Category: General

The Tema Metropolis recorded a total of 402 new positive cases of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) between January and June 2023.

Ms. Joanna Anorkor Lartey, the Tema Metropolitan TB/HIV Coordinator, revealed this to the Ghana News Agency in an interview, saying the figure comprised 163 males and 239 females testing positive for the virus during the period under review.

The new infections showed a 17.9 percent increment over the 341 documented between January and June 2022.

She said out of the figure, 163 males and 235 males and females, respectively, were put on treatment after testing positive, while the remaining four were yet to be linked to care.

She said for the full year of 2022, the Metro recorded a total of 603 new infections made up of 263 males and 340 females, adding that all of them were successfully linked to care.

Breaking down the statistics, she stated that 11 children aged zero to four tested positive for HIV between January and June this year, while four, seven, and 10, respectiv
ely, belonged to the age brackets five to nine, 10 to 14, and 15 to 19 years.

She observed that the most worrying data had to do with those aged between 20 and 39, indicating that risky lifestyles could contribute to the high figures of HIV positives among them.

The data revealed that 26 of the first half records were aged 20 to 24, while those aged between 25 and 29 recorded 52 new infections.

The TB/HIV Coordinator noted that 56 new infections were seen among persons aged 30 to 34, while those in the age bracket of 35 to 39 also recorded 52 positive cases between January and June 2023.

Ms. Lartey stated that with the 2022 full-year data, 12 children aged zero to four tested positive, nine for the age bracket of five to nine, seven for ages 10 to 14, and six for those aged 15 to 19.

Fifty-seven new HIV infections were seen in ages 20 to 24, while ages 25-29 recorded 57, and 30-34 years had 74 infections, with 35-39 documenting 75 positive HIV cases in 2022.

She said even though the figures were collect
ed from the four sub-metros, Tema General Hospital, due to its status as a referral hospital, had cases that did not originally emanate from the metro.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Pearson Edexcel hosted its 2023 Pearson Ghana Principal’s Forum and the Outstanding Pearson Learner Award (OPLA) event in Accra.

A statement issued by Pearson Ghana and copied to the Ghana News Agency said the event was on the theme, ‘Building an ecosystem of excellence’.

It said as the world’s largest education company, operating in over 100 countries and catering to millions of learners and educators, Pearson Education holds the distinction of being the UK’s largest awarding organisation.

It noted that with a mission dedicated to making a measurable impact on enhancing people’s lives through learning, Pearson provided an international curriculum rooted in the UK curriculum.

It said the comprehensive offering encompassed academic qualifications, resources, and support services, ensuring that students aged three to 19 could seamlessly progress from elementary school to university, further education, and employment.

The statement said the academic qualifications arm of Pearson operated under the distingu
ished brand name Pearson Edexcel, delivering curriculum tailored for schools spanning Early Years through Primary, Lower Secondary, International GCSE, and International A Levels. Currently, approximately 30 schools in Ghana were entrusted with delivering this world-class curriculum at various levels.

Mr Gabriel Sowah Mensah, the Regional Development Manager for West Africa, Pearson Edexcel, commended the schools implementing the Pearson curriculum for their unwavering commitment, diligence, and determination to empower the young minds under their care.

The statement said on the theme ‘Building an Ecosystem of Excellence,’ the forum brought together heads of schools and departments to celebrate the successes of the past academic year, address challenges, and provide updates on new developments by Pearson aimed at enriching their teaching and learning processes.

Mrs Christine Evans, the Business Development Manager for Sub Saharan Africa, Pearson Edexcel, presented in-depth support and new USPs available fr
om Pearson to the schools.

The statement said one of the key highlights of this presentation was Pearson’s introduction of Modular International GCSE and the Mock services.

Mr Grant Bulmuo, Lead consultant at the Africa Education Gateway was the special guest, speaking to the theme, he emphasised the need for excellence from school leaders to drive it through the school’s ecosystem and this could be achieved through a clear vision and commitment to the vision.

The statement said the highlight of the event was the presentation of the Outstanding Pearson Learner Awards for schools using the Pearson Curriculum in Ghana.

The statement said a total of 10 students from across Ghana and one student from the Ivory Coast were honored with National, Continental, and Global awards based on their exceptional performance in Pearson Edexcel exams at the Primary and Lower Secondary levels.

It said out of the 10 awards for Ghana, four students achieved the highest marks globally, two students were recognised as the high
est mark recipients in Africa, and four students were lauded for achieving the highest marks in Ghana.

