Saturday, April 17, 2010 (The Mirror Pg 3)
By Rebecca Kwei
Beautiful Becca and ‘spirit-filled’ Ohemaa Mercy were the only women who stood tall at last weekend’s MTN Ghana Music Awards (GMA) held at the Dome of the Accra International Conference Centre.
Becca won the Record of the Year for her song Daa ke Daa and the Best Female Vocal Performance while Ohemaa Mercy took the coveted Gospel Artiste of the Year.
Their performances on the night were also thrilling. Becca’s rendition of her song Daa Ke Daa, which she interlaced with Kojo Antwi’s Mmereka, went down well with the audience.
She was speechless when she received her award but managed to thank all those who have helped her reach this far.
“I’m really excited. I was not expecting it. This shows people are happy with what I’ve been doing. I thank God for everything; my family, friends, fans and my management, EKB Entertainment, for their support” she told The Mirror in a telephone interview.
For Ohemaa Mercy, dressing as ‘Christian soldier’ did the trick for her. She was on ‘fire’ and got the audience to sing Wo Be Ye Kese with her.
It has been a long journey for the two singers and reaching this height has not been easy.
Becca (real name Rebecca Acheampong) has within a short time become a force to reckon with on the music scene. Her poise, confidence, powerful voice and stagecraft put her in a different league.
Becca, who is a Level 200 student studying Projects and Operations Management at Greenhill College in Accra, says it is her passion for music that makes her give her all, whether recording or performing.
Additionally, she notes that she has a great team supporting her — EKB Entertainment Manager, Kiki Banson, who also doubles as the band director and other supporting staff.
Becca’s debut album, Sugar was a hit. She won Record of the Year at the 2008 GMA. Another hit, You Lied to Me featuring Kwabena Kwabena, earned her four other nominations.
Becca featured Hugh Masekela, a renowned musician from South Africa, on her track I Love you. She has also collaborated with Keisha White, a UK R&B star.
In 2008, Becca was nominated in the Kora Awards and Channel O Music Video Awards. She said she was currently working on a new album which would come out soon.
Playing a musical instrument is a plus for any singer and that is why Becca is learning how to play the guitar and keyboards.
Recently, Becca gave a whole new meaning to social responsibility when she successfully raised $100,000 in cash and pledges at her first “Becca Children’s Ball” to enable her register 10,000 children under the National Health Insurance Scheme.
An old student of Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast, Becca also holds a certificate in Child Care and Education from the Croydon College in London.
Ohemaa Mercy was nominated in four categories for this year’s awards ceremony but managed to win in one. What made her stand out at last Saturday’s awards ceremony was her smart turn-out in military uniform for her performance. Many sometimes see her as a shy woman but she put whatever notions people have about her aside and wowed the crowd with a solid show.
Since 2005 when Ohemaa Mercy released her debut album Adamfo Pa, she has matured on the gospel music scene and has become a household name.
She released Edin Jesus in 2007 and was nominated in eight categories at the 2008 GMA where she managed to grab the Gospel Artiste of the Year, Gospel Album of the Year and Album of the Year awards.
Her latest album Wobeye Kese is making waves across the country.
Ohemaa Mercy, a professional teacher, feels blessed because she can compose and sing as well. “God has given me a talent and I see no other way to use it than to serve in His kingdom to inspire and bring souls into His kingdom, ” she says.
Ohemaa grew up in Koforidua, attended Ghana Secondary School, Koforidua, before enrolling at the S.D.A. Teacher Training College at Asokore. She went to teach at the Koforidua St Peter’s Anglican School but got steeped into gospel music.
She quit teaching when she started getting inundated with requests from across the country for performances. She has, however, set up the Ohemaa Foundation which helps brilliant children through school.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Prof Binka wins award
Saturday, April 10, 2010 (The Mirror Pg 25)
By Rebecca Kwei
The Dean of the School of Public Health of the University of Ghana, Professor Fred Newton Binka, has been awarded the Ronald Ross Medal for his contribution to research on a wide range of diseases in the tropics.
This is the first time someone from a developing country has received the award. Prof Binka was awarded the medal together with Prof Geoffrey Targett.
The Ronald Ross Medal was instituted in 1997 by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The medal was set up to commemorate the centenary of Ross’ discovery of the transmission of malaria by the mosquito.
On August 20, 1897, Sir Ronald Ross made the momentous discovery of the malaria parasite in the female anopheline mosquito thus demonstrating that the mosquito was the carrier of malaria. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1902.
“I feel honoured and excited by this award, especially because it is Ronald Ross and my work over the years has been in malaria epidemiology” Prof Binka said at a lunch organised by INDEPTH Network in his honour.
The citation accompanying the award said at a relatively young age, Prof Binka established himself as one of the leading health research scientists in Africa and he has an extraordinary distinguished record of research and service to public health.
According to the citation Prof Binka gained international prominence when he was recruited to be the Epidemiologist and head of field work fo a major trial in northern Ghana to assess the impact that regular supplementation with vitamin A would have on child mortality.
“The results of the trial were striking and of global significance, showing vitamin A supplementation produced a 20 per cent reduction in the all-cause child death rate,” the citation said.
It continued “the results of the trial were highly influential in determining recommendations on vitamin A supplementation globally. Secondly, the excellence of the conduct of this large and complicated trial in a relatively remote location in Ghana, established Fred’s reputation as a field trial investigator.
Thirdly it led to the study site, situated around a small town in northern Ghana, Navrongo, becoming a centre of excellence for demographic surveillance and Fred became the first director of the newly established centre in 1992.
Fourthly, the experience of demographic surveillance in Navrongo was highly influential in the setting up of the INDEPTH Network — a network of around 30 demographic surveillance sites in developing countries of which Fred was the founding Executive Director — a position he occupied for the first decade of its existence.”
According to the citation, Prof Binka’s first activity upon assuming the leadership of the Navrongo Health Research Centre was to conduct one of the key trials showing that insecticide-impregnated bednets reduced all-cause mortality by 20 per cent.
