Compiled by Lucy Adoma Yeboah and Rebecca Quaicoe Duho.
THE health sector, which is one of the critical sectors of the Ghanaian economy, has over the past 50 years played its role through the introduction of many policies and reforms to provide health care to Ghanaians.
These policies and reforms have been assigned to a governmental institution, the Ministry of Health (MoH), with the responsibility to see to their implementation so as to improve the health status of all people living in Ghana to enable them to contribute to the country’s development.
Although the MoH has seen changes in its policies over the years, its main focus of improving the health status of the Ghanaian population through the development and promotion of proactive policies for good health and longevity, the provision of universal access to basic health service, and provision of quality health services which are affordable and accessible, have remained the same.
The MoH has over the years been directly responsible for the provision of public health services delivery in the country until the creation of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in the late 1990s.
Since Ghana’s independence 51 years ago, various governments have been challenged with the task of improving the country’s health care system.
As part of the country’s Golden Jubilee Celebration last year, Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, the former Director-General of Ghana’s health services, admitted that the country had achieved “mixed success” in its bid to ensure health for all Ghanaians.
In a report carried by the Voice of America (VOA), Professor Akosa stated that the colonial legacy in the health sector was pretty bad; hospitals had been built for the Europeans, and Ghanaians had virtually nothing to contend with — few medical units to deal with some public health problems, but that was about all.
After independence in 1957, the situation improved, Akosa said. “The first government set out to develop health infrastructure; the government made a bold initiative of starting a medical school in Ghana and starting with employing Ghanaians.”
Prof Akosa added that Ghana’s first medical school became “one of the best” of such schools in the world. “Graduates from the medical school were everywhere,” he said. But, he explained, Ghana receded into terms of quality health care when subsequent governments failed to invest in the system.
“We have a policy that every district should have a hospital … but this is difficult to accomplish because building a hospital is a lot of money. And, therefore, we are heavily reliant on support from donors … So what I will say is that the amount of investment in health certainly has not been the best. And I think this would be applicable to all regimes. Some people have invested more in health; others have not,” he revealed.
As a policy, Ghana operated a cost-recovery health delivery system known infamously as the ‘cash-and-carry’ system since 1985, whereby patients were required to pay up-front for health services at government clinics and hospitals. That, however, pushed health care far beyond the reach of the ordinary Ghanaian until the introduction of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in 2003.
Health Sector Reforms
Ghana’s health sector has had many reforms. The most recent reform that has been in process since the early 1990s has been finally documented in what is popularly known as “Medium Term Health Strategy, 1996-2000”. It aims at improving access to health services, quality of care and efficiency, strengthening links with other sectors such as the Ministries of Agriculture and Education which also have health components in their activities or impact on the health of people (Ministry of Health, 1996). Its main achievement or focus has been the introduction of user fees.
The introduction of user fees in Ghana has also been a component of a range of strategies that are part of an international health reform agenda. They are linked to a broad set of public sector reform ideas and initiatives collectively known as the ‘new public management’ (NPM).
The NPM in the health sector has other policies apart from the user fees — decentralisation of the health sector with changes in organisational management and culture, and autonomous hospital boards and deregulation, and regulation of the private sector.
The main objectives of these policies are achievement of sustainable financing of health services, quality improvement, and equity with respect to access.
Institution of User Fees and Exemption of the Poor
Fees for health services in public facilities, first introduced in 1971, were very low and aimed at reducing unnecessary use of services rather than to generate revenue.
The fees were raised slightly in July 1983 and increased substantially in July 1985 when a new hospital act was passed under the military regime of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), aimed at recovering at least 15 per cent of operational costs.
Initially, the Act allowed health centres and clinics to retain only 25 per cent of the revenue from fees collected while hospitals were allowed to retain 50 per cent. In 1990, this provision was amended and some public health institutions were selected for a pilot programme and allowed to keep all revenue generated from user fees.
In 1992, the new fees were implemented nation-wide as the government, influenced by multilateral donors, abandoned a phased implementation procedure started in 1990. Since then, a decentralised system of charging fees has been operating in the public health facilities and all revenue has been retained for operational or non-salary budget. Budget surpluses that are not invested in improving the quality of care are sent to the Ministry of Health (MoH).
A revolving fund for drugs was initiated in 1992 by which all health institutions were to recover the full cost of drugs and keep this revenue to purchase drugs only. An overhead cost of 10-15 per cent is added and the full cost was revised in line with inflation.
The public health facilities also charged other fees for the following: Out Patient Department (OPD) cards and initial registration, consultation, admissions, gloves gauze, needles and syringes. Informal fees with various shades of legality and unauthorised fees were also collected from users.
Implementation of Ghana’s Health User Fee Policy and the Exemption of the Poor.
The 1992 law, however, has a clause providing for exemption for the poor and treatment of emergencies whether patients are in a position to pay immediately or not. It does not indicate the criteria by which the poor can be identified though — whether by income, geographical area, occupation, etc.
Health workers were just instructed to use their discretion to grant exemption to anyone who said he/she could not afford fees. They later applied for refund from government, the exemptions that they granted.
The implementation of the new user fee was described by some as successful with respect to revenue generation despite some registered abuses. Revenue raising dominated other concerns and was at the expense of health care needs, to the extent that the exemption clause had been either ignored or just labelled as difficult to implement, even in clear-cut cases where exemption could be granted.