It said the recognition underscored the outstanding achievements of both students and schools in their commitment to academic excellence within the Pearson Edexcel framework.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Dr Mark Kurt Nawaane, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Nabdam Constituency in the Upper East Region, has emphasized the need for Haemodialysis Centres to be established across the country for easy access to patients.

He said there were about 52,400 patients across the country with renal failure, and out of the number, only 1200 reported to health facilities for dialysis, ‘And this is because of the problem of accessibility and affordability.’

He said the average cost of dialysis treatment was about GH?2000.00 per week if patients followed the instructions and went for three or four sessions.

Dr Nawaane said this when he presented a cheque for GH?5000.00 to management of the Upper East Regional Hospital in Bolgatanga as his contribution to establish a Haemodialysis Centre for the Region.

The idea to establish the Centre, estimated to cost GH?800,000.00 was mooted by Mr Ayamga Ayariga, a Critical Care Nurse in the Hospital, and championed by Dr Emmanuel Akatibo, a Physician Specialist.

Following the
urgent need for the Centre, management, and staff of the Hospital, in collaboration with stakeholders, launched a campaign for funds to construct the Centre for the Region.

The Hospital, a major referral centre for the Region, receives cases from parts of Burkina Faso, Upper West and North East Regions without a Haemodialysis Centre.

Patients in need of haemodialysis services in the Region travelled to the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) in the Northern Region, and other facilities outside the Region for such services.

Dr Nawaane said the Upper East Caucus in Parliament received information about the initiative to establish a Centre for the Region and decided that individual MPs should make donations towards its establishment.

He said ‘During our budget debate, in the documents, the government said that it was establishing a Kidney Transplant Division at Korle-Bu. It is a clever idea, but I think now, what we really need is how to make dialysis affordable to the patients such that we can have these 52,400
people coming out for it.

‘They are not coming because they know they cannot even pay, and so they do not even follow up for them to be diagnosed and for dialysis to be recommended. If patients cannot afford dialysis, how can they afford kidney transplantation,’ Dr Nawaane quizzed.

‘We do not even have the law that will guide us in the organ harvest. The law is not in place yet. They have not brought the bill to Parliament for us to look at it.

‘Even if we spend the money to establish a Kidney Centre instead of establishing dialysis centres and the law is not there, you cannot harvest anybody’s organ without the law to use it on another person,’ he said.

Dr Nawaane called on government to assist hospitals like the Regional Hospital to establish and get dialysis centres to work, ‘I am not saying that we should leave everything on government, but we must prioritize what we are doing.

‘If there is money, let us use it first for such purposes before we go to the Kidney Transplant which is another stage all t
ogether,’ he advised.

Dr Aiden Suntaa Saanwei, the Medical Director of the Hospital, who received the cheque on behalf of management and staff of the hospital, thanked the MP for the gesture.

He said the hospital required support to establish the Centre, adding that ‘We are targeting that by the close of this year, we should be able to commission the Centre and the first patient should go through the sessions of dialysis.’

Source: Ghana News Agency

The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), located in London in the United Kingdom, has presented 150 life jackets to help shore up safety promotion at sea in the artisanal fishing sector.

The life jackets, funded by the ITF’s Union Building Project, were presented to the Canoe and Fishing Gear Owners Association of Ghana (CaFGOAG), an affiliate of the National Union of Teamsters and General Workers (NUTEG of GFL), for onward distribution to selected artisanal fishers across all the coastal regions of Ghana.

Mr Cedric Depollier, the Union Building Project Manager, was accompanied by Mr Malick Diop, the Coordinator of the ITF/LO Norway West Africa Fisheries Organisation Project (WAFOP), who commended NUTEG and CaFGOAG for their efforts at promoting safety at sea among artisanal fishermen.

Mr Depollier urged fishermen not to accept accidents at sea as the norm, but rather to ensure that adequate structures and measures were put in place to protect the lives of fishermen and their property.

He en
treated the leadership of NUTEG to give attention to insurance and social security for artisanal fishermen to ensure their future.

He said apart from the presentation, the meeting between them was important as it brought the Union Building Project closer to the stakeholders through NUTEG and CaFGOAG.

The project was to support solutions to the harsh reality of artisanal fishermen working hard in difficult conditions, which included risking their lives to earn a living and support their communities.

