sidiku Buari.
And so the performances and receiving of awards went on till the end of the night when the sensational boys from Nima, the group VIP (Vision In Progress), came up to receive the ‘Artiste of the Year’ award – their second time – having earlier picked up the one for ‘Hiplife/Hiphop Artiste of the Year’ award.
MC for the night was the inimitable KKD!
Here’s the full list of winners for the night:
Artiste of the Year - VIP
Most Popular Song - 'Aha Ye De', Nana Boroo
Discovery - Herty Borngreat
Hip hop /Hiplife Song - 'Africa Girl' by Castro and Asamoah Gyan
Hip hop/Hiplife Artistes - VIP
Hip-hop Song - 'Get On the Dance Floor' D' Black
Gospel Song - 'Efunuba' Cecilia Marfo
Gospel Artiste - No Tribe
Highlife Song' – ‘Dadeanoma' Kwabena Kwabena
Highlife artiste - Kwabena Kwabena
Afro-Pop Song – ‘Kiss Your Hand’, R2Bees
Reggae Song - IWAN
Best Collaboration - 'Africa Girls', Castro and Asamoah Gyan
Best Rapper - Trigmatic
African Artiste - K'Naan
Record - Sammi B
Album – ‘CEO’, Samini
Song Writer – ‘Efunuba’ by Pastor Boamah
Best Male Vocal Performance - KNii Lante
Best Female Vocal Performance - Efya
Producer - Zapp Mallet
World Bank Music for Development Award - Reggy Zippy, with GH¢3,000. All the other nominees took home GHC¢300. Abraham Ohene-Gyan of OM Studios took home GH¢5,000 for helping to promote 100 per cent indigenous Ghanaian music on his Fiesta TV platform.
Despite the tight security measures organisers adopted to check overcrowding at last Saturday’s MTN Ghana Music Awards by ensuring that ticket sales matched the number of seats available at the Dome, some cheats still managed to print and sell fake tickets.
Close to 100 fake tickets from punters were confiscated from patrons who had purchased them from a young man who is currently in custody at the Ministries Police Station in Accra while investigations go on.
This year’s cache seems to be the largest of all incidences of fake tickets impounded by Charterhouse security at any of their public events.
It will be recalled that Charterhouse, organisers of many other special events, had always been criticised for poor protocol management.
People who attended their events and faced difficulty finding seats accused Charterhouse of selling more tickets than there were seats.
Although Charterhouse had explained that no matter how hard they tried to put things in place, people always managed to beat the system by either coming in through the backstage or some unauthorised exit.
This year’s event, which took place at the Dome, a huge makeshift tent marquee set on the car park of the Accra International Conference Centre, saw yet another full house.
While efforts were made this year to stop people from entering the main hall through unauthorised routes and exits, a good number still managed to infiltrate using the fake tickets, perhaps, unknowingly.
“If you consider that our quota for paid VIP tickets was only 150 seats, the remaining seats in that area were reserved for nominees, award presenters and sponsors. You can begin to appreciate that we cannot afford to have even one seat unaccounted for. Someone would have bought an official ticket for that seat so anyone who takes up that one seat, with a fake ticket, causes a major problem for our protocol arrangements,” explained Ms Hedwig Quist, head of security and protocol for the event.
“Now that the kingpin of ticket racketeering has been caught, perhaps, it will make our protocol work easier,” she added.
All that notwithstanding, the show took off to a flying start, kicking off with a brilliant performance from Sherifa Gunu, Bertha and Efya who did a medley of Osibisa tunes namely Welcome Home, Osa (Warrior Song) and Celebration which saw the legendary leader of Osibisa Teddy Osei himself joining the girls, and blowing his trumpet!
Teddy Osei received the Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of Osibisa, and it was presented to him by the former Vice President of the International Federation of Musicians (FIM), Alhaji Sidiku Buari.
And so the performances and receiving of awards went on till the end of the night when the sensational boys from Nima, the group VIP (Vision In Progress), came up to receive the ‘Artiste of the Year’ award – their second time – having earlier picked up the one for ‘Hiplife/Hiphop Artiste of the Year’ award.
MC for the night was the inimitable KKD!
Here’s the full list of winners for the night:
Artiste of the Year - VIP
Most Popular Song - 'Aha Ye De', Nana Boroo
Discovery - Herty Borngreat
Hip hop /Hiplife Song - 'Africa Girl' by Castro and Asamoah Gyan
Hip hop/Hiplife Artistes - VIP
Hip-hop Song - 'Get On the Dance Floor' D' Black
Gospel Song - 'Efunuba' Cecilia Marfo
Gospel Artiste - No Tribe
Highlife Song' – ‘Dadeanoma' Kwabena Kwabena
Highlife artiste - Kwabena Kwabena
Afro-Pop Song – ‘Kiss Your Hand’, R2Bees
Reggae Song - IWAN
Best Collaboration - 'Africa Girls', Castro and Asamoah Gyan
Best Rapper - Trigmatic
African Artiste - K'Naan
Record - Sammi B
Album – ‘CEO’, Samini
Song Writer – ‘Efunuba’ by Pastor Boamah
Best Male Vocal Performance - KNii Lante
Best Female Vocal Performance - Efya
Producer - Zapp Mallet
World Bank Music for Development Award - Reggy Zippy, with GH¢3,000. All the other nominees took home GHC¢300. Abraham Ohene-Gyan of OM Studios took home GH¢5,000 for helping to promote 100 per cent indigenous Ghanaian music on his Fiesta TV platform.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Dr Vera Fosu — Best All-round Student
Saturday, April 9, 2011 (The Mirror Pg 3)
By Rebecca Kwei
RUNNING around playfully on the dusty backroads of Tamale as a child, Vera Mawusime Fosu continually had it at the back of her mind that her father had been talking about her becoming a medical doctor one day and her heart is now swollen with pride that the prediction has materialised.
At the 10th Congregation and swearing-in ceremony of the College of Health Sciences of the University of Ghana held last weekend, she was the toast of the day as she officially became Dr Vera Mawusime Fosu and collected seven prizes, including the highly treasured one for Best All-round Student throughout the course.
The other prizes were the Lucy Peprah Tawiah Prize for Best Female Student in Child Health; Harry Sawyerr Prize for Best Overall Student in Child Health; Harry Sawyerr Prize in Medicine and Therapeutics; MB ChB Final Part I Best Overall Student; David Scott Prize in Community Health and the Ghana Medical Association Prize for Best Overall Student in the MB Ch.B Final Part II Examination.
“I feel great and blessed, especially with the overall best student prize. I was surprised at that because I was in a very competitive class with equally intelligent students but by the grace of God I came out tops,” she told The Mirror in an interview.
Aside the grace of God factor, Vera attributed her success to hard work and the support of her parents, husband, friends and congregation of the International Central Gospel Church, Holy Family Assembly at Dansoman in Accra.
She also said she had role models whom she looked up to for hope and encouragement as she ploughed on with her studies. She mentioned Prof. Efua Hesse, the Director of Medical Affairs at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and other female doctors whom she greatly respected for excelling in the medical field.
Becoming a medical doctor did not come by chance for Vera. She recollected growing up and how her parents, father especially, always told her she would be a doctor in future. That hint did not leave her until she got to secondary school and started admiring a friend’s father’s profession: civil engineering.
“I got a little change of heart and wanted to be a civil engineer. After secondary school, however, and a few discussions here and there, I decided to go to medical school,” she recalled.
“I love taking care of people and the medical field provides that opportunity. Being a doctor is about saving lives and bringing hope to people to make them feel better. That’s what I love doing.”
Though most girls assume that the sciences are very difficult areas to tackle, Vera says it all has to do with one’s mentality. “If you perceive it to be difficult, then it will be difficult. It is also a matter of interest. Once you have the interest and the hunger within you to make it, you can go all out for it and not rely on hearsay.”
She conceded that there are a lot of challenges with the sciences but other subjects also require hard work and determination to pull through.
In order to get more girls to offer science subjects, Vera said it was important for them to be encouraged from early childhood. They must also get career counsellors and they must be given equal opportunities, just like boys.
Born in Tamale on April 3, 1985 to Dr Mathias Fosu, a research scientist and Mrs Matilda Fosu, a teacher, Vera attended St Monica’s Primary School in Nyankpala to Class Five before moving to Accra to continue her basic education at St Anthony’s Preparatory School, South Odorkor from Class Six to the Junior High School level.
She had her secondary school education at Yaa Asantewaa where she offered Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Elective Maths and completed in 2002. She then entered the University of Ghana in August 2003.
For now, the young brilliant doctor is still basking in the euphoria of coming out tops at her graduation as she waits to start her housemanship at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital next month. She hopes to specialise in Family Medicine in the future.
Dr Vera Mawusime Fosu is married to Dr Titus Beyuo whom she met in medical school.
By Rebecca Kwei
RUNNING around playfully on the dusty backroads of Tamale as a child, Vera Mawusime Fosu continually had it at the back of her mind that her father had been talking about her becoming a medical doctor one day and her heart is now swollen with pride that the prediction has materialised.