The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS)
In March 2004, President John Agyekum Kufuor launched a National Insurance Health Scheme designed to offer affordable medical care, especially to the poor and vulnerable among Ghana’s 19 million people.
Under the scheme, adult Ghanaians are paying a yearly minimum subscription of GH¢7.20. In addition to free services to contributors to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and SSNIT pensioners, the government is catering for health treatment of the aged, the poor as well as children of parents who both subscribe to the scheme.
Currently, about 50 per cent of Ghanaians have registered under the scheme, which covers all districts in the country under District Mutual Health Insurance Schemes (DMHISs).
New Health Policy.
Currently, the health sector has initiated a new health policy that emphasises health promotion and prevention of ill-health in the promotion of healthy lifestyles, behavioural changes and healthy environment.
Dubbed, “Regenerative Health and Nutrition Programme”, the health sector is educating Ghanaians on the need to reduce their salt, sugar, fat and alcohol intake and rather drink enough water, consume vegetables and fruits, have physical exercises and enough rest to live healthily. The programme has the theme — “Renew Your Strength-Prevent Diseases”.
With this and other policies previously introduced, the health sector believes the country would be relieved of most of its health problems such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, cholera, measles, typhoid, tuberculosis, chicken pox, yellow fever, trachoma, and river blindness.
Others are guinea worm, various kinds of dysentery, river blindness or onchocerciasis, pneumonia, dehydration, venereal diseases, poliomyelitis and malnutrition, among others.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Political Activities Highten Road Accidents-Study (page 19)
Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah (Sat. March 1, 2008)
THE country’s annual average figure of about 1,600 road accident fatalities rose to 2,185 in 2004 as against, a situation attributed partly to political activities during the year.
Since 2008 is an election year, road safety officals are therefore, cautioning politicians and road users to be careful on the roads in order not to repeat the trend.
The Deputy Director of Research, Monitoring and Evaluation of the National Roads Safety Commission (NRSC), Mr David Osafo Adonteng, said during the year (2004), many people moved around within the country either to campaign or participate in political rallies, sometimes driving at high speed to beat time or driving for long distances without stopping to rest.
He also observed that many of the nation’s security agencies which helped in traffic regulations had to suspend those duties to either accompany political leaders on political tours or monitor political activities in other parts of the country.
At a meeting with two road safety officials from Lesotho to share Ghana’s experience in road safety campaign in Accra on Tuesday, Mr Adonteng said in that same year, a total of 12,164 road traffic accidents occurred in the country compared to 10,644 accidents in 2003 and 11,305 in 2005.
Statistics on distribution of road fatalities by age for between 2000 and 2006 indicated that 23.5 per cent of deaths were people aged between 26 and 35 followed by those between 16 and 25 years, who constituted 18.0 per cent. The lowest is those aged more that 65 years who constituted 4.8 per cent of the fatalities.
Mr Adonteng also said more men died in road traffic accidents than women, citing the 2004 figures where he said 1,568 men died as against 587 women.
He explained that women were considered more careful on the road and also the fact that not many of them drove long distances, which brought about fatigue, which caused accidents.
On regional basis, Ashanti Region topped the chart with 22 per cent, followed by Eastern Region with 17 per cent, Greater Accra Region, 14 per cent, Central Region, 11 per cent, Brong Ahafo Region, 10 per cent, Volta Region, eight per cent, Western Region, eight per cent, Northern Region six per cent, Upper East Region, three per cent and the least affected, which is the Upper West Region, recorded one per cent.
He pointed out that the economic loss to the nation due to those accidents was 1.6 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which was about US$100 billion.
He attributed accidents on the roads to unsafe driving, which included impatience, recklessness and irresponsibility, excessive loading, driving under the influence of alcohol high speed and fatigue on the part of drivers, deficiencies in vehicle fitness, insufficient enforcement of laws and disabled vehicles.
Briefing the officials from Lesotho, Mr Adonteng said in spite of those figures, Ghana was said to be doing well in road safety, adding that while Ghana recorded an average of 1,600 deaths in a year, South Africa recorded about 10,000 deaths.
He also stated that the national figures of 23 deaths per 10,000 vehicles had reduced to 22 deaths per 10,000 vehicles as against 43.1 in Tanzania.
He debunked the notion that Ghana was among the first three countries in the world which were affected by road accidents, adding that “we are not even among the first 50 countries”.
Mr Adonteng said the NRSC was working hard to reduce road traffic fatalities systematically on a yearly basis to a single digit by 2015 just as in Denmark, adding that the causes of between 50 per cent and 65 per cent accidents stemmed from attitude of drivers, which the commission was doing well to change through education and law enforcement.
He advised drivers to desist from using cellphones while driving, adding that “presently we are waiting to get the Legislative Instrument (LI) which prevents that and when we get it, offenders will not be spared”.
The two Lesotho road safety officials who visited the country for three days, were Mr Neo Khoaele, a senior instructor, and Ms Madrass Mojai, an information officer.
THE country’s annual average figure of about 1,600 road accident fatalities rose to 2,185 in 2004 as against, a situation attributed partly to political activities during the year.
Since 2008 is an election year, road safety officals are therefore, cautioning politicians and road users to be careful on the roads in order not to repeat the trend.