This together with a small number of similar trials conducted elsewhere, has been key to the incorporation of bednet distribution as a major malaria control strategy in Accra.
Prof Binka was a founding member of Mapping Malaria Risk in Africa (MARA Network) and also played a key role in discussions and negotiations that led to the setting up of the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP).
Both of these ventures (MARA and EDCTP) have been important initiatives in addressing major health problems in sub-Saharan Africa.
Prof Binka spent 1998 to 2000 working in Geneva with the then newly created Roll Back Malaria Programme and was a member of the core team that developed the vision for the programme.
Despite requests to stay on with the Programme in Geneva, he saw his major contribution as a scientist based in Africa and returned to Ghana in 2000.
Recognising the lack of clinical trial capacity in Africa, Prof Binka was the main force behind the setting up of the Malaria Clinical Trials Alliance (MCTA) of which he is currently the Executive Director.
The MCTA is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and it is strengthening the capacity of centres in Africa to conduct trials of malaria treatment and vaccines.
More recently, Prof Binka has championed the setting up of the INDEPTH Effectiveness and Safety Studies (INESS) to assess the effectiveness and safety of new anti-malarials as they are introduced into African countries.
Prof Binka also received the British Medical Journal Research Paper of the Year Award for 2010.
Various speakers at the reception including the Director of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Elias Sory, the Programme Manager of National Malaria Control Programme, Dr Constance Bart-Plange described Prof Binka as an inspirational leader, goal getter, kind and one who is able to groom and nurture people to take up responsible positions.
The Executive Director of INDEPTH Network, Dr Osman Sankoh in congratuting Prof Binka said his achievement has again put the INDEPTH Network on the map.
By Rebecca Kwei
The Dean of the School of Public Health of the University of Ghana, Professor Fred Newton Binka, has been awarded the Ronald Ross Medal for his contribution to research on a wide range of diseases in the tropics.
This is the first time someone from a developing country has received the award. Prof Binka was awarded the medal together with Prof Geoffrey Targett.
The Ronald Ross Medal was instituted in 1997 by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The medal was set up to commemorate the centenary of Ross’ discovery of the transmission of malaria by the mosquito.
On August 20, 1897, Sir Ronald Ross made the momentous discovery of the malaria parasite in the female anopheline mosquito thus demonstrating that the mosquito was the carrier of malaria. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1902.
“I feel honoured and excited by this award, especially because it is Ronald Ross and my work over the years has been in malaria epidemiology” Prof Binka said at a lunch organised by INDEPTH Network in his honour.
The citation accompanying the award said at a relatively young age, Prof Binka established himself as one of the leading health research scientists in Africa and he has an extraordinary distinguished record of research and service to public health.
According to the citation Prof Binka gained international prominence when he was recruited to be the Epidemiologist and head of field work fo a major trial in northern Ghana to assess the impact that regular supplementation with vitamin A would have on child mortality.
“The results of the trial were striking and of global significance, showing vitamin A supplementation produced a 20 per cent reduction in the all-cause child death rate,” the citation said.
It continued “the results of the trial were highly influential in determining recommendations on vitamin A supplementation globally. Secondly, the excellence of the conduct of this large and complicated trial in a relatively remote location in Ghana, established Fred’s reputation as a field trial investigator.
Thirdly it led to the study site, situated around a small town in northern Ghana, Navrongo, becoming a centre of excellence for demographic surveillance and Fred became the first director of the newly established centre in 1992.
Fourthly, the experience of demographic surveillance in Navrongo was highly influential in the setting up of the INDEPTH Network — a network of around 30 demographic surveillance sites in developing countries of which Fred was the founding Executive Director — a position he occupied for the first decade of its existence.”
According to the citation, Prof Binka’s first activity upon assuming the leadership of the Navrongo Health Research Centre was to conduct one of the key trials showing that insecticide-impregnated bednets reduced all-cause mortality by 20 per cent.
This together with a small number of similar trials conducted elsewhere, has been key to the incorporation of bednet distribution as a major malaria control strategy in Accra.
Prof Binka was a founding member of Mapping Malaria Risk in Africa (MARA Network) and also played a key role in discussions and negotiations that led to the setting up of the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP).
Both of these ventures (MARA and EDCTP) have been important initiatives in addressing major health problems in sub-Saharan Africa.
Prof Binka spent 1998 to 2000 working in Geneva with the then newly created Roll Back Malaria Programme and was a member of the core team that developed the vision for the programme.
Despite requests to stay on with the Programme in Geneva, he saw his major contribution as a scientist based in Africa and returned to Ghana in 2000.
Recognising the lack of clinical trial capacity in Africa, Prof Binka was the main force behind the setting up of the Malaria Clinical Trials Alliance (MCTA) of which he is currently the Executive Director.
The MCTA is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and it is strengthening the capacity of centres in Africa to conduct trials of malaria treatment and vaccines.
More recently, Prof Binka has championed the setting up of the INDEPTH Effectiveness and Safety Studies (INESS) to assess the effectiveness and safety of new anti-malarials as they are introduced into African countries.
Prof Binka also received the British Medical Journal Research Paper of the Year Award for 2010.
Various speakers at the reception including the Director of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Elias Sory, the Programme Manager of National Malaria Control Programme, Dr Constance Bart-Plange described Prof Binka as an inspirational leader, goal getter, kind and one who is able to groom and nurture people to take up responsible positions.
The Executive Director of INDEPTH Network, Dr Osman Sankoh in congratuting Prof Binka said his achievement has again put the INDEPTH Network on the map.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Mimi — Diva with a star approach
Thursday, April 1, 2010 (The Mirror Pg 3)
By Rebecca Kwei
When she entered the Big Brother Africa contest in 2008, Mimi Divalish (real name Wilhelmina Abu-Andani) had one motive — to use the fame she would get out of her participation to launch her music career.
So in less than three weeks after she was evicted from the house, she released her hit single: “Leave Me Alone” featuring 4 x 4.