At the 10th Congregation and swearing-in ceremony of the College of Health Sciences of the University of Ghana held last weekend, she was the toast of the day as she officially became Dr Vera Mawusime Fosu and collected seven prizes, including the highly treasured one for Best All-round Student throughout the course.
The other prizes were the Lucy Peprah Tawiah Prize for Best Female Student in Child Health; Harry Sawyerr Prize for Best Overall Student in Child Health; Harry Sawyerr Prize in Medicine and Therapeutics; MB ChB Final Part I Best Overall Student; David Scott Prize in Community Health and the Ghana Medical Association Prize for Best Overall Student in the MB Ch.B Final Part II Examination.
“I feel great and blessed, especially with the overall best student prize. I was surprised at that because I was in a very competitive class with equally intelligent students but by the grace of God I came out tops,” she told The Mirror in an interview.
Aside the grace of God factor, Vera attributed her success to hard work and the support of her parents, husband, friends and congregation of the International Central Gospel Church, Holy Family Assembly at Dansoman in Accra.
She also said she had role models whom she looked up to for hope and encouragement as she ploughed on with her studies. She mentioned Prof. Efua Hesse, the Director of Medical Affairs at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and other female doctors whom she greatly respected for excelling in the medical field.
Becoming a medical doctor did not come by chance for Vera. She recollected growing up and how her parents, father especially, always told her she would be a doctor in future. That hint did not leave her until she got to secondary school and started admiring a friend’s father’s profession: civil engineering.
“I got a little change of heart and wanted to be a civil engineer. After secondary school, however, and a few discussions here and there, I decided to go to medical school,” she recalled.
“I love taking care of people and the medical field provides that opportunity. Being a doctor is about saving lives and bringing hope to people to make them feel better. That’s what I love doing.”
Though most girls assume that the sciences are very difficult areas to tackle, Vera says it all has to do with one’s mentality. “If you perceive it to be difficult, then it will be difficult. It is also a matter of interest. Once you have the interest and the hunger within you to make it, you can go all out for it and not rely on hearsay.”
She conceded that there are a lot of challenges with the sciences but other subjects also require hard work and determination to pull through.
In order to get more girls to offer science subjects, Vera said it was important for them to be encouraged from early childhood. They must also get career counsellors and they must be given equal opportunities, just like boys.
Born in Tamale on April 3, 1985 to Dr Mathias Fosu, a research scientist and Mrs Matilda Fosu, a teacher, Vera attended St Monica’s Primary School in Nyankpala to Class Five before moving to Accra to continue her basic education at St Anthony’s Preparatory School, South Odorkor from Class Six to the Junior High School level.
She had her secondary school education at Yaa Asantewaa where she offered Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Elective Maths and completed in 2002. She then entered the University of Ghana in August 2003.
For now, the young brilliant doctor is still basking in the euphoria of coming out tops at her graduation as she waits to start her housemanship at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital next month. She hopes to specialise in Family Medicine in the future.
Dr Vera Mawusime Fosu is married to Dr Titus Beyuo whom she met in medical school.
WHO releases list of drugs — To save mothers and children
Saturday, March 6, 2011 (The Mirror Pg 34)
By Rebecca Kwei
Surveys conducted in 14 African countries show that children's medicines are available in only 35 to 50 per cent of public and private pharmacies and drug stores.
The availability of medicines in developing countries for maternal and child health is compromised by poor supply and distribution systems, insufficient health facilities and staff, low investment in health and the high cost of medicines.
Consequently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has compiled its first ever list of priority medicines that need to be available everywhere for maternal and child health.
The top 30 essential medicines which was launched at the 18th Expert Committee on the Selection and Use of Essential Medicines in Accra, was compiled by experts in maternal and child health and medicines who analysed the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines and the latest WHO treatment guidelines to establish which medicines would save the most lives.
A Clinical Pharmacologist at the WHO, Dr Suzanne Hill, at a press briefing, said more than eight million children under the age of five still died every year from causes such as pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria while an estimated 1,000 women died every day due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth.
"Almost all of these deaths occur in developing countries and the vast majority can be prevented when the right medicines are available in the right formulations and are prescribed and used correctly," she said.
According to the WHO, haemorrhage or severe bleeding was the leading cause of maternal death and it could kill a healthy woman within two hours of giving birth.
It said an injection of oxytocin, immediately after delivery, can stop bleeding and can make the difference between life and death.
Other medicines on the list for mothers are medicines to treat infection, high blood pressure and sexually transmitted infections and drugs to prevent preterm birth.
Additionally, the WHO estimates that pneumonia kills an estimated 1.6 million children under the age of five years, yet research has shown that treatment with simple antibiotics could prevent as many as 600,000 deaths.
It said improving access to Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) and zinc tablets would save many of the 1.3 million children who are dying annually from diarrhoea.
The organisation noted that medicines appropriate for children are often not available, partly because of lack of awareness that children need different medicines from adults.
As a result, health workers are forced to adapt medicines intended for adults. Tablets are crushed into imprecise portions and dissolved into unpalatable drinks that are difficult for children to swallow and are potentially ineffective, toxic or harmful.
The WHO, therefore, recommends that wherever possible, medicines for children should be provided in doses that are easy to measure and easy for children to take.
A newly developed artemisinin combination tablet for malaria is dissolved in liquid and is sweet tasting, making it easier for children to swallow and ensuring that they receive correct and effective doses.
By Rebecca Kwei
Surveys conducted in 14 African countries show that children's medicines are available in only 35 to 50 per cent of public and private pharmacies and drug stores.
The availability of medicines in developing countries for maternal and child health is compromised by poor supply and distribution systems, insufficient health facilities and staff, low investment in health and the high cost of medicines.
Consequently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has compiled its first ever list of priority medicines that need to be available everywhere for maternal and child health.
The top 30 essential medicines which was launched at the 18th Expert Committee on the Selection and Use of Essential Medicines in Accra, was compiled by experts in maternal and child health and medicines who analysed the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines and the latest WHO treatment guidelines to establish which medicines would save the most lives.
A Clinical Pharmacologist at the WHO, Dr Suzanne Hill, at a press briefing, said more than eight million children under the age of five still died every year from causes such as pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria while an estimated 1,000 women died every day due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth.
"Almost all of these deaths occur in developing countries and the vast majority can be prevented when the right medicines are available in the right formulations and are prescribed and used correctly," she said.
According to the WHO, haemorrhage or severe bleeding was the leading cause of maternal death and it could kill a healthy woman within two hours of giving birth.
It said an injection of oxytocin, immediately after delivery, can stop bleeding and can make the difference between life and death.
Other medicines on the list for mothers are medicines to treat infection, high blood pressure and sexually transmitted infections and drugs to prevent preterm birth.
Additionally, the WHO estimates that pneumonia kills an estimated 1.6 million children under the age of five years, yet research has shown that treatment with simple antibiotics could prevent as many as 600,000 deaths.
It said improving access to Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) and zinc tablets would save many of the 1.3 million children who are dying annually from diarrhoea.
The organisation noted that medicines appropriate for children are often not available, partly because of lack of awareness that children need different medicines from adults.
As a result, health workers are forced to adapt medicines intended for adults. Tablets are crushed into imprecise portions and dissolved into unpalatable drinks that are difficult for children to swallow and are potentially ineffective, toxic or harmful.
The WHO, therefore, recommends that wherever possible, medicines for children should be provided in doses that are easy to measure and easy for children to take.
A newly developed artemisinin combination tablet for malaria is dissolved in liquid and is sweet tasting, making it easier for children to swallow and ensuring that they receive correct and effective doses.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Regular eye examination prevents glaucoma
Saturday, March 12, 2011 (The Mirror Pg 13)
By Rebecca Kwei
THE President of the Glaucoma Association of Ghana (GAG), Mr Harrison Kofi Abutiate, has urged Ghanaians to go for regular eye examination in order to help prevent glaucoma which causes blindness.
He said although some risk factors for glaucoma such as heredity could not be prevented, regular monitoring and maintaining healthy eyes could help prevent the onset of the disease.
Mr Abutiate said this at the launch of this year’s World Glaucoma Awareness Week organised by the Glaucoma Association of Ghana (GAG), in collaboration with other eye care stakeholders.
The World Glaucoma Day is celebrated on March 12, each year and the theme for this year’s event is “Glaucoma — Don’t lose sight of your family”.
Glaucoma is the second most common cause of blindness world-wide and it is estimated that 4.5 million people are blind due to glaucoma and this will rise to 11.2 million by 2020.
In Ghana, it is estimated that more than 600,000 people have glaucoma and 30,000 may be blind from it.
Mr Abutiate said a global programme dubbed Vision 2020 — the right to sight which was launched in 1999 was halfway through with 10 years left to achieve the goal of the elimination of avoidable blindness by 2020.
“Too many people are going blind unnecessarily. It is, therefore, our ethical and moral duty that anything that can be done to prevent blindness and restore sight must be done” he said.
