We need precautionary measures against Ebola – Pharmaceutical Society

                                         The Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSGH) is warning Ghanaians to take precautionary measures against the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak.

According to the PSGH, the intensity of the EVD outbreak is the highest that has ever been recorded in the affected areas, which includes Guinea and some parts of the West African sub-region.

President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, James Ohemeng Kyei in an interview with Citi News cautioned Ghanaians to be on guard to prevent the influx of the disease into the country through its borders.

He noted that Ebola is one of the most challenging disease the world has ever dealt with throughout the world.

“Ghanaians travel a lot to other West African countries .Once there are confirmed cases of Ebola in Guinea, Liberia and Mali then Ghana must be on high alert,” he advised.

source: citifm

World must end ‘dirty’ fuel use – UN

Scientists believe there needs to be a step change in the energy sector

A long-awaited UN report on how to curb climate change says the world must rapidly move away from carbon-intensive fuels.

There must be a “massive shift” to renewable energy, says the 33-page study released in Berlin.

It has been finalised after a week of negotiations between scientists and government officials.

Natural gas is seen as a key bridge to move energy production away from oil and coal.
But there have been battles between participants over who will pay for this energy transition.

The report is the work of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was set up to provide a clear scientific view on climate change and its impacts.

 The Summary for Policymakers on mitigation paints a picture of a world with carbon emissions rising rapidly.

“The high speed mitigation train needs to leave the station very soon, and all of global society will have to get on board,” the IPCC’s chair Rajendra Pachauri told journalists in Berlin at the launch of the report.

Dr Youba Sokono, a co-chair of the IPCC’s working group 3, which drew up the report, said science has spoken.

He added that policy makers were “the navigators, they have to make decisions, scientists are the map makers”.

The UK’s Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey said global warming needed to be tackled using “all technologies”. He told BBC News: “We can do this, we have to because it’s so challenging and threatening to our economies and societies, our health, our food security.

The report today shows we can do it if we have the political will.”

He added that the UK government was a leader on the use of renewable energy sources, saying: “We’ve, for example, doubled the amount of renewable electricity in the last few years.

 We’re likely to do better than our targets in increasing renewable electricity. But we’ve got to do more.”

About half of all the carbon that humans have pumped into the atmosphere since 1750 has been emitted in the last 40 years.

Rates have been rising fast since 2000, despite the global economic crash.

The report points to an increased use of coal in the decade from the turn of the millennium , “reversing the longstanding trend of decarbonisation of the world’s energy supply”.

Driven by a global increase in population and economic activity, global surface temperature increases will be between 3.7C and 4.8C in 2100 if no new action is taken.

This is way above the 2 degree level, regarded as the point beyond which dangerous impacts of climate change will be felt.

However, the scientists involved in the report say this situation can be turned around.

“It needs a big change in the energy sector, that is undoubtedly true,” said Prof Jim Skea, vice-chair of working group 3.

“One of the biggest areas that’s important is getting the carbon out of electricity, so renewable energy, nuclear, fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage, that’s all part of the menu if we are going to make the transition to stay under the 2 degree target.”

It is not a simple task. To be sure of staying below 2 degrees, the amount of carbon in the air needs to be around 450 parts per million by 2100. To get there, emissions in 2050 need to be 40-70% lower than they were in 2010.

The IPCC says that renewables are a critical part of that pathway.

Since the last report in 2007, the scientists say that renewable energy has come on in leaps and bounds.
In 2012, renewables accounted for just over half of the new electricity generation added around the world.

Source: BBC

30 school girls pregnant in Dafiama-Bussie-Issa District

30 primary and Junior High School (JHS) girls in the Daffiama-Bussie-Issa district in the Upper West region are currently pregnant.

The girls who are in classes ranging from Primary class five to JHS form three were impregnated just within the 2013/14 academic year alone by some unscrupulous men including teachers in the District.

It is however sad to note that all the girls have dropped out of school while the men responsible for their plight are still going about their normal duties without any punishment.

Fidelis Zumakpeh, the Dafiama-Bussie-Issa District Chief Executive (DCE) who disclosed this during the 2014 first ordinary meeting of the Assembly described the situation as unacceptable and blamed parents, teachers, pupils and the Education Directorate for not playing their roles very effectively.