“I had always wanted to be in showbiz. Music and acting were my options. But looking at the struggle people have to go through before releasing an album, I realised I needed a platform to launch me onto the music scene and that was Big Brother”, she told The Mirror in an interview.
Mimi said she auditioned for Big Brother Africa because she was a big fan of reality shows and wanted to have a feel of it.
Like a fairy tale, although she did not win the ultimate Big Brother prize and received some flak back home about her performance in the house, her musical ambition is paying off and she is one of the fastest growing female secular musicians.
And she has a tattoo (five stars) on the left side of her chest which she says signifies that she is going to be a “huge star”.
Why the name “Mimi Divalish”? Mimi explained that while in the Big Brother house, her fellow housemates referred to her as “Mimilicious Divalicious” because they claimed she acted like a diva.
“I chose Mimi Divalish as my stage name because I felt the Mimilicious Divalicious was too cocky”, she added.
After releasing “Leave Me Alone” which was written by Chase, Mimi followed it with “Tattoo” written by Castro the Destroyer and “DJ” also penned by Chase in 2009 and her album titled “Music In Me” has six tracks.
The music videos for her first three songs have been described by many as “very good” and Mimi agrees: “My videos are the best. We had very good production from Phamous People. “DJ” was shot in Berlin, Germany. Everyone says all three videos are good.”
Mimi, who is in her mid-20s, says she has written her own songs which will be released soon. Her inspiration comes from everything around her and her desire to be very successful in her chosen field.
Although she is versatile and does different genres of music, Mimi says she classifies her music under hiplife. She looks up to Beyonce, Alicia Keys and Lhiza James of Mozambique.
“Their success stories fascinate me. I’ve been listening to them since I was a kid and their rise to fame and continuous success inspires me”, she said.
Mimi was born and bred in Kumasi but hails from Tamale in the Northern Region. After completing Holy Spirit Junior Secondary School, she continued at Aburi Girls where she offered Science and passed out in 1999.
“My parents thought I was smart hence they wanted me to study Science and become a medical doctor but that was not my interest”, she said.
To please her parents, she continued at the University of Cape Coast to study Biological Science, majoring in Chemistry. She graduated in 2006 and had her national service at the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR).
Her love for languages led her to Spain and France to study languages for two years. She speaks Spanish and understands Italian and a little bit of Portuguese. She also speaks Dagbani, Dagaare, Twi, Fante and Hausa.
When she returned to Ghana after her languages course, she worked as the personal assistant to the CEO of an engineering firm for about four months before entering the Big Brother Africa competition.
In the next few years, Mimi says she sees herself taking Africa and the world by storm.
“I want to be the biggest female musician in Africa and the world as a whole. But first I need to work hard to be recognised on the African scene which will ultimately propel me onto the world music stage”, she said with a lot of confidence in her voice.
How does she hope to achieve these? Mimi summarised it in these words “Hard work, perseverance and prayers”.
She said “the future looks bright — better things, better life, hard work and giving back to society”.
According to Mimi she is still in touch with some of her Big Brother housemates — Sheila from Kenya; Uti, Nigeria; Ricco, Angola, and Lucille from Namibia. Sheila and Uti featured in her “Leave Me Alone” music video.
Mimi is the eldest daughter of Jane Abu and Richard Abu-Andani and has two other sisters and a brother. She loves singing, watching reality shows and dancing, and for the guys, she says “I’m single and mingling”.
By Rebecca Kwei
When she entered the Big Brother Africa contest in 2008, Mimi Divalish (real name Wilhelmina Abu-Andani) had one motive — to use the fame she would get out of her participation to launch her music career.
So in less than three weeks after she was evicted from the house, she released her hit single: “Leave Me Alone” featuring 4 x 4.
“I had always wanted to be in showbiz. Music and acting were my options. But looking at the struggle people have to go through before releasing an album, I realised I needed a platform to launch me onto the music scene and that was Big Brother”, she told The Mirror in an interview.
Mimi said she auditioned for Big Brother Africa because she was a big fan of reality shows and wanted to have a feel of it.
Like a fairy tale, although she did not win the ultimate Big Brother prize and received some flak back home about her performance in the house, her musical ambition is paying off and she is one of the fastest growing female secular musicians.
And she has a tattoo (five stars) on the left side of her chest which she says signifies that she is going to be a “huge star”.
Why the name “Mimi Divalish”? Mimi explained that while in the Big Brother house, her fellow housemates referred to her as “Mimilicious Divalicious” because they claimed she acted like a diva.
“I chose Mimi Divalish as my stage name because I felt the Mimilicious Divalicious was too cocky”, she added.
After releasing “Leave Me Alone” which was written by Chase, Mimi followed it with “Tattoo” written by Castro the Destroyer and “DJ” also penned by Chase in 2009 and her album titled “Music In Me” has six tracks.
The music videos for her first three songs have been described by many as “very good” and Mimi agrees: “My videos are the best. We had very good production from Phamous People. “DJ” was shot in Berlin, Germany. Everyone says all three videos are good.”
Mimi, who is in her mid-20s, says she has written her own songs which will be released soon. Her inspiration comes from everything around her and her desire to be very successful in her chosen field.
Although she is versatile and does different genres of music, Mimi says she classifies her music under hiplife. She looks up to Beyonce, Alicia Keys and Lhiza James of Mozambique.
“Their success stories fascinate me. I’ve been listening to them since I was a kid and their rise to fame and continuous success inspires me”, she said.
Mimi was born and bred in Kumasi but hails from Tamale in the Northern Region. After completing Holy Spirit Junior Secondary School, she continued at Aburi Girls where she offered Science and passed out in 1999.
“My parents thought I was smart hence they wanted me to study Science and become a medical doctor but that was not my interest”, she said.
To please her parents, she continued at the University of Cape Coast to study Biological Science, majoring in Chemistry. She graduated in 2006 and had her national service at the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR).