The Deputy Director of Research, Monitoring and Evaluation of the National Roads Safety Commission (NRSC), Mr David Osafo Adonteng, said during the year (2004), many people moved around within the country either to campaign or participate in political rallies, sometimes driving at high speed to beat time or driving for long distances without stopping to rest.
He also observed that many of the nation’s security agencies which helped in traffic regulations had to suspend those duties to either accompany political leaders on political tours or monitor political activities in other parts of the country.
At a meeting with two road safety officials from Lesotho to share Ghana’s experience in road safety campaign in Accra on Tuesday, Mr Adonteng said in that same year, a total of 12,164 road traffic accidents occurred in the country compared to 10,644 accidents in 2003 and 11,305 in 2005.
Statistics on distribution of road fatalities by age for between 2000 and 2006 indicated that 23.5 per cent of deaths were people aged between 26 and 35 followed by those between 16 and 25 years, who constituted 18.0 per cent. The lowest is those aged more that 65 years who constituted 4.8 per cent of the fatalities.
Mr Adonteng also said more men died in road traffic accidents than women, citing the 2004 figures where he said 1,568 men died as against 587 women.
He explained that women were considered more careful on the road and also the fact that not many of them drove long distances, which brought about fatigue, which caused accidents.
On regional basis, Ashanti Region topped the chart with 22 per cent, followed by Eastern Region with 17 per cent, Greater Accra Region, 14 per cent, Central Region, 11 per cent, Brong Ahafo Region, 10 per cent, Volta Region, eight per cent, Western Region, eight per cent, Northern Region six per cent, Upper East Region, three per cent and the least affected, which is the Upper West Region, recorded one per cent.
He pointed out that the economic loss to the nation due to those accidents was 1.6 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which was about US$100 billion.
He attributed accidents on the roads to unsafe driving, which included impatience, recklessness and irresponsibility, excessive loading, driving under the influence of alcohol high speed and fatigue on the part of drivers, deficiencies in vehicle fitness, insufficient enforcement of laws and disabled vehicles.
Briefing the officials from Lesotho, Mr Adonteng said in spite of those figures, Ghana was said to be doing well in road safety, adding that while Ghana recorded an average of 1,600 deaths in a year, South Africa recorded about 10,000 deaths.
He also stated that the national figures of 23 deaths per 10,000 vehicles had reduced to 22 deaths per 10,000 vehicles as against 43.1 in Tanzania.
He debunked the notion that Ghana was among the first three countries in the world which were affected by road accidents, adding that “we are not even among the first 50 countries”.
Mr Adonteng said the NRSC was working hard to reduce road traffic fatalities systematically on a yearly basis to a single digit by 2015 just as in Denmark, adding that the causes of between 50 per cent and 65 per cent accidents stemmed from attitude of drivers, which the commission was doing well to change through education and law enforcement.
He advised drivers to desist from using cellphones while driving, adding that “presently we are waiting to get the Legislative Instrument (LI) which prevents that and when we get it, offenders will not be spared”.
The two Lesotho road safety officials who visited the country for three days, were Mr Neo Khoaele, a senior instructor, and Ms Madrass Mojai, an information officer.
Friday, February 29, 2008
ECOWAS States to Link up by Rail (Back Page)
Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah
THE Economic Commission of West Africa States (ECOWAS) Secretariat has planned a project to link countries in the sub-region by a rail network.
Towards that end, the Secretariat has appointed consultants to do a feasibility study to develop a railway system to link the member countries.
The project is borne out of the Commission’s desire to connect countries in the sub-region with each other by a railway network towards cheaper and easier means of transporting cargo from the ports to the hinterlands.
This was made known by the Minister of Harbours and Railways, Professor Ameyaw-Akumfi, in a speech read on his behalf by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), Mr Brain Adomako, at the opening of the 6th Inter-modal Africa 2008 Conference and Exhibition held in Accra yesterday for stakeholders in the maritime transport in Africa.
According to the minister, as part of the desire of the government of Ghana to open the hinterlands, it had plans to develop the railway system to the northern part and the Inland Port Project at Boankra in the Ashanti Region.
The neighbouring countries of Ivory Coast, Togo and Nigeria, as well as the landlocked countries of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, use the ports of Ghana for the transportation of their containers.
The two-day programme, which has participants and exhibitors from countries in Africa, has the objective of helping people in the maritime transportation industry to exchange ideas, knowledge and experience and also promote links and contacts among maritime communities for further co-operation and possible mergers in the future.
On display at the exhibition mounted at the foyer of the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) were modern equipment, documents and logistics used in the port industry.
Prof Ameyaw Akumfi said in their desire to develop transport modes in the port industry in the sub-region, stakeholders must acknowledge the fact that competition between the modes had tended to produce transportation system that was segmented and integrated.
He therefore called for integration that permitted the issuance of single document for transaction to reduce cost.
He called on freight forwarders to form partnerships with shipping companies, adding that shippers should also establish logistic platforms in their respective countries and also form intra-regional organisations to promote Inter-modal systems to enhance the delivery of cargo through the ports in Africa.
Inter-modal transportation involves the transportation of freight in containers or vehicles using multiple modes of transportation such as rail, ship and trucks without any handling of the freight itself when changing the modes.