He said education was the bedrock of every community and called on all actors in the education sector to make conscious effort to nib the practice in the bud before it destroyed the future of girls in the district.

“Government had done a lot for the education sector in the district by eliminating most school under trees and replacing them with descent classroom blocks as well as increasing both capitation and the number of schools under the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP)”, he added.

 Mr. Zumakpeh said the Assembly was also complementing government’s effort by rehabilitating a 3-Unit classroom block at Bussie JHS, a 2-Unit day care centre at Fian and a dormitory block at the Dafiama Senior High School (SHS) with funds from the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF).

The DCE also commended the Member of Parliament (MP) Mr. Mathias Puozaa for providing funds for the rehabilitation of a classroom at Balenia Primary school which was burnt down by fire.

Mr. Puozaa who attended the Assembly sitting for the first time urged the Assembly to make conscious efforts to get the men responsible for the plight of the 30 girls and ensure that they face the full rigors of the law without fear or favour.

He said should the practice be allowed to continue, the future of girls in the district would be doomed, stressing therefore that the perpetrators must be brought to book to serve as a deterrent to others.

The MP appealed to the Assembly and the District Education Directorate to ensure that the girls were sent back to school after delivery to enable them to continue with their education.

Source: GNA

Mining industry revenue collection decline

The Ghana Revenue Authority’s collections from the mining industry declined from about US$1.5 billion in 2012 to US$1.1 billion in 2013, representing a fall of about 24 percent.

This was attributed to the depressed price of the metal had a toll on government revenue as well as the country’s balance of payment position.

Last year, the average price of gold dropped by an estimated 15 percent to US$1,411 per ounce. Although the price of gold seems to have stabilized since the begging of the year at a cumulative average of about US$1,293 per ounce, pundits expect the price of the precious metal to remain around US$1,300 per ounce in 2016.

Should this expectation happen, the consequence on the country’s economy would be dire said, Sulemanu Koney, Director of Analysis, Research & Finance at the Chamber of Mines at the fifth   mining for development forum held in Accra.

Mr. Koney who speaking under the topic Revenue Utilisation Amidst Declining Metal Prices, said government’s receipts from the mining industry, which is mainly from corporate taxes and royalties, are highly dependent on the price of gold.

He explained that the prevailing situation requires that the country optimizes the utilization of its mineral revenue in a manner that yields the best returns and impacts, both at the national and sub-national level.

Nation needs over 48,000 medical doctors

Ghana needs approximately 48,000 medical doctors to have a ratio of  1 doctor to 500 patients to deliver a satisfactory health care service to patients.

 Ghana currently  has 2,700 medical doctors which leaves the country's doctor to patient ratio of 1 to 10,000.

"It is a fact that we need 48,567 doctors to have a ratio of 1 doctor to 500 patients,” Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Cardiothoracic Surgeon, disclosed  at a ceremony in Accra.

Speaking under the topic; 'Improving Quality of Healthcare Delivery and Patient Safety in Ghana,', Prof.Frimpong-Boateng said: “System failure is responsible for the country's poor healthcare delivery."

He explained that the country's is technologically challenged which would have a resultant effect on the  nation’s healthcare system.


The formal Chief Executive Officer of the Korle-bu Teaching Hospital explained that quality data gathering, error in documentation in hospitals among others, are part of factors militating against quality health delivery.

 “There is no tertiary referral hospital in Ghana. We have no facility that is adequately resourced in terms of infrastructure, equipment and manpower that can tackle almost all medical problems.’’
 
The health forum which was convened by Dr. Joseph Boateng, a Physician Specialist, with participants drawn from public and private sector medical practitioners , academia, among others.

The event was also graced by the Minister of Health; Sherry Ayitey, Prof Agyeman Badu Akosa, a Pathology, and Dr. Eli Atikpui, Registrar at the Medical and Dental Council of Ghana.