Her love for languages led her to Spain and France to study languages for two years. She speaks Spanish and understands Italian and a little bit of Portuguese. She also speaks Dagbani, Dagaare, Twi, Fante and Hausa.
When she returned to Ghana after her languages course, she worked as the personal assistant to the CEO of an engineering firm for about four months before entering the Big Brother Africa competition.
In the next few years, Mimi says she sees herself taking Africa and the world by storm.
“I want to be the biggest female musician in Africa and the world as a whole. But first I need to work hard to be recognised on the African scene which will ultimately propel me onto the world music stage”, she said with a lot of confidence in her voice.
How does she hope to achieve these? Mimi summarised it in these words “Hard work, perseverance and prayers”.
She said “the future looks bright — better things, better life, hard work and giving back to society”.
According to Mimi she is still in touch with some of her Big Brother housemates — Sheila from Kenya; Uti, Nigeria; Ricco, Angola, and Lucille from Namibia. Sheila and Uti featured in her “Leave Me Alone” music video.
Mimi is the eldest daughter of Jane Abu and Richard Abu-Andani and has two other sisters and a brother. She loves singing, watching reality shows and dancing, and for the guys, she says “I’m single and mingling”.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Creche for Databank staff
Saturday, March 27, 2010 (The Mirror Pg 29)
By Rebecca Kwei
In its bid to meet the needs of parents with regard to caring for their children, Databank has opened a creche for its staff on its premises in Accra.
Christened Data Kids Crèche, it is to give nursing mothers returning to work a child-friendly work environment that encourages and eases the transition back to work while nursing their babies.
Additionally, it is also aimed at reducing the challenges that working mothers face in working full time and caring for their kids.
The crèche started operating in September last year with four children and presently has eight toddlers between the ages of eight months and two years and four ‘after school’ pupils. The ‘after school’ pupils visit the crèche after school to wait for their parents.
According to the Mother of the crèche, Captain Anna Adams (retd), a retired nursing officer of the Ghana Armed forces, the crèche opens from 7.15 a.m. to 5 p.m. or till the last child is picked up.
She said the ‘after school’ pupils were also helped with their homework when necessary as they waited for their parents to pick them up.
Capt Adams (retd ) is supported by three other tutors to take care of the kids.
The crèche is fitted with a kitchenette and has a washroom and the children are fed with their own food they bring from home.
At the inauguration of the crèche, the Executive Chairman of Databank, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, said the crèche demonstrated the culture of family spirit at the bank.
He said the crèche would enable nursing mothers (and fathers) to have the peace of mind when working, knowing that their children were safe, which also increases productivity.
He commended Keli Gadzekpo, Executive Vice-Chairman of the bank, who he said was instrumental in the setting up of the crèche.
Mr Ofori-Atta expressed the hope that other corporate bodies would emulate the example, adding that it was important for corporate organisations to invest in the development of children and make women have easier times while working with them.
The Head of Human Capital and Administration, Mrs Felicia Gyamfi Ashley, said the bank thought it wise to address the needs of staff that affected productivity.
For instance, she said, if a nursing mother left a child at home in the care of someone she was not really sure of, then she would not have the peace of mind to do what was expected of her at work, since she would be constantly thinking of the security and safety of the child.
She said the crèche had been beneficial to the staff, adding that for now services at the crèche was free of charge but that might change in the future.
She also indicated that the bank gave seven days paternity leave to the male staff to enable them to ‘bond’ with mother and child after delivery.
Mrs Sophia Quarm, whose husband, Emmanuel Quarm, works with Databank, has her eight-month old baby, Nathan, at the crèche, and she said “the crèche has helped me tremendously”.
She said she was happy with the services of the crèche and that the mother of the crèche, who is a retired nurse, and her staff were doing a good job, adding that “she sometimes provides me with knowledge that I otherwise wouldn’t have known”.
By Rebecca Kwei
In its bid to meet the needs of parents with regard to caring for their children, Databank has opened a creche for its staff on its premises in Accra.
Christened Data Kids Crèche, it is to give nursing mothers returning to work a child-friendly work environment that encourages and eases the transition back to work while nursing their babies.
Additionally, it is also aimed at reducing the challenges that working mothers face in working full time and caring for their kids.
The crèche started operating in September last year with four children and presently has eight toddlers between the ages of eight months and two years and four ‘after school’ pupils. The ‘after school’ pupils visit the crèche after school to wait for their parents.
According to the Mother of the crèche, Captain Anna Adams (retd), a retired nursing officer of the Ghana Armed forces, the crèche opens from 7.15 a.m. to 5 p.m. or till the last child is picked up.
She said the ‘after school’ pupils were also helped with their homework when necessary as they waited for their parents to pick them up.
Capt Adams (retd ) is supported by three other tutors to take care of the kids.
The crèche is fitted with a kitchenette and has a washroom and the children are fed with their own food they bring from home.
At the inauguration of the crèche, the Executive Chairman of Databank, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, said the crèche demonstrated the culture of family spirit at the bank.
He said the crèche would enable nursing mothers (and fathers) to have the peace of mind when working, knowing that their children were safe, which also increases productivity.
He commended Keli Gadzekpo, Executive Vice-Chairman of the bank, who he said was instrumental in the setting up of the crèche.
Mr Ofori-Atta expressed the hope that other corporate bodies would emulate the example, adding that it was important for corporate organisations to invest in the development of children and make women have easier times while working with them.
The Head of Human Capital and Administration, Mrs Felicia Gyamfi Ashley, said the bank thought it wise to address the needs of staff that affected productivity.
For instance, she said, if a nursing mother left a child at home in the care of someone she was not really sure of, then she would not have the peace of mind to do what was expected of her at work, since she would be constantly thinking of the security and safety of the child.
She said the crèche had been beneficial to the staff, adding that for now services at the crèche was free of charge but that might change in the future.
She also indicated that the bank gave seven days paternity leave to the male staff to enable them to ‘bond’ with mother and child after delivery.
