Scientists meet on dengue fever

By Rebecca Kwei
Dengue fever has been identified as a major public-health concern throughout tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world.
Health experts say it is the most rapidly spreading mosquito-borne viral disease with a 30-fold increase in global incidence over the past 50 years.
Dengue fever, which has been identified in the Americas, Asia and Africa, is an acute viral disease characterised by a sudden onset of fever for three to five days, with intense headache, joint and muscle pain, pain behind the eyes, nausea, gastrointestinal disturbances and rash.
Minor bleeding, such as gum and nose bleeding, may occur at any time during the febrile phase.
Hitherto, a neglected tropical disease, it is an infectious disease transmitted by the aedes mosquito and is characterised by rash and aching head and joints and also causes severe flu-like illness.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 50-100 million dengue infections occur each year and that almost half of the world’s population live in countries where dengue is endemic.
However, in spite of the fact that the presence of all four dengue viruses is established in Africa, little is known about the incidence of the disease, the morbidity and the economic impact of the disease in Africa.
In furtherance to this, a meeting has been held in Accra to assess the current situation of dengue transmission in Africa and the need for research and future control strategies.
The meeting was a collaboration between the International Research Consortium on Dengue Risk Assessment, Management and Surveillance (IDAMS) based in Germany and the INDEPTH Network.
The IDAMS Coordinator, Dr Thomas Jänisch, said not much was known about dengue in Africa and there was the need to uncover the burden of the disease in Africa and response mechanisms put in place.
He said because the clinical presentation of the dengue fever was similar to malaria, it was possible that the dengue fever had been masked by malaria in many countries.
Dr Jänisch said the meeting identified gaps in the current evidence base of the disease and also a research agenda agreed upon as a coordinated action was required to manage the disease in Africa.
On the global trends of dengue, he said there was no effective control strategy for the disease, with the results of first vaccine candidate efficacy trial in 2012 showing disappointing results.
According to Dr Raman Velayudhan of the Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, World Health Organisation (WHO), Geneva, because the disease has taken the world by surprise, the WHO has developed a global strategy for dengue prevention and control (2012-2020) to reduce the burden of the disease.
He said the specific objectives were to reduce mortality and morbidity from dengue by 2020 by at least 50 per cent and 25 per cent respectively using 2010 as the baseline.
The Executive Director of INDEPTH Network, Prof. Osman Sankoh, said the collaboration would enable them to network to highlight the potential that dengue might have on public health in Africa.
He said because the network generated data it would enable them to provide information on dengue to relevant authorities to monitor progress, as well as learn from other countries on how they had managed dengue outbreaks.

Young girls to benefit from cervical cancer vaccinations

THIRTY-TWO thousand school girls in 13 districts in the Central and Northern regions are to benefit from cervical cancer vaccinations.
The beneficiaries who are school girls in Primary 4 and 5 would undergo a three-phase vaccination exercise against cervical cancer, which is said to be the leading cause of cancer deaths among women.
According to the National Programme Manager of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Kwadwo Odei Antwi-Agyei, the idea behind vaccinating girls against the Human Pappiloma Virus (HPV) which causes cervical cancer is to protect them before their first sexual contact.
“This is because the vaccine can prevent cervical cancer in females if it is given before they are exposed to the virus since the HPV is easily acquired, even with only one sexual partner,” he explained.
“Therefore, it is important to get the HPV vaccine before any sexual contact takes place as the response to the vaccine is better at this age rather than at older ages,” he added.
In Ghana, current estimates indicate that on the average 3,038 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer while 2,006 of the number die from it every year. The cancer is also ranked as the first most frequently reported cancer among women between the ages of 15 and 44 in the country, followed by breast cancer and then liver cancer.
Globally, 500,000 new cases of cervical cancer are recorded, accounting for nine per cent of female cancer deaths.
At a press briefing in Accra recently, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Appiah Dankyira, said the Ministry of Health (MoH) had received 64,000 doses of the Human Papillovirus Vaccines (HPV), worth $8,289,408, to help prevent cervical cancer among women of reproductive age.
The vaccines were provided by Axios of the USA through the Rural Women’s Initiative for Self-Empowerment (Ruwide).
The exercise is on the theme: “Prevent cervical cancer, vaccinate the girl child”, and all seven districts in the Central Region and six others in the Northern Region would benefit from the exercise.
The districts in the Central Region are Awutu-Senya, Awutu-Senya East, Cape Coast, Efutu, Ekumfi, Mfantseman and Agona West. Those in the Northern Region are East Gonja, Kumbungu, Mion, Savelugu-Nanton, Tolon and Yendi.
The beneficiaries would be vaccinated three times and the first phase began on February 11 and ended on February 15. The second exercise will begin from March 18 to 22 and the third vaccination from September 23 to 27, 2013.
Explaining why the Central and Northern regions were chosen for the pilot programme, he said the 2010 Census showed that teenage pregnancy was rife in the Central Region, a situation which he said could lead to a lot of them having cervical cancer in future.
He said there was, therefore, the need to vaccinate the young ones before their first sexual contact.
Also the Northern Region, he explained, was chosen because the 2010 Census showed that sex was mostly delayed among young girls.
Therefore, he said the Northern Region was an ideal location to immunise the girls before they could start having sexual intercourse.
Dr Dankyira said for the HPV vaccine to work best, “it is very important for adolescents to get all three doses long before sexual activity begins.”
Research, he said, had shown that the vaccine was highly effective against the commonest HPV types that caused cancer of the cervix, saying that it was only effective when all three shots were given at the required intervals.
The MoH, he said, was supporting the exercise with GH¢600,000, while an additional GH¢300,000 would be provided during the third phase of the vaccination in September this year.
The Executive Director of Ruwide, Ms Maria Don-Chebe, said her organisation, which sourced for the support, would assist rural women to be self-sufficient through skills training and development.
Cervical cancer is caused by HPV and is passed on through sexual activity. The virus can also be passed on from an infected person to an uninfected person through oral sex.
Other causes of the cancer include starting sex early, particularly during the teenage years, having multiple sexual partners and multiple pregnancies. Apart from these, any girl or woman who has ever had sex is also at risk of getting cervical cancer.
Although the cancer often affects women who are close to the end of their reproductive years, which is between 40 and 50 years, the changes in the body that may lead to the cancer can start early, even during adolescence. This is because cervical cancer usually takes 20 years or more to develop.