In his welcoming address, the Director-General of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, Mr Ben Owusu Mensah, said the authority was putting in place strategic structures to ensure quick dispatch of cargo and vessels through the Port of Tema and ultimately attract more cargo through the port, thereby making the Tema Port the true gateway to the West African sub-region.
He said currently, about 85 per cent of projects to improve on the activities of the port had been completed and that with the exception of the Landlord Port Bill, which was still under consideration, GPHA had completed all the strategic action plans it was mandated to undertake under the Gateway Programme.
In an interview, the Human Resource Manager of the GPHA, Mr Abraham Mensah, said so far, about 300 participants had registered for the event which was organised by Transport Events Management of Malaysia, and stated that the conference, organised on rotational basis, was last held in Namibia in 2007.
He said Ghana stood to benefit from the event as some of the participants who toured the Tema Port on Wednesday were likely to invest in the country in the area of stevedoring activities, warehousing and port equipment hiring services, among others.
In his opening remark as the Chairman of a first discussion session on the theme, “The Future of Global Trade and the Economy: Keeping up with the Accelerated Growth and Containerised Freight”, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Shippers Council, Mr Kofi Mbiah, said the era of containerisation had revealed great possibilities and opportunities, as well as threats for the industry, which needed to be discussed.
He observed that although there were worries about trade agreements between developed and developing countries, these trade agreements were encouraging many countries to increase their output and venture into the production of non-traditional items.
“New discovery of natural resources and the demand for technology to manage and control them will continue to boost international trade,” he pointed.
THE Economic Commission of West Africa States (ECOWAS) Secretariat has planned a project to link countries in the sub-region by a rail network.
Towards that end, the Secretariat has appointed consultants to do a feasibility study to develop a railway system to link the member countries.
The project is borne out of the Commission’s desire to connect countries in the sub-region with each other by a railway network towards cheaper and easier means of transporting cargo from the ports to the hinterlands.
This was made known by the Minister of Harbours and Railways, Professor Ameyaw-Akumfi, in a speech read on his behalf by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), Mr Brain Adomako, at the opening of the 6th Inter-modal Africa 2008 Conference and Exhibition held in Accra yesterday for stakeholders in the maritime transport in Africa.
According to the minister, as part of the desire of the government of Ghana to open the hinterlands, it had plans to develop the railway system to the northern part and the Inland Port Project at Boankra in the Ashanti Region.
The neighbouring countries of Ivory Coast, Togo and Nigeria, as well as the landlocked countries of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, use the ports of Ghana for the transportation of their containers.
The two-day programme, which has participants and exhibitors from countries in Africa, has the objective of helping people in the maritime transportation industry to exchange ideas, knowledge and experience and also promote links and contacts among maritime communities for further co-operation and possible mergers in the future.
On display at the exhibition mounted at the foyer of the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) were modern equipment, documents and logistics used in the port industry.
Prof Ameyaw Akumfi said in their desire to develop transport modes in the port industry in the sub-region, stakeholders must acknowledge the fact that competition between the modes had tended to produce transportation system that was segmented and integrated.
He therefore called for integration that permitted the issuance of single document for transaction to reduce cost.
He called on freight forwarders to form partnerships with shipping companies, adding that shippers should also establish logistic platforms in their respective countries and also form intra-regional organisations to promote Inter-modal systems to enhance the delivery of cargo through the ports in Africa.
Inter-modal transportation involves the transportation of freight in containers or vehicles using multiple modes of transportation such as rail, ship and trucks without any handling of the freight itself when changing the modes.
In his welcoming address, the Director-General of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, Mr Ben Owusu Mensah, said the authority was putting in place strategic structures to ensure quick dispatch of cargo and vessels through the Port of Tema and ultimately attract more cargo through the port, thereby making the Tema Port the true gateway to the West African sub-region.
He said currently, about 85 per cent of projects to improve on the activities of the port had been completed and that with the exception of the Landlord Port Bill, which was still under consideration, GPHA had completed all the strategic action plans it was mandated to undertake under the Gateway Programme.
In an interview, the Human Resource Manager of the GPHA, Mr Abraham Mensah, said so far, about 300 participants had registered for the event which was organised by Transport Events Management of Malaysia, and stated that the conference, organised on rotational basis, was last held in Namibia in 2007.
He said Ghana stood to benefit from the event as some of the participants who toured the Tema Port on Wednesday were likely to invest in the country in the area of stevedoring activities, warehousing and port equipment hiring services, among others.
In his opening remark as the Chairman of a first discussion session on the theme, “The Future of Global Trade and the Economy: Keeping up with the Accelerated Growth and Containerised Freight”, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Shippers Council, Mr Kofi Mbiah, said the era of containerisation had revealed great possibilities and opportunities, as well as threats for the industry, which needed to be discussed.
He observed that although there were worries about trade agreements between developed and developing countries, these trade agreements were encouraging many countries to increase their output and venture into the production of non-traditional items.
“New discovery of natural resources and the demand for technology to manage and control them will continue to boost international trade,” he pointed.
'Help Combat Effects of Climate Change' (Page 31)
Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah & Naa Lartiokor Lartey
THE National Climate Change Focal Person at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Mr William Agyemang-Bonsu, has called on the health sector to put defensive measures in place to combat the effects of climate change on human health.
He said research indicated that climate change had devastating consequences, adding that disasters such as wildfires, droughts, floods and diseases stemming from climate change posed fundamental threat to human well-being and must be well managed.