Mrs Sophia Quarm, whose husband, Emmanuel Quarm, works with Databank, has her eight-month old baby, Nathan, at the crèche, and she said “the crèche has helped me tremendously”.
She said she was happy with the services of the crèche and that the mother of the crèche, who is a retired nurse, and her staff were doing a good job, adding that “she sometimes provides me with knowledge that I otherwise wouldn’t have known”.
Meet Nuclear Engineer — Ekua Mensimah
Saturday, March 27, 2010 (The Mirror Pg 3)
By Rebecca Kwei
For many girls, the sciences are a no-go area, but not Ekua Mensimah, the first female to have graduated with a Master of Philosophy in Nuclear Engineering from the Graduate School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Ekua, who graduated on March 13, 2010, says she has always loved science subjects and excelled in them as well.
“There is a misconception that science is difficult, but it is not as difficult as people think. It’s actually fun! ” she told The Mirror in an interview.
It was recently announced that a GH¢4 million Mathematics, Science and Technology Scholarship Scheme for students at the secondary level will be instituted at the start of the 2010/11 academic year.
The scheme is to stimulate students to take up programmes in the field of maths and science and make science and technology the critical drivers of the country’s socio-economic development.
Ekua is among the second batch of students of the Graduate School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences who offered Nuclear Engineering and she was the only female with nine males. The first batch comprised seven males.
Loving science is manifested in the subject choices petite 28-year-old Ekua has made till now. Right after her primary and junior high school education at the St Peter’s Educational Centre, Kumasi, she continued at the Yaa Asantewaa Girls’ Secondary School in Kumasi where she studied science — Physics, Elective Maths, Chemistry and Biology.
Having passed the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination with flying colours, she enrolled at the Kumasi Polytechnic to pursue a course in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
However, she was at the polytechnic for only a semester and left for the University of Cape Coast to pursue a course in the Physical Sciences which comprises Chemistry, Maths and Physics. She majored in Physics and graduated with a BSc in Physics in 2006.
“I majored in Physics because I enjoy Physics and I am very comfortable in it,” she said.
In 2007, while doing her national service at the Ghana Atomic Energy, she enrolled for an evening course at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) for a diploma course in Database Administration.
“I also have an interest in computers and I wanted to have a lot of options aside the Physics when applying for job,” she explained.
Immediately after her national service and her diploma course in Database Administration, Ekua said she was advised to apply for the MPhil in Nuclear Engineering.
Ekua’s life seems to be one of pursuing one academic course after another but she insists she is “no book worm but just adventurous. I have a social life”.
Why nuclear engineering? Ekua says nuclear energy is the next thing to make waves soon, especially in the area of electricity generation, and she wants to be part of the new trend.
She admitted that it has not been easy, especially while pursuing her MPhil in Nuclear Engineering.
“It was very challenging and I nearly dropped out in the first year but my mum encouraged me not to lose hope, since nothing comes easy. I am really excited and grateful to God for how far He has brought me. It was only by His grace and now I can enjoy the fruits of my labour,” she said.
Ekua is also grateful to her mum, Dorcas Amuquandoh of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), who she says single-handedly took care of her and her elder brother, Kwaku Okyere Manu Tawiah.
“I never lacked anything; my mum made sure of that, and I am very grateful and proud of her,” she added.
Now working as a Research Scientist with the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, Ekua says she hopes to expand her knowledge in nuclear engineering as the years go by, as well as pursue a PhD.
For girls who want to pursue science, Ekua says, “You just have to know where your interest lies and pursue it. Science is not difficult and there are more opportunities in the science field. Above all, you must seek the grace of God.”
Is Ekua attached? She answers with a definite “Yes”, although she would not mention the name of the man with whom she says she will very soon be walking down the aisle.
When she is not studying, Ekua loves to read, write poems or watch movies.
By Rebecca Kwei
For many girls, the sciences are a no-go area, but not Ekua Mensimah, the first female to have graduated with a Master of Philosophy in Nuclear Engineering from the Graduate School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Ekua, who graduated on March 13, 2010, says she has always loved science subjects and excelled in them as well.
“There is a misconception that science is difficult, but it is not as difficult as people think. It’s actually fun! ” she told The Mirror in an interview.
It was recently announced that a GH¢4 million Mathematics, Science and Technology Scholarship Scheme for students at the secondary level will be instituted at the start of the 2010/11 academic year.
The scheme is to stimulate students to take up programmes in the field of maths and science and make science and technology the critical drivers of the country’s socio-economic development.
Ekua is among the second batch of students of the Graduate School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences who offered Nuclear Engineering and she was the only female with nine males. The first batch comprised seven males.
Loving science is manifested in the subject choices petite 28-year-old Ekua has made till now. Right after her primary and junior high school education at the St Peter’s Educational Centre, Kumasi, she continued at the Yaa Asantewaa Girls’ Secondary School in Kumasi where she studied science — Physics, Elective Maths, Chemistry and Biology.
Having passed the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination with flying colours, she enrolled at the Kumasi Polytechnic to pursue a course in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
However, she was at the polytechnic for only a semester and left for the University of Cape Coast to pursue a course in the Physical Sciences which comprises Chemistry, Maths and Physics. She majored in Physics and graduated with a BSc in Physics in 2006.
“I majored in Physics because I enjoy Physics and I am very comfortable in it,” she said.
In 2007, while doing her national service at the Ghana Atomic Energy, she enrolled for an evening course at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) for a diploma course in Database Administration.
“I also have an interest in computers and I wanted to have a lot of options aside the Physics when applying for job,” she explained.
Immediately after her national service and her diploma course in Database Administration, Ekua said she was advised to apply for the MPhil in Nuclear Engineering.
Ekua’s life seems to be one of pursuing one academic course after another but she insists she is “no book worm but just adventurous. I have a social life”.
Why nuclear engineering? Ekua says nuclear energy is the next thing to make waves soon, especially in the area of electricity generation, and she wants to be part of the new trend.