Mr Diop also charged NUTEG and CaFGOAG to help sensitise fishers to understand the content of the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Work in Fishing Convention (C118) and work towards its ratification.

Mr Desmond Sackey, the General Secretary of NUTEG, expressed appreciation to the ITF for honouring their request and gave the assurance that his office would monitor to ensure that the life jackets were put into good use.

Nana Kweigyah, the National President of CaFGOAG, who received the life jackets on b
ehalf of the fishermen, thanked NUTEG, ITF, and their partners for supporting the work of artisanal fishermen.

The donation would deepen awareness on safety at sea among artisanal fishermen and support ongoing efforts to protect the lives of fishermen in the course of their work, he said.

He gave the assurance that the items would be used for their intended purses and appealed to ITF and its partners for more safety gear, capacity-building training programmes and awareness creation to support fishers, which constitute a huge population in Ghana.

He reiterated CaFGOAG’s call for a national dialogue on safety at sea in artisanal fisheries, as well as being an integral part of fisheries management as enshrined in the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ghana Youth Environmental Movement (GYEM) has urged government to ban the use of plastic bags to protect the environment.

Single-use plastics are designed to be used for single purposes, they include plastic straws, coffee cups, polyethene bags, plastic cotton buds, food wrappers, and plastic stirrers.

Mr Samual Boadu Duah, Campaigns Lead at GYEM, said plastic bags has been a menace and would continue to be if stakeholders did not take drastic actions to curtail the use of single-use plastics, the environment will be a no place to live.

He stated with concern that climate change issue did not evolve overnight but started gradually and steadily affecting every facet of society through negative attitudes and activities of humans.

He said this at a sensitization campaign in Accra, dubbed ‘Ban of Single-Use Campaign’, to educate the public, especially market women to desist from single-use plastics and adopt to reusable bags.

Mr Duah stated the problem of climate change could become worse unless the challen
ge of recycling and ability to turn waste matter like plastic bags to raw material could be addressed.

He encouraged the youth to contribute through their actions and inactions for the nation to achieve environmental best practices for a sustainable environment.

He said that would greatly help in making a positive impact on the environment as the world moved towards a low-carbon economy.

Angelica Elikem, Assistance Programmes officer at Environmental Protection Agency, observed people carried large number of plastic bags home, which could be avoided to control the resultant environmental pollution, adding that the plastic bags ended up in the sea, which produced toxins and eaten by the fishes consumed by ‘us to negatively affect our health’.

She discouraged the littering of plastic waste, single-use plastics, and encouraged reusable alternatives and segregation of plastic wastes for recycling.

Market women were trained to sew reusable bags to ensure that they are easily available for shoppers to access a
nd use, she said.

She added that ‘apart from helping to reduce the use of plastic products to prevent plastic pollution, this intervention will also create job opportunities for the unemployed to improve their livelihoods.’

GYEM is a youth-led environmental policy advocacy and non-violent campaign group in Ghana, with its vision to work towards a sustainable environment for future generations.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Kenneth Adu-Amanfoh, the Director General, Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), says Ghana is making steady progress in the reduction of drug use and demand, which is a public health challenge.

Though he could not substantiate the claim with verifiable data, Mr Adu-Amanfo said the Commission was empowering the public to make informed decisions to reduce drug abuse and its related threats to health.

He said drug usage had become a regional concern across the West African channel, and stakeholders must work together to ensure that the threat was effectively and proactively addressed by the respective member state agencies and their partners.

The NACOC Act 2020, Act 1019, recognised that drug use was a public health issue, thus people with drug use disorders were treated with respect, dignity, and rehabilitated rather than incarcerated, he noted.

Mr Adu-Amanfoh said this at the launch of the third edition of the 2020-2022 West African Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (WENDU) Report of Statistics and Tre
nds on Illicit Drug Supply and Use in Accra on Monday.

The Report provides a comprehensive overview of the evolving patterns in drug supply and usage, empowering people to make informed decisions and implement effective strategies.

It also serves as a compass guiding the country through the complex landscape of drug-related issues in West Africa.

Mr Adu-Amanfoh said Ghana appreciated and understood the enormous national security challenges posed by illicit drug trafficking on its nationals and that of member states of ECOWAS, therefore, it was adopting evidence-based scientific approaches in treating persons with substance use disorders.

The country would continue to work closely with other member states in protecting borders, citizens and, more importantly, the youth, he said.