Stephanie Adenyo — From beauty queen to gospel musician

By Rebecca Kwei
TRANSITING from a beauty queen to a gospel musician does not exactly seem to be a predictable trajectory, but Stephanie Adenyo, Miss GIJ 2010, is blazing that trail with a lot of promise.
Stephanie, who was also the first runner-up at the Face of Tertiary 2012 beauty pageant, released her first single, Only He Knows, a few weeks ago and is confident that her gospel music path is inspired by God and is not a contradiction of her past as a beauty queen.
"I am glad I participated in the beauty pageants. People say all sorts of things about beauty queens and people spelt doom for me but I stood my ground and explained to them that I didn't have to be a bad girl to be a beauty queen. I worked hard at carrying myself about in a decent way and I want to believe that, one way or another, I have encouraged other young ladies and fellow pageant participants to do so," she says.
The new gospel songstress graduated from the Ghana Institute of Journalism in 2011. After clinching the Miss Communicator crown in 2010, she felt that her boundaries of communication had been widened and music was a natural inclination.
But why gospel music?
"There are many aspects of life I could sing about but my choice is to sing about what I know and have experienced. I call myself a baby Christian but I believe that I have found something special, the gospel of Christ, the Christian faith, and I do not think I should wait till I'm old to share it," she explained.
Stephanie says when she was a child she adored Celine Dion so much that even in junior high school she was nicknamed "Second Dion".
Now she is also inspired by the likes of Esther Smith, Cece Winans, Don Moen, Kim Walker and Eugene Zuta.
She recounts how it started from the very beginning but remembers pretty little.
"As a child, my mum says, I was very quiet and I sang when I was alone, hungry, etc," she said.
Today, as a beauty queen, you would bet she is no lonely songstress and over the years quietness has obviously lost its charm to her but her attraction to music has grown stronger.
Stephanie schooled at Joduro International, Akim-Oda, Sakumono SDA, Ebenezer Hills Junior High School (JHS) at Michel Camp and Anlo Secondary School and she reflects on some fond childhood memories.
"Growing up, anytime I went to church or a programme by the roadside, I would ask for the mic," she recalled.
Now, she really does have more maturity and liberty to handle the mic and prays that the years ahead will also be golden years for her music career as she plans to produce more songs and make an impact on the gospel music scene, both locally and internationally.
Her first single, "Only He Knows", is set against the background of some delightful instrumentation. The rhythm is creatively simple and the message is very crisp and direct.
"With this song, I want to say that I trust God with my life to show me the way and take me where I'm destined to be. Sometimes we accept Jesus Christ but we don't give our all to Him. We have doubts and we don't trust fully. This song is a personal declaration that I totally trust God; that God has a perfect will and plan for my life. If I look elsewhere, I am sure I will miss it. I encourage others to learn from the song, build their trust in God and make these declarations for themselves," she explained.
She unveiled the song at her church, Good Shepherd E. P. Students Union (EPSU) meeting on February 4 and released it on social media via Soundcloud, Hulkshare, ReverbNation and Facebook on February 6, 2013.
Stephanie currently sings with and directs her church's youth choir, Evangelical Minstrels. She is also a member of two inter-denominational choirs — WELLS and Shekhinah Praise Choir.
She says she has so far written about 10 songs and "Only He Knows" is one of them. With assistance from her friend and Music Director of WELLS , Johncarl Dunyo, she arranged and completed Only He Knows this January.
“We worked with another friend, Richmond of Ricky Beats, in his studio at Teshie and had the backing vocals done by a member of WELLS, Esinam Ametepe and myself,” she said.
She is currently taking private keyboard lessons and preparing to enrol at Alliance Francaise this April to study French. She is also planning to go for a top-up degree at the Ghana Institute of Journalism in Public Relations.
Twenty-two-year-old Stephanie speaks warmly of her dad, Mr Alex Adenyo; her mum, Mrs Juliet Annang, and her siblings, as well as relations and friends, and says they have been of immense support to her.

Scandal rocks adoption process

By Rebecca Kwei
The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection has placed a moratorium (suspension) on all adoptions in Ghana pending investigations into irregularities in the adoption process.
The adoption process, both domestic and international, has been found to be fraught with irregularities and the fact that in some cases the informed consent of parents are not sought before adoption.
Consequently, the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) is not processing any adoption effective April 30, 2013.
Presently, the only adoptions being processed are those filed in court before April 30, 2013. If for any reason an application has to be made during the moratorium, then it has to go to the Director of the DSW.
"We have also seen an increase in inter-country adoptions, in which Ghanaian children are adopted and taken out of the country," the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, said in an interview with The Mirror.
She said the ministry had learnt that there were 17 adoption agencies in Ghana.
However, at a press conference a few months ago, the ministry made it clear that those agencies were illegal and had not been granted any licences to operate.
Only three adoption agencies — Friends of Children, Italy; Bethany Christian Services, USA; and Adoption Centrum, Sweden — have been accepted by the DSW to operate in Ghana.
Those agencies also offer humanitarian services and support children in need and protection.
"We are concerned about the increase in inter-country adoptions in Ghana and would want to ensure that due process is followed. As a ministry, we are seeking to protect children and ensure that those who are given up for adoption are children in need of care and support and that Ghana has an agreed upon criteria of which children should be given up for adoption," Nana Lithur said.
She observed that the criteria for determining which child should be given up for adoption were not rigorously being applied and that could compromise the legal processes and adversely affect some children.
Checks by The Mirror revealed that some foreign countries had seen an increase in the number of Ghanaian children sent there over the past three years.
For instance, in a year about 300 Ghanaian children have been adopted and sent to one foreign country alone.
Nana Lithur said the sad situation was that some parents did not fully understand the legal implications of giving up their children for adoption when they signed documents giving consent for their children to be taken away.
While the moratorium is in place, the ministry will be conducting investigations into the irregularities in the adoption process.
This will lead the ministry to adopt or ratify the Hague Convention, which is the international standard on inter-country adoption.
The ministry will work with the Attorney-General's Department, UNICEF and NGOs working with children to draft a regulation on adoption.
Nana Lithur said the ministry would also create a central authority on adoption to coordinate, monitor and control adoptions in the country.
What pertains presently is that all regional directors of the DSW process adoptions and there is no control mechanism in place.
Nana Lithur said the ministry would hold a press conference soon to inform the public on the modalities and criteria while the moratorium is in place.
She also appealed to anybody who had any information on adoptions in Ghana to direct it to Ms Rachel Appoh, a Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection.

