Small, delicate, mighty mosquito

By Rebecca Kwei Did you know that there are more than three thousand species of mosquitoes? Oh yes, there are! And the world’s 3,000 species of mosquitoes transmit more diseases than any other creature. However, according to National Geographic, “the members of three species bear primary responsibility for the spread of human diseases.” These are the Anopheles mosquitoes which are the only species known to carry malaria. They also transmit filariasis (also called elephantiasis) and encephalitis. Then there are Culex mosquitoes which carry encephalitis, filariasis and the West Nile virus while the Aedes mosquitoes, of which the Asian tiger is a member, carry yellow fever, dengue and encephalitis. On August 20 every year, the world celebrates World Mosquito Day to raise awareness of the diseases caused by mosquitoes. On August 20, 1897, Sir Ronald Ross made a historic discovery that female Anopheles mosquitoes transmit malaria. This finding led scientists across the world to better understand the deadly role of mosquitoes and devise effective interventions to stop them. Although it is a small, delicate insect, the mosquito is one of the deadliest creatures. Malaria kills millions of people across the world. The World Malaria Report said there were 228 million cases and 405,000 malaria-related deaths worldwide in 2018. It is worthy to note that Ghana has made gains in the fight against malaria in the last decade, according to figures from the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP). Malaria-related deaths across all ages in the country were reduced by 89 per cent from 2,799 in 2012 to 308 at the end of 2020. Also, malaria-related admissions for all ages reduced by 27.8 per cent from 428,000 in 2012 to 308,887 in 2020, while the case fatality rate among children under five years decreased from 0.6 per cent in 2012 to 0.12 per cent in 2020. Mosquitoes keep changing and becoming resistant to insecticides. While they keep evolving, scientists also continue to find innovative solutions to combat insecticide-resistant mosquitoes. Several cost-effective interventions such as sleeping under insecticide-treated bed nets, indoor residual spraying with insecticides and larviciding that protect people from mosquitoes are being implemented to prevent malaria. For the Programme Manager of the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP), Dr Keziah Malm, young people are good change agents and they need to be part of the fight against malaria to help sustain the gains made. As young people, it is important that you play your part to prevent the spread of mosquitoes by ensuring that there are no breeding sites for them in your homes and communities. Although some mosquitoes breed in dirty gutters and filthy areas, the Anopheles mosquito prefers relatively clean water. The Anopheles mosquito lays its eggs in areas where it can get clean stagnant water such as in flower pots, ponds, pot holes, dug out pits, hoof prints, puddles, rice fields and streams. Therefore, it is important to keep your environment very clean. It is also essential to sleep under insecticide treated bed nets and people in areas where indoor residual spraying or larviciding projects are conducted should take advantage of them. It has been 124 years since the historic discovery that female Anopheles mosquitoes transmit malaria. A lot has been done to control and eliminate malaria all over the world. To sustain the gains made, extra efforts is required from everyone because malaria continues to kill millions of people. As the United States Global Malaria Coordinator and Executive Director of the USAID COVID-19 Task Force, Dr Ken Staley, noted in a blog post “hand washing, mask wearing, and social distancing might help protect families from COVID-19, but it won’t protect them from the world’s deadliest animal.”

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.