At the first planning committee meeting for this year’s World Health Day, Mr Agyemang-Bonsu said climate shift would bring changes to the pattern of infectious diseases in addition to poor food yields and loss of people’s livelihoods.
The theme for this year’s celebration, which falls on April 7, is “Protecting Health From Climate Change”. It was selected by the WHO in view of the growing threats climate change presents to international security.
The objective is to raise awareness on the dangers posed by climate variability and change to sensitise and foster greater collaboration among stakeholders on the health implications of climate change.
Climate Change is the change in the atmosphere over a time period that ranges from decades to centuries. The term refers to both natural and human-induced changes.
Mr Agyemang-Bonsu noted that although changes occurred in the climate because of some natural phenomenon, human activities such as bush burning, production of charcoal, burning of gasoline by drivers and some industrial activities, produced greenhouse gases which prevented radiation from getting back into the atmosphere thereby causing heat.
He said research conducted on climate change and health of people at the Out Patients Department (OPD) of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi revealed that the health of Ghanaians would be negatively affected if nothing was done to reduce the effects.
He said diseases such as malaria, measles, diarrhoea, guinea worm, cerebrospinal meningitis (CSM) were seen to be highly influenced by drought, excessive rainfall or heat.
Mr Agyemang-Bonsu said since nothing could make the conditions of the atmosphere change in the next few years, there was the need for people the world over, to appreciate the effects and adapt to them.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Development Geo-information Services, Dr Emmanuel Amamoo-Otchere, said there was the need for policy makers to tackle the issue of sanitation if they sincerely wanted to check climate change.
He also pointed out that a lot would be done if the underlying factors such as poverty, which forced people to indulge in activities which degraded the environment, was looked at and solution found to them.
The Director of Public Health of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Joseph Amankwah, called on experts with knowledge on issues on climate change to provide the needed information to health personnel to enable them to play their role effectively.
THE National Climate Change Focal Person at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Mr William Agyemang-Bonsu, has called on the health sector to put defensive measures in place to combat the effects of climate change on human health.
He said research indicated that climate change had devastating consequences, adding that disasters such as wildfires, droughts, floods and diseases stemming from climate change posed fundamental threat to human well-being and must be well managed.
At the first planning committee meeting for this year’s World Health Day, Mr Agyemang-Bonsu said climate shift would bring changes to the pattern of infectious diseases in addition to poor food yields and loss of people’s livelihoods.
The theme for this year’s celebration, which falls on April 7, is “Protecting Health From Climate Change”. It was selected by the WHO in view of the growing threats climate change presents to international security.
The objective is to raise awareness on the dangers posed by climate variability and change to sensitise and foster greater collaboration among stakeholders on the health implications of climate change.
Climate Change is the change in the atmosphere over a time period that ranges from decades to centuries. The term refers to both natural and human-induced changes.
Mr Agyemang-Bonsu noted that although changes occurred in the climate because of some natural phenomenon, human activities such as bush burning, production of charcoal, burning of gasoline by drivers and some industrial activities, produced greenhouse gases which prevented radiation from getting back into the atmosphere thereby causing heat.
He said research conducted on climate change and health of people at the Out Patients Department (OPD) of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi revealed that the health of Ghanaians would be negatively affected if nothing was done to reduce the effects.
He said diseases such as malaria, measles, diarrhoea, guinea worm, cerebrospinal meningitis (CSM) were seen to be highly influenced by drought, excessive rainfall or heat.
Mr Agyemang-Bonsu said since nothing could make the conditions of the atmosphere change in the next few years, there was the need for people the world over, to appreciate the effects and adapt to them.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Development Geo-information Services, Dr Emmanuel Amamoo-Otchere, said there was the need for policy makers to tackle the issue of sanitation if they sincerely wanted to check climate change.
He also pointed out that a lot would be done if the underlying factors such as poverty, which forced people to indulge in activities which degraded the environment, was looked at and solution found to them.
The Director of Public Health of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Joseph Amankwah, called on experts with knowledge on issues on climate change to provide the needed information to health personnel to enable them to play their role effectively.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Insurance Scheme to Issue Computerised ID Cards (Back Page)
Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah
SUBSCRIBERS to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) will from the middle of this year acquire new identification (ID) cards to enable them to access health care at all accredited facilities anywhere in the country.
Presently, insured members of the scheme could access services only at the various health care facilities which have contracts with the individual District Mutual Health Insurance Schemes (DMHIS).
A Communications Officer of the National Health Insurance Council (NHIC), Mr Kwasi Acquah, told the Daily Graphic in Accra that work on a computerised system to produce the new cards was almost complete.
He said after the introduction of the new cards, every insured person could attend hospital at any accredited health facility without paying from his or her pocket instead of the current system where people had access to only health care facilities where their individual schemes had arrangements with.
“With the new system, subscribers will have NHIS ID cards but not ID cards from individual schemes,” he pointed out.
He explained that with the introduction of the new cards, individuals would need a maximum of two weeks to receive their cards after registration instead of the long period of time one needed to receive his or her card under the present system.
The issue of delays in acquiring identification cards (ID) after registering under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has been a big challenge facing the scheme, a situation which is discouraging some people from subscribing.