She admitted that it has not been easy, especially while pursuing her MPhil in Nuclear Engineering.
“It was very challenging and I nearly dropped out in the first year but my mum encouraged me not to lose hope, since nothing comes easy. I am really excited and grateful to God for how far He has brought me. It was only by His grace and now I can enjoy the fruits of my labour,” she said.
Ekua is also grateful to her mum, Dorcas Amuquandoh of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), who she says single-handedly took care of her and her elder brother, Kwaku Okyere Manu Tawiah.
“I never lacked anything; my mum made sure of that, and I am very grateful and proud of her,” she added.
Now working as a Research Scientist with the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, Ekua says she hopes to expand her knowledge in nuclear engineering as the years go by, as well as pursue a PhD.
For girls who want to pursue science, Ekua says, “You just have to know where your interest lies and pursue it. Science is not difficult and there are more opportunities in the science field. Above all, you must seek the grace of God.”
Is Ekua attached? She answers with a definite “Yes”, although she would not mention the name of the man with whom she says she will very soon be walking down the aisle.
When she is not studying, Ekua loves to read, write poems or watch movies.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Campaign on use of treated nets
Saturday, March 20, 2010 (The Mirror Pg 25)
By Rebecca Kwei
The Programme Manager of the National Malarial Control Programme (NMCP), Dr (Mrs) Constance Bart-Plange, has said her outfit will intensify education to encourage Ghanaians to sleep in Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) to prevent malaria.
She noted that because of the hot weather, many Ghanaians were not comfortable using ITNs and queried, “which one do you prefer? To sleep in the nets and be malaria-free or outside it and get malaria which could kill you?
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.
Dr Bart-Plange said this at a press briefing by the United Against Malaria (UAM) Partnership, a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-led initiative with the goal of supporting the global fight against malaria.
The partnership involves football teams and heroes, celebrities, health and advocacy organisations, governments, corporations and personalities who have united ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa to win the fight against malaria.
It is estimated that there are between 300 million and 500 million clinical cases of malaria per year, with 80 per cent of those cases in Africa. In Ghana, malaria continues to be the leading cause of death among children under five years.
Dr Bart-Plange said the World Health Organisation (WHO) Malaria Report 2009 showed that in a 2008 survey, 33 per cent of households owned an ITN, but only 19 per cent of children under five in Ghana had slept under an ITN the night before.
Dr Bart-Plange said in the past the focus was on children under five to use ITNs but now it was imperative for all Ghanaians to use the net.
She said Ghana was using all available interventions such as treatment with Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), use of ITNs and indoor residual spray to combat malaria since no one intervention would work fully.
She said partnership was also key and said the UAM initiative was a laudable idea, adding that “football unites and through the passionate voice of football, players who serve as role models will help spread the message of ITNs, pregnant women take the required Sulphadoxine Pyremithamine (SP), the message will sink down to accelerate the desire to reduce malarial cases”.
The President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi, said it was a social service obligation for the association to be part of the campaign “as we find the 3.2 million cases of malaria recorded each year in Ghana and the 20,000 children who die of the disease in a year totally unacceptable.”
Mentioning some actions undertaken so far with regard to the UAM, he said Black Stars used their last World Cup qualifying match with the Eagles of Mali in Kumasi to send out messages on bed net use.
He gave the assurance that “our use of the game football at all levels to promote resource generation to support the NMCP and also promote effective use of prevention and treatment tools such as ITNs, ACTs and SP for pregnant women shall not end with our participation in South Africa 2010”.
Mr Nyantakyi said the association shall sustain its efforts by involving all the national teams, the national premier league, the division one and division two league clubs and even the colts league in the UAM campaign.
He appealed to the business community to support the association to raise two million ITNs for the NMCP towards the achievement of the universal access goals.
The President of the Tanzania Football Federation, Leodegar Tenga, said between 17million and 20 million were affected by malaria with 18,000 dying annually.
He said it was important to use the World Cup tournament to spread the message, adding that “the very existence of football depends on how healthy the player is and it is imperative that African leaders take the issue of malaria seriously. Malaria can be prevented, curable and can be eradicated”.
A former captain of Uganda’s national team, the Cranes, Mr Edgar Watson Soubi, said his country was using role models of all ages to spread the message of the fight against malaria.
He said football was also a good medium to spread the malarial message since it could affect a player directly or indirectly, thereby preventing the player from playing.
The Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr George Amofah, who chaired the event, said the economic burden of the disease could not be ignored and the involvement of all stakeholders was necessary to fight malaria.
He said the totality of all the interventions available could make an impact to enable the goal of reducing malaria cases and deaths to be reduced.
The Country Director of the John Hopkins Centre for Communication Programmes — Voices Project, Mr Emmanuel Fiagbey, said three key UAM promotional materials had been developed, including the Ghana UAM Cheer song/music video, a 60-second TV spot projecting the Black Stars promoting ITN use and IPT access, a 30-second TV spot with Michael Essien and Stephen Appiah promoting ITN use, posters and banners among others.
By Rebecca Kwei
The Programme Manager of the National Malarial Control Programme (NMCP), Dr (Mrs) Constance Bart-Plange, has said her outfit will intensify education to encourage Ghanaians to sleep in Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) to prevent malaria.
She noted that because of the hot weather, many Ghanaians were not comfortable using ITNs and queried, “which one do you prefer? To sleep in the nets and be malaria-free or outside it and get malaria which could kill you?
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.
Dr Bart-Plange said this at a press briefing by the United Against Malaria (UAM) Partnership, a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-led initiative with the goal of supporting the global fight against malaria.
The partnership involves football teams and heroes, celebrities, health and advocacy organisations, governments, corporations and personalities who have united ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa to win the fight against malaria.
It is estimated that there are between 300 million and 500 million clinical cases of malaria per year, with 80 per cent of those cases in Africa. In Ghana, malaria continues to be the leading cause of death among children under five years.