He gave the assurance that the association would continue to create awareness so that the general public will seek avenues to check their eyes adding that from 2005 to date there has been dramatic increase in the numbers of patient attendance at various clinics and hospitals for eye checks.
He further called on government to waive duties on medicines and equipment for eye care so that more professionals can provide the public with better eye care services.
To support the GAG, the Minister of Health, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, who launched the week, said the ministry would include in its budget GH¢10,000 each year to support the activities of GAG.
He said this year had been set aside by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations as a year to focus on non-communicable diseases and that glaucoma would, therefore receive maximum attention.
Consequently, he said the National Eye Care Programme had come out with the policy direction and strategy for managing glaucoma in Ghana.
The strategy he said was to raise awareness for people to know about the disease and report early; put in place screening facilities to detect cases early and manage cases early and properly.
Mr Chireh said to support the glaucoma control programme as well as the management of other eye diseases in the country, the ministry had increased intake into the Ophthalmic Nursing Training School to produce more Eye Nurses and more doctors have enrolled with the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons to be trained as Ophthalmologists.
He said the ministry had also placed an order for basic ophthalmic equipment to support the staff in their work and to make screening for conditions such as glaucoma possible in district hospitals.
By Rebecca Kwei
THE President of the Glaucoma Association of Ghana (GAG), Mr Harrison Kofi Abutiate, has urged Ghanaians to go for regular eye examination in order to help prevent glaucoma which causes blindness.
He said although some risk factors for glaucoma such as heredity could not be prevented, regular monitoring and maintaining healthy eyes could help prevent the onset of the disease.
Mr Abutiate said this at the launch of this year’s World Glaucoma Awareness Week organised by the Glaucoma Association of Ghana (GAG), in collaboration with other eye care stakeholders.
The World Glaucoma Day is celebrated on March 12, each year and the theme for this year’s event is “Glaucoma — Don’t lose sight of your family”.
Glaucoma is the second most common cause of blindness world-wide and it is estimated that 4.5 million people are blind due to glaucoma and this will rise to 11.2 million by 2020.
In Ghana, it is estimated that more than 600,000 people have glaucoma and 30,000 may be blind from it.
Mr Abutiate said a global programme dubbed Vision 2020 — the right to sight which was launched in 1999 was halfway through with 10 years left to achieve the goal of the elimination of avoidable blindness by 2020.
“Too many people are going blind unnecessarily. It is, therefore, our ethical and moral duty that anything that can be done to prevent blindness and restore sight must be done” he said.
He gave the assurance that the association would continue to create awareness so that the general public will seek avenues to check their eyes adding that from 2005 to date there has been dramatic increase in the numbers of patient attendance at various clinics and hospitals for eye checks.
He further called on government to waive duties on medicines and equipment for eye care so that more professionals can provide the public with better eye care services.
To support the GAG, the Minister of Health, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, who launched the week, said the ministry would include in its budget GH¢10,000 each year to support the activities of GAG.
He said this year had been set aside by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations as a year to focus on non-communicable diseases and that glaucoma would, therefore receive maximum attention.
Consequently, he said the National Eye Care Programme had come out with the policy direction and strategy for managing glaucoma in Ghana.
The strategy he said was to raise awareness for people to know about the disease and report early; put in place screening facilities to detect cases early and manage cases early and properly.
Mr Chireh said to support the glaucoma control programme as well as the management of other eye diseases in the country, the ministry had increased intake into the Ophthalmic Nursing Training School to produce more Eye Nurses and more doctors have enrolled with the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons to be trained as Ophthalmologists.
He said the ministry had also placed an order for basic ophthalmic equipment to support the staff in their work and to make screening for conditions such as glaucoma possible in district hospitals.
Gifty Anti - a gift to our women
Saturday, March 5, 2011 (The Mirror Pg 16/17)
By Rebecca Kwei
Perhaps her name Gifty inspires her to ‘be a gift onto others’ and that is why ever-bubbly broadcast journalist, Gifty Dansoa Anti, is using the media to ensure that women have a voice that is clearly heard by all.
She has taken a stand through her regular programme on television, The Standpoint, to create a vital platform for women to air their views on a wide variety of important matters.
According to Gifty, The Standpoint was born out of the frustration of sitting in a newsroom where issues regarding women and their empowerment were not given enough prominence.
Having watched The View, an American programme hosted by four females having fun while discussing serious issues, Gifty decided to have her own programme where she could freely talk about the things she was passionate about — issues affecting women and their well-being.
“We live in a society where women are seen in a certain light, especially women who are assertive. The Standpoint creates the environment where women speak frankly about issues and share experiences on how they have been able to survive and empower themselves so others can learn from them,” she stated.
As the world celebrates the 100th International Women’s Day on Tuesday, March 8, countless women (and men) who have committed themselves to improving the lives of women and girls around the world will be honoured. But there are many unsung women contributing their quota to women’s empowerment who also need to be inspired and celebrated.
Sitting with her in the airy corridor of the GTV Newsroom, Gifty said to date there had been 141 episodes of The Standpoint which had seen panellists discussing topics such as Is Marriage the Ultimate?, Dealing With a Broken Heart, Life Without a Biological Child, Cervical Cancer, Safe Pregnancy, Understanding the Pregnant Woman, Breast Cancer, Pregnancy Did Not Stop Me, Life With a Sickle Cell Child, Life With an Autistic Child, The Muslim Man and Gender Equality, Women and Politics, among others.
Since July 2008 when the programme started airing, it has caught on with many Ghanaians and also touched lives in so many ways.
Giving instances, Gifty said a mother who had sent her daughter out of the house because she was pregnant went in search of her after watching one of the programmes titled ‘Pregnancy did not stop me’.
She said after the programme, the mother called her (Gifty) and told her what she had done.
Fortunately, she found her pregnant daughter and took care of her till she delivered. The young girl is now back in school.
In another story, a young girl about to have an unsafe abortion and actually had the concoction she was about to drink by her, watched a discussion on “Meet the survivors” which featured two young single mothers and a rape victim. After the programme, she called Gifty who spoke to her mother. The good news is that she had a safe delivery and is now back in medical school.
A panellist on the programme which discussed “Life without a biological child” had her former in-laws calling her to apologise and tell her they did not realise what they had put her through.
There is also the story of a young professional lady living in an abusive marriage in the Upper West Region who also watched the programme on “Marital Abuse”. She sent an e-mail to Gift detailing all that she was going through and how she was ready to commit suicide because her parents and relatives were insisting she stay in the marriage.
“We got her some assistance. She moved out of home and, thankfully, her parents who were afraid to take her in or help her financially because of traditions and beliefs took her in and now she is gainfully employed and taking care of her sons,” Gifty said with pride in her voice.
“The testimonies by abused persons who have been on the programme have been amazing. Many have received apologies from the perpetrators. The show is inundated with calls and we have referred many women to specialists. Many women have written to say how liberated and enlightened they became after watching the programme,” she said.
“More men are freely exploring their feminine sides and want to appear on the programme,” she added with a giggle.
“The Standpoint is our way of supporting the struggle to empower women and the sensitisation through the power of the media has been obvious. Women talk openly and freely about so-called taboo topics,” she said.
For Gifty, although some strides had been made to empower women, there was still a long way to go and that it was first and foremost up to women to change their attitudes.
“It is not what society says. Women need to be stronger, assertive and believe in ourselves. It is not only unmarried women who can make it; you can be married and have it all. If you are not married, there is still a lot you can do.
“Every woman’s dream should be to be in a space where she can be all that she wants to be, married or single. And when you get into that space where you can be all that you want to be, you must hold on with passion, determination and focus, not letting anything push you out of that space.
Gifty, who is the last of eight children (four boys and four girls), had different professions in mind while growing up. She had wanted to be an air hostess, while her father, the late Samuel Anti, wanted her to be a lawyer. She also liked people in uniform but her dad would have none of that.
“My stint in the media was by accident,” she explained. Having failed to gain admission to read Land Economy at the university after completing Mfanstiman Girls’ Secondary School, one of her brothers encouraged her to apply to the Ghana Institute of Journalism.
Her first broadcast experience was at Joy FM where she was a regular panellist on the Young Generation and Every Woman programmes.
When she got the chance to do her National Service with GTV in 1997, her impressive output culminated in her moving from being a floor manager to hosting the Breakfast Show. She is now an Assistant Chief Editor.
“It is the way I was socialised. My father always told me, ‘for your good, not your goods’. So no matter where I find myself, I try and give of my best”.
She runs commentary on many state programmes, does live interviews and has also covered some international assignments. Locally, Gifty has covered stories from all the 10 regions of the country.
Gifty, who holds a Masters degree in International Journalism from City University in London, has also attended a number of training courses at the United Nations, the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association and had internship at SABC-Africa in South Africa.
She hopes to produce more programmes in the future and also give young people the chance to host them.
In the next five years she is optimistic about setting up a production company to help abused children and women. But, ultimately, she is aiming at starting a home for the elderly where they can go for a hot meal every day.