Mr Acquah said the new cards had a validity period of five years and described the new cards as portable and advantageous to both the schemes and the individuals, since they would help to check abuses.
Under the current system, an insured person has to go for a new card every year he or she renews subscription, a situation which many find difficult, since it could take months for one to receive the card to access facilities.
The PRO said the new computerised ID cards would have special security features, which included clearer and double pictures (one big and another small) and also unique numbers which allowed easy identification as to which region and district one registered in.
He said with the security features, it would be difficult to duplicate the new cards, adding that with clearer pictures, one would find it difficult to use another person’s ID card to access a health care facility as was allegedly being done currently.
In answer to a question, Mr Acquah said if one failed to pay the yearly premium within the five year-period, the subscriber’s name would automatically be deleted from the system until he resumed payment.
He explained that the cards would have magnetic swipes for easy checks when they were presented at a health care facility.
He said since the issue of the new cards was made public, many people had expressed interest and were asking for their early introduction, which to him was a positive sign.
SUBSCRIBERS to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) will from the middle of this year acquire new identification (ID) cards to enable them to access health care at all accredited facilities anywhere in the country.
Presently, insured members of the scheme could access services only at the various health care facilities which have contracts with the individual District Mutual Health Insurance Schemes (DMHIS).
A Communications Officer of the National Health Insurance Council (NHIC), Mr Kwasi Acquah, told the Daily Graphic in Accra that work on a computerised system to produce the new cards was almost complete.
He said after the introduction of the new cards, every insured person could attend hospital at any accredited health facility without paying from his or her pocket instead of the current system where people had access to only health care facilities where their individual schemes had arrangements with.
“With the new system, subscribers will have NHIS ID cards but not ID cards from individual schemes,” he pointed out.
He explained that with the introduction of the new cards, individuals would need a maximum of two weeks to receive their cards after registration instead of the long period of time one needed to receive his or her card under the present system.
The issue of delays in acquiring identification cards (ID) after registering under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has been a big challenge facing the scheme, a situation which is discouraging some people from subscribing.
Mr Acquah said the new cards had a validity period of five years and described the new cards as portable and advantageous to both the schemes and the individuals, since they would help to check abuses.
Under the current system, an insured person has to go for a new card every year he or she renews subscription, a situation which many find difficult, since it could take months for one to receive the card to access facilities.
The PRO said the new computerised ID cards would have special security features, which included clearer and double pictures (one big and another small) and also unique numbers which allowed easy identification as to which region and district one registered in.
He said with the security features, it would be difficult to duplicate the new cards, adding that with clearer pictures, one would find it difficult to use another person’s ID card to access a health care facility as was allegedly being done currently.
In answer to a question, Mr Acquah said if one failed to pay the yearly premium within the five year-period, the subscriber’s name would automatically be deleted from the system until he resumed payment.
He explained that the cards would have magnetic swipes for easy checks when they were presented at a health care facility.
He said since the issue of the new cards was made public, many people had expressed interest and were asking for their early introduction, which to him was a positive sign.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Pilot project on malaria control kicks off in April (Back Page)
Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah (Friday, February 22, 2008)
THE National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) will, in April this year, begin a pilot project on Indoor Residual Spray (IRS) in the Northern Region as part of the $17 million assistance offered by President George Bush to fight malaria in Ghana.
The IRS is the application of a long-acting insecticide on the walls and roofs of houses and domestic animal shelters in order to kill malaria-transmitting mosquitoes that land on those surfaces.
Speaking at a two-day media malaria advocacy workshop in Accra, a medical entomologist at the NMCP, Mrs Aba Baffoe-Wilmot, said the anopheles mosquitoes which transmitted malaria mostly stayed and attacked people indoors and so it was important to tackle them indoors.
The pilot project, which will cover part of the assistance under the President's Special Initiative (PSI) on Malaria, will cover 1,000 structures in eight selected districts in the Northern Region.
Mrs Baffoe-Wilmot said although the World Health Organisation (WHO) had recommended a number of chemicals to be used, including DDT, the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) had been tasked to conduct research and come out with an appropriate chemical for the Ghanaian environment, since DDT could affect food crops.
Reports from the WHO indicates that IRS is one of the primary vector control interventions for reducing and interrupting malaria transmission.
In recent years, however, it has received relatively little attention. Recent data re-confirms the efficacy and effectiveness of IRS in malaria control in countries where it has been implemented well.
A Ghana News Agency (GNA) report on November 1, 2006 indicated that the incidence of malaria in Obuasi had drastically reduced since 2005 following the introduction of IRS.
It said from a high malaria incidence of over 13,000 cases per month in the Obuasi municipality, the figure took a nosedive to as low as 7,000 cases in September 2006 through the use of IRS by AngloGold Ashanti in Obuasi.
That was made known in Obuasi when Dr Joaquim Saweka, the WHO Country Representative in Ghana, called at the AngloGold Ashanti's Malaria Control Centre for West Africa to see the progress of work on the implementation of the IRS programme.
Touching on the NMCP's strategies to combat malaria, Mrs Baffoe-Wilmot said the programme was using multiple preventive strategies to fight malaria, including the use of insecticide-treated materials (ITMs) such as nets and curtains and also IRS, environmental management, protective clothing, case management, among others.
She said the IRS was part of the new integrated malaria vector management (IMVM) policy being implemented by the NMCP.