Save a heart

By Rebecca Kwei
With Valentine’s Day approaching (February 14) what better gift can you give than to save a heart?
Already, more than 300 babies are waiting for assistance to enable them undergo surgery for heart defects at the Cardiothoracic Centre of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
According to a Heart Surgeon at the centre, Dr Baffoe Gyan, although the Ghana Heart Foundation takes care of 50 per cent of the cost of heart surgeries, the other half which has to be borne by patients Is always a problem because heart surgeries are expensive.
The cost ranges from ¢3,500 to ¢12,000, depending on the complexity of the case.
Dr Gyan said the incidence of children reported with heart defect, aged between six months and two years was increasing, and that could be attributed to public education, awareness and early diagnosis.
However, he noted, that although the number of heart defect cases as well as trained doctors were increasing, the Cardio centre was over-stretched and the had had to cancel surgery appointments due to lack of space in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). That, he said, had affected the number of surgeries done monthly.
He added that the centre performed between three and four open-heart surgeries a week, most of the cases for children.
In 2011, the centre had 15,763 Out Patients Department (OPD) cases, out of which 9,097 were cardiology cases. The surgical cases were 5,666 out of which 449 operations were carried out.
In 2012 there was an increase in the number of patients in all the departments of the centre with about 1,876 new cases seen at the OPD and 567 operations — 67 to 74 per cent of them being children.
Dr Gyan explained that ‘hole in heart’ was the simple term for congenital heart disease which was a defect or malformation of the heart and great vessels.
He said there were different types of heart defects— from the simple to complex ones.
However, the outcome of an operation on a simple heart defect in children was good and the child can go on to live a normal life, adding that “even if he wants to be a boxer in future, he can”.
Explaining what causes some children to be born with heart defects, he said, there was no specific cause but there are various factors that predispose one to have a heart condition.
For instance, he said it could be genetic as some families are born with heart problems but the gene is unknown and if a pregnant woman gets an infection such as German Measles, there was the possibility of the child being born with a heart problem.
Additionally, he said getting pregnant when one was aged below 18 years or having children late in life may put one at risk of giving birth to a child with a heart defect.
Other factors such as malnutrition, diabetes and goitre can put one at risk of giving birth to a child with heart condition.
With regard to prevention, one issue that was of utmost importance to Dr Gyan was for women to break the culture of hiding pregnancies.
He said when some women are pregnant, they want to hide the pregnancy and not seek antenatal care or advice from their doctors.
He said it was important for women to plan their pregnancies with the view that about three months before they get pregnant, they would go for medical screening in order to be sure that they are healthy, have no infection and their protein levels are sufficient for they and the babies.
Dr Gyan said once a lady is pregnant, it should not pass the 11th week before she tells her doctor because the heart is formed between the fourth and eighth week of pregnancy. That, he said, would prevent the doctor from prescribing certain drugs for the pregnant woman, especially if she has certain diseases like diabetes or hypertension which may affect the baby.
Dr Gyan said it was also important for women to avoid marrying someone who is a close family relation, especially if there is a family history of heart diseases.
According to him, however, there is light at the end of the tunnel since there is a solution for both children and adults who have heart defects.
He said there were well-trained doctors at the centre to handle cases and once your children is diagnosed of having a hole in heart, he or she is not condemned but the important thing is to seek medical attention early.
He added that doctors have also been trained so they are able to detect if new-born babies have heart problems.
“Our aim is to see babies in their first month of delivery so we can assess and advise. Most hole-in-heart patients will need surgery to close them”, he emphasised.
He said there were also common signs that mothers can observe which may be an indication of a heart problem. These include if a baby gets tired easily while suckling the mother’s breast for a few minutes and does not want to be breast-fed again.
Additionally, if a child is crying and the lips turn darker than normal; tongue changes colour and the nails also become darker, this should be reported to a doctor so that the child can be examined.
Furthermore, he said, tiredness with recurrent chest infection are also signs of heart defects and such cases must be reported to the doctor.