“My ultimate satisfaction is the people whose lives I touch and the people I help. It is an explained feeling when you become the answer to someone’s problem, dilemma or challenge; the hero is someone’s life,” she said.
For all the guys who have their eyes on Gifty, it’s time to step back because she says she is seriously attached to a special person.
“When are the wedding bells ringing?” I asked.
“It will happen .... soon,” she said with a laugh.
The Standpoint is a private production by GDA Concepts. It is aired on GTV twice a week — 8.15 p.m. on Fridays and repeated at 2.30 p.m. on Tuesdays.
By Rebecca Kwei
Perhaps her name Gifty inspires her to ‘be a gift onto others’ and that is why ever-bubbly broadcast journalist, Gifty Dansoa Anti, is using the media to ensure that women have a voice that is clearly heard by all.
She has taken a stand through her regular programme on television, The Standpoint, to create a vital platform for women to air their views on a wide variety of important matters.
According to Gifty, The Standpoint was born out of the frustration of sitting in a newsroom where issues regarding women and their empowerment were not given enough prominence.
Having watched The View, an American programme hosted by four females having fun while discussing serious issues, Gifty decided to have her own programme where she could freely talk about the things she was passionate about — issues affecting women and their well-being.
“We live in a society where women are seen in a certain light, especially women who are assertive. The Standpoint creates the environment where women speak frankly about issues and share experiences on how they have been able to survive and empower themselves so others can learn from them,” she stated.
As the world celebrates the 100th International Women’s Day on Tuesday, March 8, countless women (and men) who have committed themselves to improving the lives of women and girls around the world will be honoured. But there are many unsung women contributing their quota to women’s empowerment who also need to be inspired and celebrated.
Sitting with her in the airy corridor of the GTV Newsroom, Gifty said to date there had been 141 episodes of The Standpoint which had seen panellists discussing topics such as Is Marriage the Ultimate?, Dealing With a Broken Heart, Life Without a Biological Child, Cervical Cancer, Safe Pregnancy, Understanding the Pregnant Woman, Breast Cancer, Pregnancy Did Not Stop Me, Life With a Sickle Cell Child, Life With an Autistic Child, The Muslim Man and Gender Equality, Women and Politics, among others.
Since July 2008 when the programme started airing, it has caught on with many Ghanaians and also touched lives in so many ways.
Giving instances, Gifty said a mother who had sent her daughter out of the house because she was pregnant went in search of her after watching one of the programmes titled ‘Pregnancy did not stop me’.
She said after the programme, the mother called her (Gifty) and told her what she had done.
Fortunately, she found her pregnant daughter and took care of her till she delivered. The young girl is now back in school.
In another story, a young girl about to have an unsafe abortion and actually had the concoction she was about to drink by her, watched a discussion on “Meet the survivors” which featured two young single mothers and a rape victim. After the programme, she called Gifty who spoke to her mother. The good news is that she had a safe delivery and is now back in medical school.
A panellist on the programme which discussed “Life without a biological child” had her former in-laws calling her to apologise and tell her they did not realise what they had put her through.
There is also the story of a young professional lady living in an abusive marriage in the Upper West Region who also watched the programme on “Marital Abuse”. She sent an e-mail to Gift detailing all that she was going through and how she was ready to commit suicide because her parents and relatives were insisting she stay in the marriage.
“We got her some assistance. She moved out of home and, thankfully, her parents who were afraid to take her in or help her financially because of traditions and beliefs took her in and now she is gainfully employed and taking care of her sons,” Gifty said with pride in her voice.
“The testimonies by abused persons who have been on the programme have been amazing. Many have received apologies from the perpetrators. The show is inundated with calls and we have referred many women to specialists. Many women have written to say how liberated and enlightened they became after watching the programme,” she said.
“More men are freely exploring their feminine sides and want to appear on the programme,” she added with a giggle.
“The Standpoint is our way of supporting the struggle to empower women and the sensitisation through the power of the media has been obvious. Women talk openly and freely about so-called taboo topics,” she said.
For Gifty, although some strides had been made to empower women, there was still a long way to go and that it was first and foremost up to women to change their attitudes.
“It is not what society says. Women need to be stronger, assertive and believe in ourselves. It is not only unmarried women who can make it; you can be married and have it all. If you are not married, there is still a lot you can do.
“Every woman’s dream should be to be in a space where she can be all that she wants to be, married or single. And when you get into that space where you can be all that you want to be, you must hold on with passion, determination and focus, not letting anything push you out of that space.
Gifty, who is the last of eight children (four boys and four girls), had different professions in mind while growing up. She had wanted to be an air hostess, while her father, the late Samuel Anti, wanted her to be a lawyer. She also liked people in uniform but her dad would have none of that.
“My stint in the media was by accident,” she explained. Having failed to gain admission to read Land Economy at the university after completing Mfanstiman Girls’ Secondary School, one of her brothers encouraged her to apply to the Ghana Institute of Journalism.
Her first broadcast experience was at Joy FM where she was a regular panellist on the Young Generation and Every Woman programmes.
When she got the chance to do her National Service with GTV in 1997, her impressive output culminated in her moving from being a floor manager to hosting the Breakfast Show. She is now an Assistant Chief Editor.
“It is the way I was socialised. My father always told me, ‘for your good, not your goods’. So no matter where I find myself, I try and give of my best”.
She runs commentary on many state programmes, does live interviews and has also covered some international assignments. Locally, Gifty has covered stories from all the 10 regions of the country.
Gifty, who holds a Masters degree in International Journalism from City University in London, has also attended a number of training courses at the United Nations, the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association and had internship at SABC-Africa in South Africa.
She hopes to produce more programmes in the future and also give young people the chance to host them.
In the next five years she is optimistic about setting up a production company to help abused children and women. But, ultimately, she is aiming at starting a home for the elderly where they can go for a hot meal every day.
“My ultimate satisfaction is the people whose lives I touch and the people I help. It is an explained feeling when you become the answer to someone’s problem, dilemma or challenge; the hero is someone’s life,” she said.
For all the guys who have their eyes on Gifty, it’s time to step back because she says she is seriously attached to a special person.
“When are the wedding bells ringing?” I asked.
“It will happen .... soon,” she said with a laugh.
The Standpoint is a private production by GDA Concepts. It is aired on GTV twice a week — 8.15 p.m. on Fridays and repeated at 2.30 p.m. on Tuesdays.
Observe basic hygiene to prevent cholera
Saturday, February 26, 2011 (The Mirror Pg 21)
By Rebecca Kwei
The Deputy Director of Public Health at the Greater Accra Health Directorate, Dr Edward Antwi, has called on Ghanaians to observe basic personal hygiene in order to avoid contracting cholera.
The call comes in the wake of the rising incidence of cholera in the country.
In all, a total of 1,396 cases and 34 deaths have been recorded .
Cholera is a diarrhoel disease caused by infection of the intestine with the bacterium vibrio cholerae. Both children and adults can be infected and it is characterised by the sudden onset of profuse painless watery diarrhoea, occasional vomiting and rapid dehydration.
At an emergency meeting organised by the Ghana Health Service on Wednesday on how to outline ways of responding to the outbreak, it was reported that Central Region had 396 cases with 18 deaths; Eastern Region, 258 cases with three deaths, while the Greater Accra Region had recorded 742 cases with 13 deaths.
Dr Antwi said with the onset of the rains, the situation could be alarming and advised the public to make sure their surroundings were clean and they also buy foods from clean environments.
He expressed concern about the unsanitary conditions in the cities and called for intensive public education in order for homes, markets and other dwelling places to be kept clean.
Cholera could be contracted through eating food that contains cholera germs, eating fruits and vegetables, especially those grown by irrigation with waste water and also when fruits and vegetables are eaten raw and not properly washed.
Other mode of transmission, according to health experts, are drinking water contaminated with cholera germs, and not washing hands properly with soap and water after attending to a person with the cholera, among others.
Dr Antwi appealed to the public that in case of diarrhoea and or vomiting, the affected person should be rushed immediately to the nearest healthcare facility for free treatment since those who died reported late, and nothing could be done to save them.
In his presentation, Dr Emmanuel K. Dotsi of the Disease Surveillance Department of the GHS, said about 21 districts had reported cholera cases to date and it was very possible that it could spread to other regions or districts.
He said results of environmental assessment showed that there was poor access to clean and safe drinking water, indiscriminate defecation, selling of food near open drains, urban slums and poor environmental sanitation.
Consequently, Dr Dotsi said there was need to enhance diarrhoea surveillance, improve case management and intensify public education, using multiple approaches.
Additionally, he said it was important to enforce by-laws on sanitation and food hygiene, ensure access to safe water and promote safe preparation of food, safe disposal of human waste, as well as the proper management of dead bodies.
By Rebecca Kwei
The Deputy Director of Public Health at the Greater Accra Health Directorate, Dr Edward Antwi, has called on Ghanaians to observe basic personal hygiene in order to avoid contracting cholera.