Answering questions, Mrs Baffoe-Wilmot said people could go back into their rooms after the chemicals used in spraying had dried up, adding that the chemicals could be effective between three and 12 months, depending on the composition.
She explained that the Northern Region was selected for the pilot project because of its unique rainfall pattern and also the high prevalence rate of the disease.
Malaria is a disease caused by a parasite known as the Plasmodium genome and carried by the anopheles (female) mosquito. According to health experts, malaria is a persistent health problem and a leading cause of death among children, especially in Africa.
It is said to kill one child every 30 seconds, with more than a million deaths each year across the world, 90 per cent of such deaths occurring in Africa.
The majority of these deaths occur among children under five and pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa because the clinical disease burden is especially high among these two groups as a result of immature and weakened immunity, respectively.
THE National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) will, in April this year, begin a pilot project on Indoor Residual Spray (IRS) in the Northern Region as part of the $17 million assistance offered by President George Bush to fight malaria in Ghana.
The IRS is the application of a long-acting insecticide on the walls and roofs of houses and domestic animal shelters in order to kill malaria-transmitting mosquitoes that land on those surfaces.
Speaking at a two-day media malaria advocacy workshop in Accra, a medical entomologist at the NMCP, Mrs Aba Baffoe-Wilmot, said the anopheles mosquitoes which transmitted malaria mostly stayed and attacked people indoors and so it was important to tackle them indoors.
The pilot project, which will cover part of the assistance under the President's Special Initiative (PSI) on Malaria, will cover 1,000 structures in eight selected districts in the Northern Region.
Mrs Baffoe-Wilmot said although the World Health Organisation (WHO) had recommended a number of chemicals to be used, including DDT, the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) had been tasked to conduct research and come out with an appropriate chemical for the Ghanaian environment, since DDT could affect food crops.
Reports from the WHO indicates that IRS is one of the primary vector control interventions for reducing and interrupting malaria transmission.
In recent years, however, it has received relatively little attention. Recent data re-confirms the efficacy and effectiveness of IRS in malaria control in countries where it has been implemented well.
A Ghana News Agency (GNA) report on November 1, 2006 indicated that the incidence of malaria in Obuasi had drastically reduced since 2005 following the introduction of IRS.
It said from a high malaria incidence of over 13,000 cases per month in the Obuasi municipality, the figure took a nosedive to as low as 7,000 cases in September 2006 through the use of IRS by AngloGold Ashanti in Obuasi.
That was made known in Obuasi when Dr Joaquim Saweka, the WHO Country Representative in Ghana, called at the AngloGold Ashanti's Malaria Control Centre for West Africa to see the progress of work on the implementation of the IRS programme.
Touching on the NMCP's strategies to combat malaria, Mrs Baffoe-Wilmot said the programme was using multiple preventive strategies to fight malaria, including the use of insecticide-treated materials (ITMs) such as nets and curtains and also IRS, environmental management, protective clothing, case management, among others.
She said the IRS was part of the new integrated malaria vector management (IMVM) policy being implemented by the NMCP.
Answering questions, Mrs Baffoe-Wilmot said people could go back into their rooms after the chemicals used in spraying had dried up, adding that the chemicals could be effective between three and 12 months, depending on the composition.
She explained that the Northern Region was selected for the pilot project because of its unique rainfall pattern and also the high prevalence rate of the disease.
Malaria is a disease caused by a parasite known as the Plasmodium genome and carried by the anopheles (female) mosquito. According to health experts, malaria is a persistent health problem and a leading cause of death among children, especially in Africa.
It is said to kill one child every 30 seconds, with more than a million deaths each year across the world, 90 per cent of such deaths occurring in Africa.
The majority of these deaths occur among children under five and pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa because the clinical disease burden is especially high among these two groups as a result of immature and weakened immunity, respectively.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Prez Bush, Laura Interact with AGOA Exporters (page 49)
Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah
President George W. Bush yesterday toured an exhibition mounted by eight Ghanaian exporters of the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA)-eligible products at the Accra International Trade Fair site as part of the his three-day official visit to Ghana.
Accompanying him were his wife, Laura, the US Secretary of State, Condolezza Rice, the US Ambassador to Ghana, Pamela Bridgwater, and other US officials. The group, which inspected the items on display, also witnessed demonstrations of how the products were made, such as weaving, carving, sewing and nut cracking.
AGOA is a trade preference programme in Africa which waives duties on thousands of products exported to the US. It is credited with fostering the growth of the apparel sector in several African countries, including Ghana, with duty-free cost advantage up to 33 per cent.
It also waives duties on such non-traditional exports as hand-crafted home decor, chocolate, processed shea beauty products and woven textiles. Some of these items were displayed at the export showcase in Accra yesterday.
The showcase was organised by a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Aid To Artisans Ghana (ATAG), which assists makers of handicrafts in Ghana to come out with good products for export.
The eight companies which mounted the exhibition were the Cocoa Processing Company (CPC), Delata Ghana Limited, Ele Agbe, Naasakle, Oak Brook Limited, African Cashew Alliance, Global Mamas and Premium Exim Company Limited, which comprises Fritete African Works and Tekura Enterprises.
The team was taken round the stands by Mrs Bridget Kyerematen Darko of ATAG.