Naa Okailey Shooter — Crowned Miss Ghana at birth

By Rebecca Kwei
Running around playfully as a child at La, a suburb of Accra, Laverne Carranzar Naa Okailey Shooter often brushed aside frequent references by playmates and adults to her as “Miss Ghana” due to her physique, beauty and poise.
What had been treated as a joke eventually manifested at the Accra International Conference Centre last Saturday, November 10 when the 22-year-old Level 400 student of the University of Ghana Medical School, who is affectionately called Carra, was crowned Miss Ghana 2012.
“I knew Carra was special when the doctor handed her over to me after birth. She was the most beautiful baby I had seen and I said to myself right there that she would be Miss Ghana one day. That was 22 years ago and it has happened,” the elated mother of Miss Ghana 2012, Ms Mary Mensah, a journalist with the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), said.
Ms Mensah vividly recalled that she was in Sixth Form when she got pregnant and did not know what to do.
In her confusion, she contemplated several actions, but with her mother’s support, she had a safe delivery and was able to continue her education.
“Carra’s grandmother, the late Madam Matilda Lankai Ago, took care of her till I was in a position to take over and I remember my mum telling me she would be a prominent person in future,” Ms Mensah recollected.
Although everyone called Carra “Miss Ghana” she (Carra) was not too keen about participating in the coveted pageant, in spite of the encouragement from her mum and her friends to do so.
Her mum was, therefore, shocked when Carra asked her to pick Miss Ghana 2012 registration forms for her, since all Carra had seemed to care about was to become a doctor and save lives.
Ms Mensah described Carra as very respectful, helpful and compassionate person but “she is also strong-willed, has a mind of her own and if she sets her mind on something, she does it”.
“I believe Carra will be the first Ghanaian beauty queen to bring the Miss World crown to Ghana,” an optimistic Ms Mensah said.
Born to Captain Desirer Shooter (retd) and Ms Mensah on July 9, 1990, Carra attended Achimota Primary School and Junior High School and continued at the Mfantsiman Girls’ High School, Saltpond, where she was the Second Deputy Senior Prefect, the Public Relations Officer of the Science Club, as well as the Organising Secretary of the National Union of Baptist Students during the 2007/2008 academic year.
She entered the University of Ghana, Legon, in 2009 to pursue a course in Biological Sciences and proceeded to the Medical School in 2010.
Carra has three siblings — Chelsea, Runstedt and Xander Shooter.
“I’m overwhelmed, excited but most of all very humbled by the support I’ve received from Ghana and other parts of the world,” Miss Ghana 2012 said in a telephone interview.
She never dreamt of being crowned Miss Ghana, although while she was growing up people had referred to her as such.
“I used to have a funny perception about beauty pageants. I thought the contestants were being exploited, but having carefully examined this year’s Miss Ghana message of “Beauty With a Purpose”, I decided to give it a try,” she explained.
And she did not disappoint, as, apart from receiving the ultimate prize, she also bagged the Miss Eloquence and Miss Top Model awards.
Interestingly, Carra had a six-week modelling course at the Exopa Modelling School after senior high school and was adjudged the top model for that year after her course.
According to her, she chose the buruli ulcer project after watching a documentary on the disease in class and realising that the disease had become endemic mainly due to ignorance.
“After some research on the disease, I got to know that Ghana is the second most endemic country after Cote d’Ivoire. There is the need for more information and education to win the war against buruli ulcer and that is what I have tasked myself to do,” she explained.
Organisers of the Miss Ghana 2012 pageant have three thematic areas that the top three winners are required to work around. Since she is already a medical student, the overall winner is tackling health issues that will reach Ghanaians at every level.
The first runner-up, Nadia Ntanu, will deal with the environment, while the second runner-up, Jennifer Annan, will look at child labour.
Being an effective Miss Ghana is a demanding task and so Carra has decided to defer her course at the medical school for a year to enable her to devote maximum attention to the Miss Ghana assignment.
She aspires to become a self-employed paediatrician in future.
She will represent Ghana at next year’s Miss World contest to be held in Indonesia.
“I believe that next year is a year for Africa, specifically Ghana. I’m hopeful of bringing the title to Ghana,” she confidently said.
“I did not own a make-up bag and did not know what a concealer or foundation was before entering the Miss Ghana contest,” Carra confessed. “The grooming sessions were wide-ranging and they have made a tremendous impact on my life.”
Her advice to all young ladies is that they should firmly set their minds on specific visions and work very hard to realise them.

Pay attention to adolescent reproductive health

By Rebecca Kwei
The Head of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Prof Samuel A. Obed, has stressed the need for the hospital to have a special facility that will provide information and services for adolescents.
He said adolescent sexual and reproductive health was a major issue that needed utmost attention.
Describing adolescence as a “confused period” in a person’s life, he said the lack of information and services for adolescents on their reproductive health had led to many of them making uninformed decisions, to the detriment of their lives.
The department has a reproductive health centre which is supposed to be four-storey but has only the ground floor completed to take care of family planning and cervical cancer screening.
Prof Obed, therefore, made an urgent appeal to organisations and individuals to assist the department to develop at least one floor to be used as an adolescent clinic.
He explained that the situation at Korle-Bu now was not the best and that the normal gynaecology clinic was too busy and might not be able to take care of the unique problems of teenagers.
“When teenagers meet people who are old enough to be their parents and grandmothers at the same clinic, chances are that they won’t tell the truth and the doctor may also be too busy to pry more and lack of confidentiality and privacy in such cases is also a problem,” he said.
Prof Obed was optimistic that when there was a facility solely dedicated to the sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescents, it would help them seek information and report all their concerns in a more adolescent friendly environment.
“The facility will not only take care of ailments but also provide information, education, contraceptive needs, as well as manage all concerns of adolescents,” he said.
He said the doctors and nurses would also be dedicated solely to that cause and thereby give of their best.
With an adolescent clinic in place, Dr Obed said, it would help improve the situation and more young people would stay in school and focus on their education, which ultimately would benefit the nation.
He said although the number of adolescents using crude methods to abort pregnancies had gone down recently, hardly a day passed without the department encountering a young adult using crude methods to cause abortion, which indicated that young people needed information in order to make the right decision.
He said gynaecological deaths for the first half of 2013 showed that the percentage of deaths due to abortion was 2.6 per cent. For the whole of 2012, it was 6.7 per cent.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) notes that to prevent unintended pregnancies and other sexual and reproductive health risks, adolescents require “information, including comprehensive sex education, access to a full range of sexual and reproductive health services, including condoms, other means of contraception as appropriate and other interventions for the prevention, treatment and care of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, and safe and supportive environments free from exploitation and abuse”.