The call comes in the wake of the rising incidence of cholera in the country.
In all, a total of 1,396 cases and 34 deaths have been recorded .
Cholera is a diarrhoel disease caused by infection of the intestine with the bacterium vibrio cholerae. Both children and adults can be infected and it is characterised by the sudden onset of profuse painless watery diarrhoea, occasional vomiting and rapid dehydration.
At an emergency meeting organised by the Ghana Health Service on Wednesday on how to outline ways of responding to the outbreak, it was reported that Central Region had 396 cases with 18 deaths; Eastern Region, 258 cases with three deaths, while the Greater Accra Region had recorded 742 cases with 13 deaths.
Dr Antwi said with the onset of the rains, the situation could be alarming and advised the public to make sure their surroundings were clean and they also buy foods from clean environments.
He expressed concern about the unsanitary conditions in the cities and called for intensive public education in order for homes, markets and other dwelling places to be kept clean.
Cholera could be contracted through eating food that contains cholera germs, eating fruits and vegetables, especially those grown by irrigation with waste water and also when fruits and vegetables are eaten raw and not properly washed.
Other mode of transmission, according to health experts, are drinking water contaminated with cholera germs, and not washing hands properly with soap and water after attending to a person with the cholera, among others.
Dr Antwi appealed to the public that in case of diarrhoea and or vomiting, the affected person should be rushed immediately to the nearest healthcare facility for free treatment since those who died reported late, and nothing could be done to save them.
In his presentation, Dr Emmanuel K. Dotsi of the Disease Surveillance Department of the GHS, said about 21 districts had reported cholera cases to date and it was very possible that it could spread to other regions or districts.
He said results of environmental assessment showed that there was poor access to clean and safe drinking water, indiscriminate defecation, selling of food near open drains, urban slums and poor environmental sanitation.
Consequently, Dr Dotsi said there was need to enhance diarrhoea surveillance, improve case management and intensify public education, using multiple approaches.
Additionally, he said it was important to enforce by-laws on sanitation and food hygiene, ensure access to safe water and promote safe preparation of food, safe disposal of human waste, as well as the proper management of dead bodies.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Commit more funds into DV act — Bekoe
Saturday, February 19, 2011 (The Mirror Pg 3)
By Rebecca Kwei
The Co-ordinator of the Domestic Violence (DV) Coalition, Mr Adolph Awake Bekoe, has called on the government to give priority to gender-based violence and commit more funds for the implementation of the DV Act.
He said the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was so far the biggest donor towards the implementation of the DV Act, while the government's contribution was negligible.
"Civil society is not happy with the government's commitment. It is rather foreign governments giving support to deal with crimes perpetrated in Ghana," he said.
Mr Bekoe made the call at a one-day domestic violence reporting training for the media in Accra.
The programme was organised by the DV Coalition and sponsored by Cordaid.
He said gender-based violence, among other ills, undermined productivity and development and it was important that the government gave it priority and addressed issues affecting women and children.
"If we want more women to come into the public space, we must ensure they have peace in private space," he added.
He said the funds would also help train and retrain staff of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), judges, doctors and civil society and educate the public on domestic violence.
Mr Bekoe expressed concern that the state did not have shelter for abused women, noting that the only one was that of the Ark Foundation, an NGO.
Additionally, he said the coalition was still trying to get the meaning of the free medical provision in the DV Act, since victims of domestic violence still had to pay when they went to clinic.
Consequently, he said most victims of domestic violence did not push for prosecution because they had to foot the bill at the hospital.
Echoing the need for more funds to implement the DV Act, the acting Greater Accra Regional Co-ordinator of DOVVSU, DSP Bismark Agyapong, said the Ghana Police Service started the process of building a complex that would include a temporary shelter, a medical centre and a therapy/counselling room which would go a long way to help victims but that project had been put on hold due to lack of funds.
He mentioned some of the challenges in handling victims as delay in reporting the abuse, difficulty in getting evidence from witnesses to build a good case for prosecution and getting funds for medical treatment and reports.
DSP Agyapong urged the media to see the police as partners working for the common purpose of protecting the vulnerable against all forms of abuse.
He also appealed to the media not to publish one-sided stories.
He said since 2006, the Police Service had introduced gender issues and gender-based violence, child abuse, among others, into the curriculum of all its training schools.
In her presentation on, "Understanding Gender-based Violence and its impact", the Executive Director of the Ark Foundation, Mrs Angela Dwamena-Aboagye, said it was estimated that violence against women was a greater ill-health than traffic accidents, cancer and malaria combined.
She appealed to the media not to trivialise issues concerning gender-based violence.
Participants were also introduced to basic counselling skills.
By Rebecca Kwei
The Co-ordinator of the Domestic Violence (DV) Coalition, Mr Adolph Awake Bekoe, has called on the government to give priority to gender-based violence and commit more funds for the implementation of the DV Act.
He said the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was so far the biggest donor towards the implementation of the DV Act, while the government's contribution was negligible.
"Civil society is not happy with the government's commitment. It is rather foreign governments giving support to deal with crimes perpetrated in Ghana," he said.
Mr Bekoe made the call at a one-day domestic violence reporting training for the media in Accra.
The programme was organised by the DV Coalition and sponsored by Cordaid.
He said gender-based violence, among other ills, undermined productivity and development and it was important that the government gave it priority and addressed issues affecting women and children.
"If we want more women to come into the public space, we must ensure they have peace in private space," he added.
He said the funds would also help train and retrain staff of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), judges, doctors and civil society and educate the public on domestic violence.
Mr Bekoe expressed concern that the state did not have shelter for abused women, noting that the only one was that of the Ark Foundation, an NGO.
Additionally, he said the coalition was still trying to get the meaning of the free medical provision in the DV Act, since victims of domestic violence still had to pay when they went to clinic.
Consequently, he said most victims of domestic violence did not push for prosecution because they had to foot the bill at the hospital.
Echoing the need for more funds to implement the DV Act, the acting Greater Accra Regional Co-ordinator of DOVVSU, DSP Bismark Agyapong, said the Ghana Police Service started the process of building a complex that would include a temporary shelter, a medical centre and a therapy/counselling room which would go a long way to help victims but that project had been put on hold due to lack of funds.
He mentioned some of the challenges in handling victims as delay in reporting the abuse, difficulty in getting evidence from witnesses to build a good case for prosecution and getting funds for medical treatment and reports.
DSP Agyapong urged the media to see the police as partners working for the common purpose of protecting the vulnerable against all forms of abuse.
He also appealed to the media not to publish one-sided stories.
He said since 2006, the Police Service had introduced gender issues and gender-based violence, child abuse, among others, into the curriculum of all its training schools.
In her presentation on, "Understanding Gender-based Violence and its impact", the Executive Director of the Ark Foundation, Mrs Angela Dwamena-Aboagye, said it was estimated that violence against women was a greater ill-health than traffic accidents, cancer and malaria combined.
She appealed to the media not to trivialise issues concerning gender-based violence.
Participants were also introduced to basic counselling skills.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
What happens to child involved in murder?
Saturday, February 12, 2011 (The Mirror Pg 3)
By Rebecca Kwei
In December last year, a four-year-old boy shot his seven-year-old sister while he was playing with his father’s shotgun at Magagia Camp at Sefwi-Wiawso.
Another incident occurred at Enhuutem-Eniehu, near Enchi in the Aowin-Suaman District, when a 13-year-old boy shot and killed a man believed to be mentally unstable.
Residents of Amisano, near Cape Coast in the Central Region, were left in tears last weekend when a 10-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his friend.
These are a few of the most recent incidents involving children playing with shotguns, resulting in the accidental murder or injury to others.
But what happens to these children who are involved in such incidents?
According to the Public Relations Officer of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), Chief Inspector Irene Oppong, under the Criminal Code when a child below 12 commits such a murder, it is considered that the child has not committed any crime.
Act 29/60 Section 26 states that nothing is a crime committed by a person under 12.
What the prosecutors do is investigate the circumstances under which the crime was committed and if it is found out that it was through the negligence of an elderly person that the incident occurred, then he or she is arrested and prosecuted.
Additionally, if the act also exposed other children to danger, the elderly person is charged with that offence.
Chief Inspector Oppong said in such a situation a child who is below 12 is then taken through counselling and he might be used as a witness during the court process, depending on the circumstances.
She explained that if the child is 12 and above, upon committing the crime he or she is sent to the remand home at Osu, instead of the Nsawam Prison, and after investigations he or she might be prosecuted before a juvenile court and, if found guilty, he or she is sent to a correctional centre.
She explained that in all murder cases the docket was referred to the Attorney-General’s Office for advice.
On what would make a child pull the trigger, a consultant clinical psychologist of Psyconsult, Mr Nortey Dua, said most children world-wide were brought up and socialised in an environment that seemed to condone and endorse violence as a means of resolving conflict.
“Young children easily pick up and imitate the models and values they are bombarded with frequently. Thus some children have become desensitised to violence, even in their immature developing minds, and they see nothing wrong with violence or its consequence,” he explained.