‘It is incumbent upon us all to utilise this knowledge to enhance our preventive measures, strengthen law enforcement, and implement targeted interventions to address the root causes of drug-related issues,’ Mr Adu-Amanfoh said.

He urged all agencies in West Africa and by extension the African Continent, to take the issue of illicit drug abuse and its related vices seriously.

Professor Fatou Sow Sarr, Commissioner, Human Development and Social Affairs, ECOWAS, in a speech read on her behalf, said the Commission had ensured the sustainability of WENDU, with measures put in place yielding the desired results.

The first WENDU Report covered 2014 to 2017, the second from 2018 to 2019, and the third, 2020 to 2022, she said.

‘It is our plan that the subsequent reports will be published yearly so as to make the reports more current than it is now, a credible and current WENDU report is crucial to improving evidence-based drug prevention and control activities both at the national and regional levels,’ Prof Sarr said.

Ms Anna Lixi, Head of Governance and Security, EU Delegation to Ghana, said the absence of verifiable data on the prevalence of drug use in West Africa meant that the scale of the phenomenon had largely gone unreported.

Sh
e said the report would help inform tailored responses to address the social, health and economic consequences of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking in West Africa.

Ms Lixi said since the inception of Enhancing African Capacity (ENACT), it had published relevant and accessible reports on a range of transnational organised crime issues and challenges affecting the continent.

‘The analysis and insights generated by the ENACT project in turn serve to inform policy-makers and strengthen cooperation at the regional and international levels,’ she added.

WENDU is an ECOWAS project aimed at improving the information base for policymakers from member states and Mauritania to address the social, health and economic consequences of alcohol and drug use through the establishment of a local sentinel surveillance network.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Members of the Accra Golden Lions Clubs have engaged in some physical activities to stay fit.

The walk, dubbed, ‘8km Diabetes Walkathon’ aimed at raising awareness of the dangers associated with diabetes and the role keeping fit played to help stay away from attaining such a disease.

The walk which started at exactly 06.30 hours from the Ayi Mensah Police Station through to Peduase Lodge was also attended by the Accra Spintex Road Lions Club, Tema Greenwich Lions Club, Accra Harmony Lions Club, Accra Metro Lions Club and the Accra Labone Leo Club.

Mr Alfred Kwame Avorka, the Club President, said as part of their social responsibilities to contribute to nation building, the T-shirts sold for the walk would be put together as part of the fundraising efforts to support the Korle Bu Diabetes Research and Management Centre at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.

He said diabetes was a global disease found in every part of the world with an estimated 463 million adults across the world living with it.

The Club Pre
sident added that according to research, in Ghana, there were about 2.4 million people living with diabetes, and approximately 7.5 adults had Type-2 diabetes.

He encouraged Ghanaians, as part of their means to stay away from diabetes, to exercise for about 30 minutes a day before embarking on any other activity.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Paediatric Society of Ghana, has donated some relief items to the ‘safe haven’ of Agbetikpo in the North Tongu District of the Volta Region.

More than 1,000 people are currently being held at the shelter following flood devastation that ravaged lives and millions worth of property.

Dr Hilda Mantebea Boye, the President of the Society, led a team that included Dr Gabrielle Obeng-Koranteng, the General Secretary, to the facility to present a truckload of food, clothing, toiletries and learning materials.

She told the community that the Society had special concern for children and mothers, and thus would discuss with the Ghana Medical Association and other sister organisations for their support.

‘We know that it’s difficult. We know that you are going through a lot, but we want you to know that you are not alone,’ she said.

Dr Boye commended corporate Ghana for sustaining support for the victims and presented an amount of GHC 5,000 to assist women in the camp.

Leaders of the safe haven had complained
of trauma among inhabitants over the prolonged stay and called for the services of psychologists and other emotional experts.

An elder of Battor, Mr Francis Doe, said there were some prevailing health issues including skin diseases rising from the congested tents and temporary rooms of the community basic school and detailed how sleeping had to be rotated.

Mr Derick Kugah, the Assembly member of the area, spoke of the water shortage, saying aside drinking water which was in sustainable supply through donations, water for cleaning and cooking etc had become a challenge.

The Chairman of the Paediatric Society, after touring the camp, told the GNA that the plight of children there needed to be considered, and appealed to the Government to seek a hasty return to normalcy for the thousands affected.

The North Tongu District, the hardest hit among nine in the lower volta basin, has some 14,000 displaced and presently operates 21 camps and safe havens.

Source: Ghana News Agency