715 Patients reunite with families — Under repatriation exercise

By Rebecca Kwei
A total of 715 patients of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital have been reunited with their families under the “Mass Repatriation Exercise — Operation 600” project which started in 2010.
When the project commenced in 2010, the hospital had 1,200 patients on admission, but the success of the project has left the hospital with only 485 patients on admission currently.
“We intend to continue with this project until only 300 patients remain on admission,” the Director of the hospital, Dr Akwasi Osei, said in an interview with The Mirror.
He explained that the vision for mental health care now was community-based care, not institutional-based care.
That, he said, was to allow patients to be seen more in the community than a remote area in an institution.
The reason, according to Dr Osei, was that it was more cost effective, required fewer resources and less stigmatising because the patient spent little time in the hospital and more in the community.
He said when the community saw how the patient was improving, it would make it easy for the patient to be integrated into the community and the family would be more involved in the treatment and more accepting.
Explaining how the project was embarked on, he said on the average the hospital sent 25 patients home to be reunited with their families in a month in a hospital bus, accompanied by a psychiatric nurse, welfare officers and NGOs who acted as volunteers.
He said the patients were taken to any part of the country where they came from, and the hospital staff and volunteers, on locating the patient’s family, educated the family on the condition of the patient, medication and follow up visits.
He said in almost all the cases where the patients were reunited with their families, the families were welcoming, except in a few cases.
In one instance, he said, the family felt bringing their kin a bus was embarrassing, while in another case there was no responsible person in whose care the patient could be left and so the patient had to be brought back to the hospital.
More disturbing was the case of two patients whose families thought they were dead and had even performed their funeral rites.
“The families of these two thought they had seen a ghost and begged the team to spend the night there in order for the family to be sure the two were real,” Dr Osei said.
Another challenge the project faced was that some patients could not locate their homes because of wrong addresses or relocation by their families and the bad road network which made the team transporting the patients back home to sometimes walk about two to three miles in order to get to their residences.
Getting enough funds in order to undertake the project was also a problem, he said.
According to Dr Osei, due to lack of funds, especially for a hospital that did not generate money, they were unable to get hotel accommodation for the patients and the staff who sometimes had to spend about a week on the road.
They, therefore, had to sleep in the bus, at hospitals or on school premises and be at the mercy of the weather and mosquitoes.
In all, he said, each trip cost between ¢2,000 and ¢3,000, including feeding, fuel, incidentals and honorarium for staff.
Dr Osei, however, commended the current Minister of Health who, recognising the good works of repatriation, donated a bus which helped in sustaining the project.
“For this we owe her many thanks,” he said.
He said despite the challenges, the project had been a success and it had remarkably decongested the hospital, making it much easier for the few staff to be able to manage patients effectively.
He said it had also improved staff-patient ratio, reduced stigmatisation and improved overall care for the patients.
He appealed to the President to form the Mental Health Board to operationalise the Mental Health Law.
“What we are doing now is a knee jerk reaction which may not have a long impact,” he said.
Dr Osei said they were trying to get the other psychiatric hospitals in the country to undertake the same project, adding that Pantang, which had about 450 patients on admission, was being encouraged to reduce the number to 200, while Ankaful was looking at having 100 patients on admission, as against the current 350.
He said ultimately when the law was implemented, it would ensure that every regional hospital had a psychiatric wing with about 40 to 50 beds, while every district hospital would have about two to five beds dedicated to psychiatry.
He said when that was done, it would make it possible for psychiatric cases to be seen at the district and regional levels and that would further prevent the overcrowding at the major psychiatric hospitals in the country.

Stillbirths still high

By Rebecca Kwei
The three major teaching hospitals in Ghana recorded 4709 stillbirths in the last three and half years. They are the Korle-Bu, the Komfo Anokye and the Tamale Teaching hospitals.
At the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, 523 stillbirths recorded in 2010, while 580 stillbirths were recorded in 2012, compared to 568 in 2011.
The figures for the first half of 2013 indicate that there have been 128 stillbirths during that period, compared to 153 recorded in the same period in 2012.
The situation is not different from what pertains at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), in Kumasi where the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department recorded 1269 cases of still births between 2010 and 2012, reports George Ernest Asare.
The Department also recorded 234 still birth cases between January and June, this year.
One thousand five hundred and three cases of still births were therefore recorded at the hospital between 2010 and the fisrt half of 2013.
Briefing The Mirror, the Business Manager and Health Services Administrator of Obstetrics and Gynaenacology of the KATH, Mr Tweneboa Jnr, said in 2010, 492 stillbirths were recorded and decreased to 352 in 2011, but increased to 425 in 2012.
From Tamale, Vincent Amenuveve also reports that the Tamale Teaching Hospital in 2010, recorded 391 cases of still births and in 2011, it registered 402 cases, while in 2012 it recorded 413.
Two hundred and one cases were recorded during the first half of this year.
Speaking about the Korle Bu situation, Prof Samuel A. Obed, the Head of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, said “it is too many lives lost, even if it is just one death. Every pregnant woman who goes the full term would want to go home with a baby,”
A stillbirth refers to the situation where a baby is born without any sign of life or at the time of its birth there was no heart beat.
Prof Obed explained that there were two types of stillbirths — macerated and fresh.
The macerated stillbirth refers to when a baby dies more than 24 hours before delivery, and this could be due to conditions before the onset of labour, while fresh stillbirth is when a baby dies less than 24 hours before delivery. This could be due to conditions during labour.
According to Prof Obed, the department had put in place a number of measures to forestall the situation.
One of the causes of stillbirth is excessive bleeding and Prof. Obed said the department had, at the beginning of the year, established a blood bank and so did not have to rely on the hospital’s central bank. This he said was unique as it was not the case in other hospitals in the country and across West Africa.
Other major causes of stillbirth are hypertensive disorders in pregnancy and other medical conditions in pregnancy such as diabetes and anaemia.
“Unfortunately, diabetes in pregnancy is increasing, which is very worrying, just like hypertension,” he said.
Consequently, he said, the department was collaborating with physician specialists at the Department of Medicine to have joint clinics to see pregnant women with hypertension, diabetes, cardiac and kidney problems, instead of referring patients to them at the Department of Medicine.
He expressed the hope that with that joint clinic arrangement, his department would be able to manage pregnant women and other factors leading to stillbirth could be controlled.
He said it was important for women to be educated on the need to report early to a health facility when they got pregnant, because when they reported too late when the disease had progressed the outcome might not be good.
Additionally, Prof Obed said his department was looking at seeing women before they became pregnant, a practice known as pre-pregnancy clinic.
That, he said, was to make sure that the woman was stable and optimise her condition before she became pregnant.
However, he said, one challenge militating against the pre-pregnancy clinic was the lack of facilities.
Prof Obed explained that the department had a reproductive health centre for family planning and cervical cancer screening.
He said the building which was supposed to be a four-storey had only the ground floor completed and appealed to individuals and organisations for support in order to at least add one floor to take care of the pre-pregnancy clinic.
The department was also interested in operating an adolescent clinic to provide young people with information on their sexual and reproductive health, he said.
Another challenge facing the maternity block, Prof Obed said, had to do with operating theatres.
Currently, he said, the block had three operating theatres but only one was functioning due to the lack of anaesthetists, nurses and logistics.
If all operating theatres were functioning, it would make it easier for women whose babies were at risk of dying to have caesarean section.
“What we have now is queuing for caesarean section, a practice which may have dire consequences,” Prof Obed said