16 Children Benefit From Free Open Heart Surgery At KATH

A team of 32 open heart surgeons from the Children’s Hospital, Boston (CHB) of the Harvard University in the United States of America (USA), in collaboration with doctors at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi, has successfully performed open heart surgeries for 16 children suffering from cardiovascular diseases. The surgeries, which were performed free of charge, bring to 105 the number of children with congenial heart defects who have so far benefited from the gesture since the team started its collaboration with KATH eight years ago. According to the Leader of the team, Professor Francis Fynn-Thompson, 105 children aged eight months to 11 years were screened when the team arrived in Kumasi barely two weeks ago. He explained that the 16 were selected for surgery because of their conditions and that each of them would have paid between GH¢10,000 and GH¢12,000 as cost for the open heart surgery. “The surgeries were very successful and so far 11 out of the 16 have fully recovered and been discharged from the hospital,” he noted. He said the team would leave for the USA today but their counterparts at KATH would monitor the progress of those still on admission until they were discharged. Dr Fynn-Thompson, who is a Ghanaian, said the team’s next visit to perform a similar exercise would be in October next year, adding that to make the exercise sustainable, patients might have to pay a token for the open heart surgery. “In future patients have to pay a token because you cannot have a cardio centre that does not generate money,” he explained. Mr Winfred Kofi Wogblegbe, whose son benefited from the gesture, was full of praise for the surgeons. He told the Daily Graphic that his son suffered from hole–in-heart and got tired easily. “I did not pay a pesewa to correct my son’s heart defect and I thank the team from the USA and their Ghanaian counterparts very much,” he said. He said his son was recovering speedily and expressed the hope that he would be discharged soon.

Source: Daily Graphic

Sexual Abuse In Schools

Child sexual abuse is one of the common violence spearheading the country now, a human rights violation affecting all age groups within the childhood period globally which rules the life of our future leaders, this has prompted plan Ghana and the  International Non-Governmental Child Centered Community Development Organization to have a global campaign dubbed “Lean Without Fear” to create safer school environment for children.

Launched at the Ghana International  Press Center in Accra with the media on how to elaborate issue.

Mr.George Cobbinah Yorke the advocacy and  governance advisor of Plan Ghana revealed that in march 2009, a study was conducted in the upper Manya and Awutu Senya district within eight communities (Bontrase, Papaase, Obranchire, Essuekyir, Asesewa, Akateng, Fefe and Mensah Dawa) to have in-depth understanding of problem of child sexual abuse in schools in Ghana.

He said the research shown that, most of the basic and secondary children between the ages of 10-17 years in the district have adequate knowledge of sexual abuse,96% of school children perceive girls to be more vulnerable to sexual abuse than boys.

He stated that 14% of school children have been sexually abused in a ratio of 11:9,children aged 14-16 years are more at risk of sexual abuse, 67% of the victims of child abuse are in Senior High School (SHS),28% in Junior High School  and 5% in the primary school,53% of this sexual abuse occur in schools and 47% happens at home which make school children to feel safer at home than in school.

He went on to stress on the types and forms of sexual abuse, contact and non-contact of abuse which include, giving sexual note or messages (48%),requests for sexual favors (46%), unwelcome sexual advances or attacks (43%),fondle, touch, grab or pinch in a sexual way(42%) the rest are shown or given sexual photographs(32%),sexual motivated physical contact(26%) and (15%) have actual sex.

He noted that, main perpetrators of child abuse are classmate(89%),female friends(52%), male friends (37%), neighbors (36%),teachers (21%), other adult in the community (14%) and relatives (13%), (36%) of male victims are sexual abuse by males, while (20%) of female victims are abused by males.

He further explained that, the main cause which is poverty recording (35%), sexual  pleasure (12%), lack of parental control and care and influence from peers recorded (10%) respectively. He said (100%) of victims who are girls do not enjoy school again, (73%) become afraid of perpetrators and are unable to concentrate on their studies after sexual abuse anytime they see the perpetrators.

He said all these forms of abuse are not reported, only (30%) of victims report incident to someone, (45%) mostly tell their friends, (20%) tell parents, (12%) tell relatives, (7%) tell teachers and (2%) tell the police,(70%) of victims do not tell anyone about the incident and must report this cases immediately he advised.

He said the plan Ghana will advocate campaign for the enforcement of legislation, alleviation of household poverty, scale up the school guidance and counseling service and strengthen institution to mandate and address sexual abuse. He then called on parents, teachers, friends, police and the individuals to help end violence against children, Act Now!!!