Dr Bart-Plange said the World Health Organisation (WHO) Malaria Report 2009 showed that in a 2008 survey, 33 per cent of households owned an ITN, but only 19 per cent of children under five in Ghana had slept under an ITN the night before.
Dr Bart-Plange said in the past the focus was on children under five to use ITNs but now it was imperative for all Ghanaians to use the net.
She said Ghana was using all available interventions such as treatment with Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), use of ITNs and indoor residual spray to combat malaria since no one intervention would work fully.
She said partnership was also key and said the UAM initiative was a laudable idea, adding that “football unites and through the passionate voice of football, players who serve as role models will help spread the message of ITNs, pregnant women take the required Sulphadoxine Pyremithamine (SP), the message will sink down to accelerate the desire to reduce malarial cases”.
The President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi, said it was a social service obligation for the association to be part of the campaign “as we find the 3.2 million cases of malaria recorded each year in Ghana and the 20,000 children who die of the disease in a year totally unacceptable.”
Mentioning some actions undertaken so far with regard to the UAM, he said Black Stars used their last World Cup qualifying match with the Eagles of Mali in Kumasi to send out messages on bed net use.
He gave the assurance that “our use of the game football at all levels to promote resource generation to support the NMCP and also promote effective use of prevention and treatment tools such as ITNs, ACTs and SP for pregnant women shall not end with our participation in South Africa 2010”.
Mr Nyantakyi said the association shall sustain its efforts by involving all the national teams, the national premier league, the division one and division two league clubs and even the colts league in the UAM campaign.
He appealed to the business community to support the association to raise two million ITNs for the NMCP towards the achievement of the universal access goals.
The President of the Tanzania Football Federation, Leodegar Tenga, said between 17million and 20 million were affected by malaria with 18,000 dying annually.
He said it was important to use the World Cup tournament to spread the message, adding that “the very existence of football depends on how healthy the player is and it is imperative that African leaders take the issue of malaria seriously. Malaria can be prevented, curable and can be eradicated”.
A former captain of Uganda’s national team, the Cranes, Mr Edgar Watson Soubi, said his country was using role models of all ages to spread the message of the fight against malaria.
He said football was also a good medium to spread the malarial message since it could affect a player directly or indirectly, thereby preventing the player from playing.
The Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr George Amofah, who chaired the event, said the economic burden of the disease could not be ignored and the involvement of all stakeholders was necessary to fight malaria.
He said the totality of all the interventions available could make an impact to enable the goal of reducing malaria cases and deaths to be reduced.
The Country Director of the John Hopkins Centre for Communication Programmes — Voices Project, Mr Emmanuel Fiagbey, said three key UAM promotional materials had been developed, including the Ghana UAM Cheer song/music video, a 60-second TV spot projecting the Black Stars promoting ITN use and IPT access, a 30-second TV spot with Michael Essien and Stephen Appiah promoting ITN use, posters and banners among others.
HIV prevalence increases
Saturday, March 20, 2010 (The Mirror Pg 13)
By Rebecca Kwei
GHANA’s 2009 adult national HIV prevalence is estimated at 1.9 per cent as compared to 1.7 per cent in 2008.
Also, the HIV prevalence among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics was 2.9 per cent, representing a 31 per cent increase of last year’s 2.2 per cent.
Giving the facts and figures of the 2009 HIV Sentinel Survey and National HIV and AIDS Prevalence Estimates, Dr Nii Akwei Addo, Programme Manager of the National AIDS/STI Control Programme said,despite the increase in prevalence of HIV in 2009, Ghana’s epidemic is still on the decline.
He was however, quick to add that more effort was required by all stakeholders to keep the HIV prevalence on further decline since complacency would erode the progress made so far.
The HIV prevalence had increased after a decline for the second time in 2008 after 2007 as observed in 2003 and 2006. Prior to this, it had risen from 2.3 per cent in 1999 to 3.6 per cent in 2003.
The sentinel survey is a cross sectional survey targeting pregnant women attending antenatal clinics (ANC) in selected ANC sites in Ghana. The surveillance system was initiated based on the premise that prevalence of HIV among pregnant women was a good proxy indicator of the spread of the infection among the populace.
A total of 18,833 samples were collected from 69 ANC located in 40 sentinel sites (23 urban and 17 rural) across the country and records on 18,809 were analysed.
Dr Addo said there was an estimated 267,069 persons comprising 112,457 males and 154,612 females living with HIV AIDS in Ghana and 25,666 of that were children; 12,579 being females.
Additionally, there were 22,177 new infections and 20,313 AIDS deaths with 2,566 being children.
The HIV site prevalence ranged from 0.7 per cent in North Tongu (rural) to 5.8 per cent in Koforidua and Agomanya (urban).
Interestingly, Agomanya saw a drop in prevalence from the 2008’s figure of eight per cent but still maintained its position as the site with the highest prevalence with Koforidua.
Although Fanteakwa’s prevalence dropped to four per cent, it still remained the rural site with the highest prevalence.
All the regions, with the exception of the Eastern Region, recorded an increase in prevalence over 2008. Upper West Region recorded the highest increase of 3.1 per cent from 1.6 per cent. However, Eastern Region continued to be the region with the highest prevalence level.
For the age group, 40 to 44 years recorded the highest prevalence of four per cent, while the 15-19 year group had the least prevalence of 1.9 per cent. Prevalence among the youth of age group 15-24 years, which is used as a marker for new infections, was 2.1 per cent.
According to the report, 91.8 per cent of the HIV positive samples were HIV type I; HIV type II was 5.2 per cent, while HIV types I and II was three per cent.
Dr Addo said the country was gradually getting more HIV type II and HIV types I and II and considerations for a review of national antiretrovirals (ART) guidelines must take this trend into account, given the limited regimens available for managing HIV type II.
For syphilis, Central Region remained the region with the highest syphilis prevalence and Asikuma Odoben Brakwa (rural), the site with highest prevalence.
The report indicated that rural areas continued to have higher syphilis prevalence than urban areas.