Boakyewaa Glover — a writer at heart

By Rebecca Kwei

For his entire life, former Chief Justice Joseph Annan has had his eyes on his country’s top prize: the Presidency of Ghana. And this time, he will stop at nothing to ensure the title is his alone.
But can he stop his world from falling apart in the process?
The Justice: God. Country. Family. is a searing political thriller that follows a career politician in his last gasp for the highest honour as friends, foes and family are embroiled in his relentless, no-holds-barred play for power.
This is the premise of Boakyewaa Glover’s third novel out on the Ghanaian market from August 31.
As a country heavily interested in politics, there are several non-fiction books dedicated to the topic, books that chronicle the lives and motives of Ghana’s elite politicians, provide insights into historical events and describe Ghana’s political process in depth.
However, there are none that are fictional thrillers. Essentially, that is what The Justice is — politics, romance and mystery all rolled into one promising novel.
Boakyewaa is also the author of two other books: Circles (2009) a romantic drama, and Tendai (2013), a science fiction mystery.
“I write what I enjoy and I enjoy a lot of different things, particularly when it comes to entertainment. Most of the time you find that people who are science fiction geeks aren’t into drama, and people who are romance buffs aren’t engaged by thrillers and mysteries. And political buffs are typically aligned with historical enthusiasts.
“These are all stereotypes, of course, and don’t always apply to everyone. In my case, it doesn’t. I love politics. I am enthralled by it — politics is important and critical, as well as annoying, frustrating and mysterious. I had a story in my head, turned out to be politics, and I wrote it,” she said.
Truly, Boakyewaa’s background is colourful and diverse career. Her background shows that she doesn’t pigeonhole herself in a particular area. She’s an Organisational Psychologist by training, and has worked as a Consultant for a number of consulting firms in New York, Atlanta and Washington, D.C.
Prior to that, she was a News Anchor for TV3 Network (Ghana) and a TV Presenter for Smash TV on Metro TV (Ghana). She also used to write scripts for TeleClass, a children’s show that aired on GTV in the early 2000s.
She also maintains a blog that features her short stories, poems, articles and movie reviews.
Currently, she is a Change Management Manager working for Newmont Ghana Gold Limited. She also serves as the group director for Minds on Fire Group, a publishing, entertainment, and creative lounge company.
With all the buzz around Ghana’s last elections and the impending Supreme Court decision, it is also fascinating that Boakyewaa is releasing a political book in these times.


The Justice

“I am not sure if the timing works for me or not, because I had this idea or book in my head in 2009. Right after I finished Circles, I started outlining the concept for The Justice.
Unfortunately, I was too busy to see it through. Then I picked it up again last year and finished the first draft even before the results of the 2012 elections were announced. So the two aren’t linked. I didn’t write the book because of the situation the country is in. And the characters in the book aren’t based on any of the characters in our ongoing political story. I just happen to be releasing a political book in the middle of all of this. Great timing? Bad timing? I guess we’ll see.”
Boakyewaa insists that none of her characters are modeled after a specific Ghanaian politician, not even the titular character — former Chief Justice Joseph Annan, the centre of the entire book.
She describes the justice as a man of indisputable integrity, honour, and commitment to his country, God and family. These values set him apart from the pack and it’s the same values that threaten to destroy him.

Her story

According to Boakyewaa she always wanted to be a writer.
“I probably started writing when I learned my ABCs. I wrote all over the house when I was a child. My granddad used to print computer rolls and I would write on so many of them, story after story. I've always loved words, deeply love words and it's always been a part of me. I've always enjoyed public speaking as well.
I wrote and recited a poem with my older brother once - at the Children's Park, when we were at Ridge Church. I also won a prize for a Christian story I wrote back then. And at Wesley Girls', I was the President of the Writers and Debators Club. I wrote plays and performed in them during my SSS time as well. I think anyone who's known me for years knows I love to write. It's just me. “
She said Circles wasn't her first attempt at getting published. She wrote a book while at Wesley Girls' High School and held onto it until she got to the University of Ghana, Legon.
“At that point, I showed the book to one publisher, a friend of my mum's. He read it and said he couldn't publish it because it had one sex scene in it. One! That scarred me for a while because I refused to edit the scene out.
Then in 2008, I was in the US when the recession hit, and work slowed down a great deal. So I used the opportunity to write Circles. Before then, I kept waiting for the right opportunity and timing to write a book and I realised that there is nothing like perfect timing. So I just wrote it. And once it was done, I started taking the next steps to get it published” she recalled.
Her inspiration? “Life inspires me - everything that happens in life inspires me. I'm a very broad-minded and open person. I think anything is possible in life and I think that makes my writing better”.
Boakyewaa said she wants to keep writing but eventually would want to do it full-time.
“I was reading about Taiye Selassie's experiences when she wrote Ghana Must Go. That's what I want to do. I want to experience the world and write as much as I can. Writing while juggling a full time career is very, very tough and I don't think I can keep doing that for another 10 years! Soon there'll be kids and then that's it, I'll be grounded. So I know for sure that I want to write my next book on the road travelling the world. It's a must. Just have to figure out timing” she says.