Present were the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, the Minister for Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development (PSD) and President’s Special Initiatives (PSIs), Mr Joe Baidoe-Ansah, the Minister for Chieftancy, Mr S. K. Boafo, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Freddie Blay, and a former Minister of Trade, Industry, PSD and PSI, Mr Alan Kyerematen.
The eight entrepreneurs whose items were showcased at the ceremony have all received training, technical assistance and trade show sponsorship from the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) West Africa Trade Hub.
A press release from USAID in Accra indicated that the companies exported to major US buyers, namely, Pier 1, Target, Pierre Cardin, Ross Stores, Cost Plus World Market, the San Francisco Zoo, T.J. Maxx, Marshals, Ten Thousand Villages and Superior Uniforms Group.
It said in 2006, Ghana shipped a quarter of all exports to the US — US$45 million out of US$192 million — under AGOA.
The statement said Ghana now led West Africa in the export of textile and apparel to the US garment clusters which are groups of apparel factories which have created thousands of jobs and put Ghana on the industry map as a new source for manufactured clothing.
As part of the export products show, a mini-durbar of chiefs was organised by the Ministry of Chieftaincy, with three paramount chiefs and queens being invited from each of the 10 regions of the country. They were led by the President of the National of House of Chiefs, Odeneho Gyapong Ababio, who is also the Paramount Chief of the Sefwi Bekwai Traditional Area.
Also in attendance were some schoolchildren from the Garrison Junior High School and the Kotoka Basic Junior High School, both at the Burma Camp, who waved miniature US and Ghana flags and sang to entertain President Bush and his entourage.
President Bush, who attended the programme in a short-sleeved cream shirt, in contrast with the black suit he had worn during the morning session at the Castle, freely interacted with the entrepreneurs, the chiefs and schoolchildren.
At Ele Agbe’s stand, he tried his hands on a local method of extracting shea butter by pounding nuts in a mortar with a pestle.
The US President, who looked relaxed, moved freely among the people, danced and posed for a photograph with many people at the event.
President George W. Bush yesterday toured an exhibition mounted by eight Ghanaian exporters of the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA)-eligible products at the Accra International Trade Fair site as part of the his three-day official visit to Ghana.
Accompanying him were his wife, Laura, the US Secretary of State, Condolezza Rice, the US Ambassador to Ghana, Pamela Bridgwater, and other US officials. The group, which inspected the items on display, also witnessed demonstrations of how the products were made, such as weaving, carving, sewing and nut cracking.
AGOA is a trade preference programme in Africa which waives duties on thousands of products exported to the US. It is credited with fostering the growth of the apparel sector in several African countries, including Ghana, with duty-free cost advantage up to 33 per cent.
It also waives duties on such non-traditional exports as hand-crafted home decor, chocolate, processed shea beauty products and woven textiles. Some of these items were displayed at the export showcase in Accra yesterday.
The showcase was organised by a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Aid To Artisans Ghana (ATAG), which assists makers of handicrafts in Ghana to come out with good products for export.
The eight companies which mounted the exhibition were the Cocoa Processing Company (CPC), Delata Ghana Limited, Ele Agbe, Naasakle, Oak Brook Limited, African Cashew Alliance, Global Mamas and Premium Exim Company Limited, which comprises Fritete African Works and Tekura Enterprises.
The team was taken round the stands by Mrs Bridget Kyerematen Darko of ATAG.
Present were the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, the Minister for Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development (PSD) and President’s Special Initiatives (PSIs), Mr Joe Baidoe-Ansah, the Minister for Chieftancy, Mr S. K. Boafo, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Freddie Blay, and a former Minister of Trade, Industry, PSD and PSI, Mr Alan Kyerematen.
The eight entrepreneurs whose items were showcased at the ceremony have all received training, technical assistance and trade show sponsorship from the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) West Africa Trade Hub.
A press release from USAID in Accra indicated that the companies exported to major US buyers, namely, Pier 1, Target, Pierre Cardin, Ross Stores, Cost Plus World Market, the San Francisco Zoo, T.J. Maxx, Marshals, Ten Thousand Villages and Superior Uniforms Group.
It said in 2006, Ghana shipped a quarter of all exports to the US — US$45 million out of US$192 million — under AGOA.
The statement said Ghana now led West Africa in the export of textile and apparel to the US garment clusters which are groups of apparel factories which have created thousands of jobs and put Ghana on the industry map as a new source for manufactured clothing.
As part of the export products show, a mini-durbar of chiefs was organised by the Ministry of Chieftaincy, with three paramount chiefs and queens being invited from each of the 10 regions of the country. They were led by the President of the National of House of Chiefs, Odeneho Gyapong Ababio, who is also the Paramount Chief of the Sefwi Bekwai Traditional Area.
Also in attendance were some schoolchildren from the Garrison Junior High School and the Kotoka Basic Junior High School, both at the Burma Camp, who waved miniature US and Ghana flags and sang to entertain President Bush and his entourage.
President Bush, who attended the programme in a short-sleeved cream shirt, in contrast with the black suit he had worn during the morning session at the Castle, freely interacted with the entrepreneurs, the chiefs and schoolchildren.
At Ele Agbe’s stand, he tried his hands on a local method of extracting shea butter by pounding nuts in a mortar with a pestle.
The US President, who looked relaxed, moved freely among the people, danced and posed for a photograph with many people at the event.
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