He said children who were exposed to firearms also had the opportunity to fantasise about their use and they might, therefore, be tempted to actualise those maladaptive thoughts.
Mr Dua said some children might have an idea of the consequences but they might be too immature and impulsive to process that meaningfully in the face of strong urges, thoughts and feelings.
On what happened to a child when he/she accidentally killed, he said it was important that such a child and his or her family were shielded or protected from sensational media glare to facilitate a proper investigation into the circumstances leading up to the unfortunate incident and also assist with proper therapeutic interventions for him or her and the family.
He said investigations should be conducted by persons with the requisite professional qualifications and competencies to handle such cases, such as clinical psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists and a full medico-legal team.
“Depending on the nature of the incident and the age of the child, a broad range of reactions needs to be expected, identified and managed, such as guilt, depression and other mood disorders, suicidal thoughts and attempts, post-traumatic stress disorders, aggression, conduct disorders, sleep, eating and learning disorders,” he explained.
He further said a proper and detailed assessment of the child's psycho-social adjustment must be undertaken and recommendations made for both short and long-term management.
The family, he said, must also be helped to come to terms with the reality of the situation and also helped to acquire effective coping skills.
Mr Dua called for a lot more public and family education at all levels of society and clear messages given that violence was unacceptable in all forms and manifestations.
He called for censorship of the mass media with regard to violent language and films which seemed to model violence as an acceptable conflict resolution tool.
He said parents were ultimately responsible for the safety of their children and it was their duty to protect the children from exposure to danger or harm and also provide their needs.
Mr Dua said parents who left dangerous chemicals, implements, weapons and others which exposed their children to danger and or harm must be appropriately sanctioned in accordance with the laws of the country.
By Rebecca Kwei
In December last year, a four-year-old boy shot his seven-year-old sister while he was playing with his father’s shotgun at Magagia Camp at Sefwi-Wiawso.
Another incident occurred at Enhuutem-Eniehu, near Enchi in the Aowin-Suaman District, when a 13-year-old boy shot and killed a man believed to be mentally unstable.
Residents of Amisano, near Cape Coast in the Central Region, were left in tears last weekend when a 10-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his friend.
These are a few of the most recent incidents involving children playing with shotguns, resulting in the accidental murder or injury to others.
But what happens to these children who are involved in such incidents?
According to the Public Relations Officer of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), Chief Inspector Irene Oppong, under the Criminal Code when a child below 12 commits such a murder, it is considered that the child has not committed any crime.
Act 29/60 Section 26 states that nothing is a crime committed by a person under 12.
What the prosecutors do is investigate the circumstances under which the crime was committed and if it is found out that it was through the negligence of an elderly person that the incident occurred, then he or she is arrested and prosecuted.
Additionally, if the act also exposed other children to danger, the elderly person is charged with that offence.
Chief Inspector Oppong said in such a situation a child who is below 12 is then taken through counselling and he might be used as a witness during the court process, depending on the circumstances.
She explained that if the child is 12 and above, upon committing the crime he or she is sent to the remand home at Osu, instead of the Nsawam Prison, and after investigations he or she might be prosecuted before a juvenile court and, if found guilty, he or she is sent to a correctional centre.
She explained that in all murder cases the docket was referred to the Attorney-General’s Office for advice.
On what would make a child pull the trigger, a consultant clinical psychologist of Psyconsult, Mr Nortey Dua, said most children world-wide were brought up and socialised in an environment that seemed to condone and endorse violence as a means of resolving conflict.
“Young children easily pick up and imitate the models and values they are bombarded with frequently. Thus some children have become desensitised to violence, even in their immature developing minds, and they see nothing wrong with violence or its consequence,” he explained.
He said children who were exposed to firearms also had the opportunity to fantasise about their use and they might, therefore, be tempted to actualise those maladaptive thoughts.
Mr Dua said some children might have an idea of the consequences but they might be too immature and impulsive to process that meaningfully in the face of strong urges, thoughts and feelings.
On what happened to a child when he/she accidentally killed, he said it was important that such a child and his or her family were shielded or protected from sensational media glare to facilitate a proper investigation into the circumstances leading up to the unfortunate incident and also assist with proper therapeutic interventions for him or her and the family.
He said investigations should be conducted by persons with the requisite professional qualifications and competencies to handle such cases, such as clinical psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists and a full medico-legal team.
“Depending on the nature of the incident and the age of the child, a broad range of reactions needs to be expected, identified and managed, such as guilt, depression and other mood disorders, suicidal thoughts and attempts, post-traumatic stress disorders, aggression, conduct disorders, sleep, eating and learning disorders,” he explained.
He further said a proper and detailed assessment of the child's psycho-social adjustment must be undertaken and recommendations made for both short and long-term management.
The family, he said, must also be helped to come to terms with the reality of the situation and also helped to acquire effective coping skills.
Mr Dua called for a lot more public and family education at all levels of society and clear messages given that violence was unacceptable in all forms and manifestations.
He called for censorship of the mass media with regard to violent language and films which seemed to model violence as an acceptable conflict resolution tool.
He said parents were ultimately responsible for the safety of their children and it was their duty to protect the children from exposure to danger or harm and also provide their needs.
Mr Dua said parents who left dangerous chemicals, implements, weapons and others which exposed their children to danger and or harm must be appropriately sanctioned in accordance with the laws of the country.
Multi-sectoral approach in health delivery vital
Saturday, February 5, 2011 (The Mirror Pg 13)
By Rebecca Kwei
The Chief Pharmacist and Director of Pharmaceutical Services, Mrs Martha Gyansa-Lutterodt, has reiterated the need for a multi-sectoral approach to help remove barriers to access to affordable medicines in the country.
She said multi-sectoral approach in the health delivery system had been proven to be effective and also made the implementation of health policies easier.
Mrs Gyansa-Lutterodt was speaking at the launch of a publication of the Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA) Ghana in Accra.
The publication, dubbed ‘Memorable Milestones 2008-2010’ highlights the success, challenges and lessons learned during the two-year pilot phase of the MeTA project.
MeTA is an alliance of partners working to improve access to medicines by increasing transparency and accountability in the healthcare marketplace. It was funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and piloted in Ghana, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Peru, the Philippines, Uganda and Zambia.
Mrs Gyansa-Lutterodt said all over the world policy development hinged on multi-sectoral approach and the lessons and successes chalked up by MeTA had shown that public, private and civil society collaboration was the way to go.
A co-chair of MeTA Ghana, Prof. David Ofori-Adjei, said the project had worked tirelessly to build a harmonious alliance of public, private and civil society stakeholders which now constituted the driving force to improve access to safe, efficacious and affordable medicines for Ghanaians.
For his part, Dr Alex Dodoo, also a co-chair of MeTA, said the two-year MeTA pilot ended in September last year and there was the need to be creative in finding ways to sustain the project, since MeTA’s cause of ensuring that all medicines in the country were of the best quality, easily available, prescribed and dispensed properly, and used rationally could not be downplayed.
Mr John Allotey, who represented the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, said the project enabled members to hold discussions with policy makers and policy implementors which helped in the formulation of policies that impacted positively on the lives of Ghanaians.
He said it was important that MeTA became an entrenched institution in the country to ensure transparency and accountability in the medicine supply chain.
A member of the MeTA Governing Council who represented Civil Society Organisations (CSO), Mr Charles Allotey, said the MeTA project had helped build the capacity of CSOs to engage and discuss issues relating to medicine distribution and pricing.
He said the project had trained more than 100 CSOs and a network of CSOs had also been established across the 10 regions of Ghana to work in medicines transparency issues.
A director at the Ministry of Health, Mr Sam Boateng, who launched the publication, said MeTA had deepened the multi-sectoral approach and also empowered consumers to have a voice in issues relating to medicines.
By Rebecca Kwei
The Chief Pharmacist and Director of Pharmaceutical Services, Mrs Martha Gyansa-Lutterodt, has reiterated the need for a multi-sectoral approach to help remove barriers to access to affordable medicines in the country.
She said multi-sectoral approach in the health delivery system had been proven to be effective and also made the implementation of health policies easier.
Mrs Gyansa-Lutterodt was speaking at the launch of a publication of the Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA) Ghana in Accra.
The publication, dubbed ‘Memorable Milestones 2008-2010’ highlights the success, challenges and lessons learned during the two-year pilot phase of the MeTA project.
MeTA is an alliance of partners working to improve access to medicines by increasing transparency and accountability in the healthcare marketplace. It was funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and piloted in Ghana, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Peru, the Philippines, Uganda and Zambia.
Mrs Gyansa-Lutterodt said all over the world policy development hinged on multi-sectoral approach and the lessons and successes chalked up by MeTA had shown that public, private and civil society collaboration was the way to go.
A co-chair of MeTA Ghana, Prof. David Ofori-Adjei, said the project had worked tirelessly to build a harmonious alliance of public, private and civil society stakeholders which now constituted the driving force to improve access to safe, efficacious and affordable medicines for Ghanaians.