School and family

Boakyewaa attended Ridge Church School from Grade 1 through to Junior High School. She then continued at Wesley Girls’ High School and then to the University of Ghana. Later she went to New York University for her masters degree in Industrial and Organisational Psychology.
Her mom is Abena Otu, a management consultant and her dad was James Amoako Glover (deceased). He was also a lawyer, writer, and had a set of poems published before.
Boakyewaa has two brothers — Kofi Glover who lives in the UK with his family and is an IT consultant. Her younger brother Nana Kojo Glover, lives in Ghana and runs his own events company - Presentation Plus.

Whatever the outcome of the election petition, Ghanaians will have the opportunity to distract themselves from our current reality and become immersed in the world of Joseph Annan when The Justice is launched on Saturday, August 31, 2013, at the Silverbird Lifestyle Store where Boakyewaa will be signing books from 3 to 6 p.m.
“I know as the writer, I am biased towards my own work, but I really love this book. For a month after it was done, I just kept missing the characters. I would think about something I wrote about a character and then I would laugh, almost as if I’m thinking about a friend. It’s a good book. People will enjoy it.”

The rise and rise of Vera Kwakofi

By Rebecca Kwei Her mum told her that while growing up, she had always talked about wanting to be a journalist and though she does not really remember much of that she felt she would inevitably end up in broadcasting. She recalls that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and radio was a constant presence in her home while she was growing up. “I remember every morning sitting at the breakfast table listening to GBC’s Everyday English programme religiously before school, I knew who all the GBC and BBC newsreaders were. I loved news and current affairs, reading and sports so I think it was a perfect mix really. All my interests converged on journalism and media so that’s the path I took and I haven’t looked back since,” she says. That is true — since joining the BBC World Service in 2002, Vera Daisy Kwakofi has risen through the ranks and is now the head of Current Affairs for BBC Africa since December last year. She is in charge of 35 producers and journalists in London as well as at least 10 correspondents across Africa. Her primary task is to help the team transition from a primarily radio operation to a multimedia team. This includes restructuring the team, retraining and reskilling to enable them operate across radio, television and new media. Although she is not the first black person to act as an editor of the African current affairs output (Ben Malor, Elizabeth Ohene and Joseph Warungu were editors of Focus on Africa), she is the first African to lead the team that provides all of the BBC’s news and current affairs programming for Africa in English. These are the teams who make the prestigious Focus on Africa radio programme — a daily radio news and analysis programme; African Perspective documentaries, African Sport/bbcafrican football website; The Africa Debate and two television programmes—Africa Beats and African Dream. “I am incredibly proud and humbled to have been given the responsibility of leading the BBC’s news and current affairs coverage for Africa. I grew up in Ghana listening to the BBC as a young child and in choosing to become a journalist, the BBC was always my benchmark for journalistic excellence and what I’m passionate about; public service broadcasting with a purpose of delivering information as well as impact,” Vera says. The African Service delivers about a quarter of the BBC World Service’s global weekly audiences and that’s a huge coup for the team. “I wake up every morning very aware of the importance of this responsibility, not only to maintaining the BBC’s editorial and brand credibility but also to serving our African audiences well,” she said.

Life at BBC over the years
Over the years, Vera’s positions at the BBC has been wide and varied. She once produced and presented a wide range of BBC World Service’s English-language output for Africa. She also was Project Manager for BBC Africa Radio Awards, Editorial Co-ordinator for BBC World Service’s coverage of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, Regional Planning Co-ordinator for Africa and the Middle East. She was also a director of the BBC’s radio drama for Africa. Vera has also served as Editorial Advisor to the Head of the BBC’s Global News Division (it comprises BBC World Service, BBC World News television, BBC Monitoring and BBC Media Action) with responsibility for overseeing editorial compliance and complaints management across the division as well as the delivery of editorial strategy. Going back memory lane on how she joined the BBC, Vera recalled that she had been working in Ghana at Vibe FM straight out of school and had risen to become News Editor at the station. She felt she needed to grow and possibly change careers so she applied to do a politics degree with an international relations specialism in the UK. “When I arrived to study, I contacted Focus on Africa Editor, Robin White, if I could do some work experience during my time abroad. It’s every journalist’s dream to spend some time at the BBC, I think.” “I remember the first day I walked into Bush House. My meeting with Robin included being asked to write an article and reading for him in a studio. He agreed I could do some work experience initially for two weeks and during holidays.” “Ten years later, here I am. I’ve had some of the best mentors and guides at the BBC who believed in me and even more importantly my potential. They gave me responsibilities at times I didn’t even think I was ready for but I was prepared to learn and give things a try that stretched my abilities. I will forever be grateful for their trust and confidence,” she reminisced.

Challenges and looking to the future
“Any challenges with the job?” I asked. “Oh, there are many challenges with the job but that’s what makes it even more exciting for me. I thrive on challenge. The BBC has a global reputation and reach so every decision I make is in awareness that I am continuing a legacy that I benefitted from and which I need to nurture for the future. In managing and leading a team of more than 40 incredibly passionate journalists in London and Africa, it’s important to ensure that you’re listening to them and making the work environment a great place that allows them to thrive and continue to be motivated.” “And of course there’s the audiences who are at the heart of everything we do. Our flagship programme Focus on Africa for instance has an average weekly listenership of 20 million people who take time out of their busy lives to keep an appointment with us. It's important that we continue serving them to the best of our ability, telling a balanced story of Africa, listening to their criticisms and commendations, ensuring we are up to date on the media and audience trends in a very highly competitive media environment. And of course you’re doing this in an environment where budgets are tighter and tighter so it’s a tough balance but we’re holding our own; I’m pleased to say.” In the next five years, Vera hopes to be “running the BBC World Service,” she said jokingly. However, she notes that the confidence to say something like that is a testament of the legacy and personal and professional growth she had acquired at the organisation. “I hold a postgraduate degree in Organisational Change Management and I was incredibly lucky that within three months of finishing my degree, I was asked to become a special editorial advisor to the Director of the Global News Division. This division comprises of BBC World Service, BBC World News Television, BBC Media Action, our international media development charity and BBC Monitoring, our global media monitoring division.” She said her work as an advisor was to support operational strategy across all these divisions and it was an unbelievable learning experience working at the highest levels of organisational governance in such a world renowned business. “And it’s one of the reasons I moved from editorial to management. I am incredibly fascinated by how businesses work and evolve to remain relevant to their markets—and that’s what I see myself continuing to do,” she added.