HIV prevalence among Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) clients was almost halved from 10.5 per cent in 2008 to 5.5 per cent in 2009, due to decreases at both the Adabraka and Kumasi sites.
???Dr Addo while the number of AIDS deaths is expected to decline???, the number of people living with HIV is expected to increase gradually with improved access to ART
coupled with resulting new infections.
He said more persons living with HIV would need ART and co-trimoxazole prophylaxis but the demand for these medications in children was expected to decline as the risk of Mother-to-Child transmission of HIV is reduced through PMTCT intervention.
The Deputy Minister of Health, Mr Rojo Mettle-Nunoo, expressed the government’s commitment to work together with all sectors of the society to fight against HIV AIDS.
“Equally important for us is the need to work with academics and researchers as we continue to find new ways to respond to this challenge,” he added.
Mr Mettle-Nunoo said the results of the survey remained an important indicator for monitoring the trend of the disease in the country and provide useful information for policy intervention.
He cautioned against complacency in order not to erode the gains made so far saying “the more we reduce the prevalence, the more we must work hard to keep it low”.
The Director-General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Dr Angela El-Adas, said the survey report would help the commission in the development of the third national strategic framework response for HIV AIDS.
She said there was the need to move away from organising floats to preparing specific HIV AIDS messages for various target groups and also intensify efforts to prevent new infections
The World Health Organisation (WHO) representative in Ghana, Dr Daniel Kertesz, expressed the hope that the data derived from the survey would be used to impact on public health.
By Rebecca Kwei
GHANA’s 2009 adult national HIV prevalence is estimated at 1.9 per cent as compared to 1.7 per cent in 2008.
Also, the HIV prevalence among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics was 2.9 per cent, representing a 31 per cent increase of last year’s 2.2 per cent.
Giving the facts and figures of the 2009 HIV Sentinel Survey and National HIV and AIDS Prevalence Estimates, Dr Nii Akwei Addo, Programme Manager of the National AIDS/STI Control Programme said,despite the increase in prevalence of HIV in 2009, Ghana’s epidemic is still on the decline.
He was however, quick to add that more effort was required by all stakeholders to keep the HIV prevalence on further decline since complacency would erode the progress made so far.
The HIV prevalence had increased after a decline for the second time in 2008 after 2007 as observed in 2003 and 2006. Prior to this, it had risen from 2.3 per cent in 1999 to 3.6 per cent in 2003.
The sentinel survey is a cross sectional survey targeting pregnant women attending antenatal clinics (ANC) in selected ANC sites in Ghana. The surveillance system was initiated based on the premise that prevalence of HIV among pregnant women was a good proxy indicator of the spread of the infection among the populace.
A total of 18,833 samples were collected from 69 ANC located in 40 sentinel sites (23 urban and 17 rural) across the country and records on 18,809 were analysed.
Dr Addo said there was an estimated 267,069 persons comprising 112,457 males and 154,612 females living with HIV AIDS in Ghana and 25,666 of that were children; 12,579 being females.
Additionally, there were 22,177 new infections and 20,313 AIDS deaths with 2,566 being children.
The HIV site prevalence ranged from 0.7 per cent in North Tongu (rural) to 5.8 per cent in Koforidua and Agomanya (urban).
Interestingly, Agomanya saw a drop in prevalence from the 2008’s figure of eight per cent but still maintained its position as the site with the highest prevalence with Koforidua.
Although Fanteakwa’s prevalence dropped to four per cent, it still remained the rural site with the highest prevalence.
All the regions, with the exception of the Eastern Region, recorded an increase in prevalence over 2008. Upper West Region recorded the highest increase of 3.1 per cent from 1.6 per cent. However, Eastern Region continued to be the region with the highest prevalence level.
For the age group, 40 to 44 years recorded the highest prevalence of four per cent, while the 15-19 year group had the least prevalence of 1.9 per cent. Prevalence among the youth of age group 15-24 years, which is used as a marker for new infections, was 2.1 per cent.
According to the report, 91.8 per cent of the HIV positive samples were HIV type I; HIV type II was 5.2 per cent, while HIV types I and II was three per cent.
Dr Addo said the country was gradually getting more HIV type II and HIV types I and II and considerations for a review of national antiretrovirals (ART) guidelines must take this trend into account, given the limited regimens available for managing HIV type II.
For syphilis, Central Region remained the region with the highest syphilis prevalence and Asikuma Odoben Brakwa (rural), the site with highest prevalence.
The report indicated that rural areas continued to have higher syphilis prevalence than urban areas.
HIV prevalence among Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) clients was almost halved from 10.5 per cent in 2008 to 5.5 per cent in 2009, due to decreases at both the Adabraka and Kumasi sites.
???Dr Addo while the number of AIDS deaths is expected to decline???, the number of people living with HIV is expected to increase gradually with improved access to ART
coupled with resulting new infections.
He said more persons living with HIV would need ART and co-trimoxazole prophylaxis but the demand for these medications in children was expected to decline as the risk of Mother-to-Child transmission of HIV is reduced through PMTCT intervention.
The Deputy Minister of Health, Mr Rojo Mettle-Nunoo, expressed the government’s commitment to work together with all sectors of the society to fight against HIV AIDS.
“Equally important for us is the need to work with academics and researchers as we continue to find new ways to respond to this challenge,” he added.
Mr Mettle-Nunoo said the results of the survey remained an important indicator for monitoring the trend of the disease in the country and provide useful information for policy intervention.
He cautioned against complacency in order not to erode the gains made so far saying “the more we reduce the prevalence, the more we must work hard to keep it low”.
The Director-General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Dr Angela El-Adas, said the survey report would help the commission in the development of the third national strategic framework response for HIV AIDS.
She said there was the need to move away from organising floats to preparing specific HIV AIDS messages for various target groups and also intensify efforts to prevent new infections
The World Health Organisation (WHO) representative in Ghana, Dr Daniel Kertesz, expressed the hope that the data derived from the survey would be used to impact on public health.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)