For his part, Dr Alex Dodoo, also a co-chair of MeTA, said the two-year MeTA pilot ended in September last year and there was the need to be creative in finding ways to sustain the project, since MeTA’s cause of ensuring that all medicines in the country were of the best quality, easily available, prescribed and dispensed properly, and used rationally could not be downplayed.
Mr John Allotey, who represented the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, said the project enabled members to hold discussions with policy makers and policy implementors which helped in the formulation of policies that impacted positively on the lives of Ghanaians.
He said it was important that MeTA became an entrenched institution in the country to ensure transparency and accountability in the medicine supply chain.
A member of the MeTA Governing Council who represented Civil Society Organisations (CSO), Mr Charles Allotey, said the MeTA project had helped build the capacity of CSOs to engage and discuss issues relating to medicine distribution and pricing.
He said the project had trained more than 100 CSOs and a network of CSOs had also been established across the 10 regions of Ghana to work in medicines transparency issues.
A director at the Ministry of Health, Mr Sam Boateng, who launched the publication, said MeTA had deepened the multi-sectoral approach and also empowered consumers to have a voice in issues relating to medicines.
Find new ways to source funds for research
Saturday, January 29, 2011 (The Mirror Pg 12)
By Rebecca Kwei
THE Director of the Research Division of the Ghana Health Service, Professor John Gyapong, has called on scientists in developing countries to find innovative ways of sourcing for funds for research.
He said most development partners were inundated with appeals and it was important that scientists begin to diversify their sources of funding.
Prof. Gyapong made the call at the last Annual General Meeting of the Malaria Clinical Trials Alliance (MCTA) in Accra. The MCTA is a project of the INDEPTH Network of demographic surveillance centres to help conduct clinical trials of new drugs and vaccines to fight malaria and to provide training and technical assistance to research centres across Africa among others. There are 16 centres comprising the MCTA network in 10 African countries including Ghana.
The project, which was launched in 2006 with a $17 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will wind up in February this year.
Prof. Gyapong said over the last decade, several declarations had been made to support all forms of research.
However, he noted that mechanisms had not been put in place to ensure that those goals were achieved.
“If half of these declarations to support research have been implemented then probably, we would not need donor organisations to source for funds,” he said.
He commended the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for supporting the MCTA since it was good to invest in the infrastructure and human capacity for research to achieve the desired results.
Prof. Gyapong said it was important for research to be prioritised and the GHS in its own way had ensured that was done by moving research from a small unit to a divisional level.
He encouraged scientists to engage policy makers to ensure that research findings flowed easily into policy making so that the gap between research and policy making was bridged.
The Project Manager of the MCTA, Prof. Fred Binka, said the project had developed the human capacity of most African scientists to conduct quality research.
He said they had leadership that was 100 per cent African, unlike the past when they were led by foreigners.
He said the project had also increased the number of sites in Africa which were properly equipped and managed and ready to conduct quality clinical trials on vaccines and drug interventions.
Prof. Binka said the MCTA was conducting clinical trials of the new malaria vaccine for its safety and also monitoring the effectiveness of malarial drugs being deployed in African countries under the INDEPTH Effectiveness and Safety Studies of Anti-malarial drugs in Africa (INESS).
He pointed out that although the MCTA project was coming to an end, the trial sites were functional and was continuing the INESS project and trials for the malaria vaccine.
He said strengthening clinical trial facilities in Africa was key to saving millions of lives and that was what the MCTA sought to do.
The Programme Officer, Infectious Diseases, Global Health Programme of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Jessica Milman, said the foundation was very happy about the work the MCTA had carried out over the past five years and that was why it again supported the INESS project.
The Executive Director of the INDEPTH Network, Dr Osman Sankoh, said the work of the MCTA had helped to strengthen global research and development activities targeting malaria.
By Rebecca Kwei
THE Director of the Research Division of the Ghana Health Service, Professor John Gyapong, has called on scientists in developing countries to find innovative ways of sourcing for funds for research.
He said most development partners were inundated with appeals and it was important that scientists begin to diversify their sources of funding.
Prof. Gyapong made the call at the last Annual General Meeting of the Malaria Clinical Trials Alliance (MCTA) in Accra. The MCTA is a project of the INDEPTH Network of demographic surveillance centres to help conduct clinical trials of new drugs and vaccines to fight malaria and to provide training and technical assistance to research centres across Africa among others. There are 16 centres comprising the MCTA network in 10 African countries including Ghana.
The project, which was launched in 2006 with a $17 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will wind up in February this year.
Prof. Gyapong said over the last decade, several declarations had been made to support all forms of research.
However, he noted that mechanisms had not been put in place to ensure that those goals were achieved.
“If half of these declarations to support research have been implemented then probably, we would not need donor organisations to source for funds,” he said.
He commended the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for supporting the MCTA since it was good to invest in the infrastructure and human capacity for research to achieve the desired results.
Prof. Gyapong said it was important for research to be prioritised and the GHS in its own way had ensured that was done by moving research from a small unit to a divisional level.
He encouraged scientists to engage policy makers to ensure that research findings flowed easily into policy making so that the gap between research and policy making was bridged.
The Project Manager of the MCTA, Prof. Fred Binka, said the project had developed the human capacity of most African scientists to conduct quality research.
He said they had leadership that was 100 per cent African, unlike the past when they were led by foreigners.
He said the project had also increased the number of sites in Africa which were properly equipped and managed and ready to conduct quality clinical trials on vaccines and drug interventions.
Prof. Binka said the MCTA was conducting clinical trials of the new malaria vaccine for its safety and also monitoring the effectiveness of malarial drugs being deployed in African countries under the INDEPTH Effectiveness and Safety Studies of Anti-malarial drugs in Africa (INESS).
He pointed out that although the MCTA project was coming to an end, the trial sites were functional and was continuing the INESS project and trials for the malaria vaccine.
He said strengthening clinical trial facilities in Africa was key to saving millions of lives and that was what the MCTA sought to do.
The Programme Officer, Infectious Diseases, Global Health Programme of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Jessica Milman, said the foundation was very happy about the work the MCTA had carried out over the past five years and that was why it again supported the INESS project.
The Executive Director of the INDEPTH Network, Dr Osman Sankoh, said the work of the MCTA had helped to strengthen global research and development activities targeting malaria.
Intensify malaria control measures — WHO
Saturday, January 29, 2011 (The Mirror Pg 13)
By Rebecca Kwei
THE World Health Organisation (WHO) has called on malaria endemic countries to intensify good malaria control measures in order to reduce transmission and lower the risk of resistant parasites from spreading.
This comes in the wake of reports of evidence of resistance to artemisinins being identified and confirmed on the Cambodia-Thailand border in Asia. The first resistance to chloroquine was discovered in the same region about a decade ago, leading to its ban later on in malaria endemic countries which had also developed resistance to it.
The WHO currently recommends the use of Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies (ACTs) for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria. The first line ACTs for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria in Ghana is the Artesunate Amodiaquine (ASAQ) while the second line is Arthemether/Lumefantrine (AL) or Dihydroartemisin Piperaquine (DHAP).
Fortunately, there has not been any resistance to artemisinins in Ghana but there is the need to mobilise immediately to contain artemisinin resistance and stop its spread to new areas.
Consequently, the WHO has developed the Global Plan for Artemisinin Resistance Containment (GPARC) which calls to action the prevention of resistance development in ACTs.
The plan was jointly developed by the Global Malaria Programme and the Roll Back Malaria in consultation with more than 100 malaria experts and seeks to guide countries on how to prevent development of resistance to artemisinin.
Speaking at a press briefing in Accra, the WHO Advisor for Malaria, Dr Felicia Owusu-Antwi, said what countries could do to prevent the emergence of resistance was to increase monitoring and surveillance to evaluate the threat of artemisinin resistance as well as improve access to diagnostics and rational treatment with ACTs.
For Ghana, she among others said, “There should be consistent and accurate diagnostic testing for patients suspected of having malaria; better access to ACTs for confirmed malaria cases; compliance with ACT treatment; removal or non patronage of artemisinin mono-therapies and elimination of all sub-standard and counterfeit drugs.
The Programme Manager of the National Malaria Control Programme, Dr Constance Bart-Plange, said it was important to guard ACTs because “if we lose ACTs we are finished.”
She said doctors have been retrained but there were still some “stubborn ones who were still prescribing monotherapy” which were no longer effective treatment for malaria.
On making ACTs affordable, she said with the introduction of the Affordable Medicines Facility-Malaria (AMFm), the ACTs which were of good quality were selling between GH¢1 to 1.50 p.
However, she said some saboteurs were selling the medicines at very high prices and called on the public to be on the look out and report such people.
Dr Bart-Plange said the era where every fever was malaria was over and that the NMCP had deployed rapid diagnostic test kits to health facilities and pharmacies to ensure that people were confirmed to be having malaria before they were given an anti-malarial.