Family and education
Vera is the oldest of six children (four brothers and a sister). They come from Sokode Bagble in the Volta Region though they were all born and raised in Tema. Her parents are now retired. Her dad, Captain Isaac Kwakofi, was a merchant navy captain with the Black Star Line and her mum, Mispah Dzogbewu, was a teacher. They all have very varied careers — her brother, Robin, runs his own web and software development company, CyTerra Solutions which he set up straight after completion of the University of Ghana, Legon. Kevin is an entrepreneur, Colin is a recent graduate doctor at the Tema General Hospital; Vanessa recently graduated from the Central University with a first Class in Business Administration and the youngest, Edwin, is waiting to enter university. He wants to be a journalist as well. Vera had her secondary education at Accra Girls Senior `High School for her GCE ‘O’ Level from 1987 to 1992 and then to the Ghana Senior High School, Koforidua from 1992 to 1994 for her GCE ‘A’ Level. She did her national service at Assin Kushea in the Central Region, which is Sir Sam Jonah's hometown, and said it was an eye-opening experience for her as a 19-year-old teaching in a village. Prior to embarking on her radio career, she trained at the Ghana Institute of Journalism between 1995 and 1997. She also holds an Msc in Consultant Management and Organisational Change from the University of London’s Birkbeck College as well as a degree in Politics from the London Guidhall now London Metropolitan University. The principles that she has always been guided by and had tried to live by are fairness and personal responsibility. Vera is passionate about sports, radio journalism, literacy and the arts. She wrote her first screenplay for a short film Lareba, which was made in 2000. She loves musical theatre and possibly in another life, she would be writing and composing for the stage.

Dee — Fashion is my passion

By Rebecca Kwei Her name is Dorothy Maathay-Osei (affectionately called Dee) and although she trained as a journalist, writing has been pushed aside for full concentration on her passion, which is how to effectively accessorise clothes and make sparkling statements with them. Fashion is her passion. Despite growing up with a fashion designer mother, Dee says all the beautiful fabrics and garments that surrounded her did not prick her to take up sewing. Her attachment to clothes rather came from a strong desire to accessorise them after they had been sewn. So, although she trained as a journalist and worked for about three years in Ghana, she relocated to London and worked with a finance company. “The passion for fashion was still burning inside me and there was never a day that I forgot about that urge for styling, especially accessorising,” she recounted. “I finally concluded that in order to truly satisfy that strong inner passion, I had to follow my heart, and that was how “Style Check by Dee” (stylecheckbydee.com) was born in 2011,” she said. After a brief styling course with Faye Marriott, who has many years of experience in the fashion industry, having worked with Vogue, Marie Claire, Stella Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, among others, Dee came up with Style Check, a styling outfit which seeks to ensure that all ladies, no matter their background, race or size, look fabulous without draining their bank accounts. “Style is within you. You have to feel good when you dress. You need not necessarily wear expensive or designer clothes to feel good. Your clothes can be second-hand but it is how you accessorise and combine stuff that makes the difference,” she said. For Dee, less is more. “I don’t believe in styling or accessorising with too many things. The less you wear, the more people notice you.” Everybody loves fashion — loves to look good in whatever he or she wears. The challenge sometimes is how to accessorise what is worn in order to create an ensemble that expresses your style and who you are. This is where Dee comes in to help you look chic and classy. Dee helps her clients evaluate their lifestyle in order to establish and highlight their own personal style, considering their tastes, preferred colours, body type and budget. So far, Dee has styled models for African designers such as Ariike Alden, Benny Bonsu, I am Couture. She was also involved in styling for the recently held “Rhythmz on Da Runway” fashion and music extravaganza in Accra. Aside being a personal stylist, Dee is also a personal shopper, shopping for clients taking into consideration their different personalities. Locally, she has done this for actress Jackie Appiah and Sandra Ankobia, host of Fashion 101. If you have an event coming up or a photoshoot, Dee is there to help with what to wear and how to wear it. Dee says her target is not only famous people but wants to create an environment where everyone, irrespective of background, can receive fashion advice from her outfit. For now, Dee is into a lot of partnership talks with people in the fashion industry in Ghana to enable her to impart her knowledge. A radio and television programme that will give fashion advice and transform ordinary people into fabulous folks is also in the offing. Giving a few fashion tips, Dee said there are some basic things a woman must have in her wardrobe. These include a black dress, jeans, blazer and statement necklace. With the black dress, for instance, she said, one could accessorise it with a nice leopard print shoe. Then on a different day, with the same black dress, accessorise with a red belt. On another, day she suggests that if the black dress is tight, you may pull it up a bit and wear a skirt with it. “You see, it’s the same black dress, but the accessories make the difference and people may not notice it is the same dress,” she said. Dee, who constantly speaks fondly of her late mum, Madam Elizabeth Odoley Sowah, is in her 30s. She had her secondary education at Mfantsiman Girls’ in Saltpond and then enrolled at the Correspondence School of Journalism, Kumasi. After that, she had the opportunity to work with Vibe FM and also wrote for ‘The Statesman’ newspaper. When she moved to London in 2000, she trained as a credit controller and has been in the finance sector ever since. Aside this, Dee has had courses in personal styling, image consultancy, business management and effective communication. She is currently enrolled with the London College of Fashion studying fashion concept and history and fashion photography. “Styling is about showcasing a true reflection of who you are. Although we have different personalities and fashion sense, I believe every woman can be classy and attractive from how we put things together,” she says.