The programme was organised by the Johns Hopkins University Voices for Malaria Free Future in collaboration with the NMCP and the Ghana Health Service.
By Rebecca Kwei
THE World Health Organisation (WHO) has called on malaria endemic countries to intensify good malaria control measures in order to reduce transmission and lower the risk of resistant parasites from spreading.
This comes in the wake of reports of evidence of resistance to artemisinins being identified and confirmed on the Cambodia-Thailand border in Asia. The first resistance to chloroquine was discovered in the same region about a decade ago, leading to its ban later on in malaria endemic countries which had also developed resistance to it.
The WHO currently recommends the use of Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies (ACTs) for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria. The first line ACTs for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria in Ghana is the Artesunate Amodiaquine (ASAQ) while the second line is Arthemether/Lumefantrine (AL) or Dihydroartemisin Piperaquine (DHAP).
Fortunately, there has not been any resistance to artemisinins in Ghana but there is the need to mobilise immediately to contain artemisinin resistance and stop its spread to new areas.
Consequently, the WHO has developed the Global Plan for Artemisinin Resistance Containment (GPARC) which calls to action the prevention of resistance development in ACTs.
The plan was jointly developed by the Global Malaria Programme and the Roll Back Malaria in consultation with more than 100 malaria experts and seeks to guide countries on how to prevent development of resistance to artemisinin.
Speaking at a press briefing in Accra, the WHO Advisor for Malaria, Dr Felicia Owusu-Antwi, said what countries could do to prevent the emergence of resistance was to increase monitoring and surveillance to evaluate the threat of artemisinin resistance as well as improve access to diagnostics and rational treatment with ACTs.
For Ghana, she among others said, “There should be consistent and accurate diagnostic testing for patients suspected of having malaria; better access to ACTs for confirmed malaria cases; compliance with ACT treatment; removal or non patronage of artemisinin mono-therapies and elimination of all sub-standard and counterfeit drugs.
The Programme Manager of the National Malaria Control Programme, Dr Constance Bart-Plange, said it was important to guard ACTs because “if we lose ACTs we are finished.”
She said doctors have been retrained but there were still some “stubborn ones who were still prescribing monotherapy” which were no longer effective treatment for malaria.
On making ACTs affordable, she said with the introduction of the Affordable Medicines Facility-Malaria (AMFm), the ACTs which were of good quality were selling between GH¢1 to 1.50 p.
However, she said some saboteurs were selling the medicines at very high prices and called on the public to be on the look out and report such people.
Dr Bart-Plange said the era where every fever was malaria was over and that the NMCP had deployed rapid diagnostic test kits to health facilities and pharmacies to ensure that people were confirmed to be having malaria before they were given an anti-malarial.
The programme was organised by the Johns Hopkins University Voices for Malaria Free Future in collaboration with the NMCP and the Ghana Health Service.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Achibra wins 2011 Martin Luther King award
Saturday, January 22, 2011 (The Mirror)
By Rebecca Kwei
FOR his commitment and courage in stopping child trafficking and promoting child welfare in communities in the Volta Lake area, Mr George Achibra has been awarded the US Embassy’s 2011 Martin Luther King, Jr. Award.
This is the fourth year the embassy has presented the Martin Luther King, Jr. Award for Peace and Social Justice to a Ghanaian citizen who has best personified the philosophy and actions of Dr King Jr.
The award is to recognise a Ghanaian citizen who has been engaged in building a culture of peacemaking through activism for non-violence, social justice and stabilisation while promoting human rights and peace in the communities where he or she lives and works and has shown sustainable results from his or her actions.
Mr Achibra founded the Partners in Community Development Programme (PACODEP) in Kete Krachi in 2003 to work with partners toward protecting the rights of all persons, especially vulnerable children, and supporting them to build their future.
Since then, Mr Achibra and his volunteers with PACODEP have continued to rescue trafficked children working on the Volta lake and provided them with long-term care solutions when reunification with the children’s families was not an option.
So, Mr Achibra says PACODEP and its partners have rescued about 355 children between the ages of four to 15 years. Sixty-eight children are currently at the Village of Hope, Gomoa Fetteh, 22 at the Village of Life, Kete-Krachi while the rest have re-integrated into society or reunited with their families.
The rescued children are at the moment either schooling or engaged in skills training such as soap making, basketry, weaving and jewellery.
Asked how he felt about the award, Mr Achibra said “I’m lost for words but I thank God for how far He has brought me. Little did I know that the work I was doing on the Island district will be recognised. But there was a ‘bigger eye’ somewhere watching. I’m highly elated.”
According to Mr Achibra, the award would spur him on as well as the volunteers to put the issue of human trafficking on the national agenda and the world at large so that “we can give a voice to these voiceless children”.
He said he was very passionate about children and would continue to work hard to see to it that rescued trafficked children were given hope and most importantly, formal education since they were the future leaders of the country.
Since the inception of PACODEP, it has reached out to 33 fishing communities and sensitised fishermen and students in senior high schools on human trafficking and child labour laws; sponsored widows to undergo skills training in soap making; formed anti-trafficking groups to sensitise communities, provided fishermen and spouses with financial counselling and business management skills; opened an account in Kete-Krachi Community Co-operative Credit Union Financial institution for clients to access and develop businesses among others.
Mr Achibra said it was important for other NGOs working in the same area to work passionately from their heart devoid of politics.
While calling for a total education on issues bordering on human trafficking, he also called for greater collaboration among government, the forces, human rights institutions and private organisations to curb the menace on human trafficking.
Fifty-four-year-old Mr Achibra holds a Bachelor’s degree in Basic Education from the University of Education, Winneba, and is married to Anna with seven children.
The US Ambassador to Ghana, Donald Teitelbaum, who presented the award to Mr Achibra said if people looked at Martin Luther King Jr as standing up only for civic rights then they were mistaken since he stood up for all the vulnerable and marginalised in America to bring about change.
He said Mr Achibra had also taken a bold stand to say child trafficking is wrong and working to do the right thing.
By Rebecca Kwei
FOR his commitment and courage in stopping child trafficking and promoting child welfare in communities in the Volta Lake area, Mr George Achibra has been awarded the US Embassy’s 2011 Martin Luther King, Jr. Award.
This is the fourth year the embassy has presented the Martin Luther King, Jr. Award for Peace and Social Justice to a Ghanaian citizen who has best personified the philosophy and actions of Dr King Jr.
The award is to recognise a Ghanaian citizen who has been engaged in building a culture of peacemaking through activism for non-violence, social justice and stabilisation while promoting human rights and peace in the communities where he or she lives and works and has shown sustainable results from his or her actions.
Mr Achibra founded the Partners in Community Development Programme (PACODEP) in Kete Krachi in 2003 to work with partners toward protecting the rights of all persons, especially vulnerable children, and supporting them to build their future.
Since then, Mr Achibra and his volunteers with PACODEP have continued to rescue trafficked children working on the Volta lake and provided them with long-term care solutions when reunification with the children’s families was not an option.
So, Mr Achibra says PACODEP and its partners have rescued about 355 children between the ages of four to 15 years. Sixty-eight children are currently at the Village of Hope, Gomoa Fetteh, 22 at the Village of Life, Kete-Krachi while the rest have re-integrated into society or reunited with their families.
The rescued children are at the moment either schooling or engaged in skills training such as soap making, basketry, weaving and jewellery.
Asked how he felt about the award, Mr Achibra said “I’m lost for words but I thank God for how far He has brought me. Little did I know that the work I was doing on the Island district will be recognised. But there was a ‘bigger eye’ somewhere watching. I’m highly elated.”
According to Mr Achibra, the award would spur him on as well as the volunteers to put the issue of human trafficking on the national agenda and the world at large so that “we can give a voice to these voiceless children”.
He said he was very passionate about children and would continue to work hard to see to it that rescued trafficked children were given hope and most importantly, formal education since they were the future leaders of the country.
Since the inception of PACODEP, it has reached out to 33 fishing communities and sensitised fishermen and students in senior high schools on human trafficking and child labour laws; sponsored widows to undergo skills training in soap making; formed anti-trafficking groups to sensitise communities, provided fishermen and spouses with financial counselling and business management skills; opened an account in Kete-Krachi Community Co-operative Credit Union Financial institution for clients to access and develop businesses among others.
Mr Achibra said it was important for other NGOs working in the same area to work passionately from their heart devoid of politics.
While calling for a total education on issues bordering on human trafficking, he also called for greater collaboration among government, the forces, human rights institutions and private organisations to curb the menace on human trafficking.
Fifty-four-year-old Mr Achibra holds a Bachelor’s degree in Basic Education from the University of Education, Winneba, and is married to Anna with seven children.
The US Ambassador to Ghana, Donald Teitelbaum, who presented the award to Mr Achibra said if people looked at Martin Luther King Jr as standing up only for civic rights then they were mistaken since he stood up for all the vulnerable and marginalised in America to bring about change.
He said Mr Achibra had also taken a bold stand to say child trafficking is wrong and working to do the right thing.
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