Day: August 25, 2022

Cape Coast, Aug 25, GNA – The wide range of variants of the malaria parasite and the continuous emergence of new ones could affect the efficacy of the world’s first ever malaria vaccine in the country.

Research conducted by the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) shows varied malaria parasite strains across Ghana.

Dr Anita Ghansah, a Senior Research Fellow with NMIMR, however, noted that the malaria vaccine, RTS,S was variant specific and may be less efficient in some regions.

“So, there is the need to look at what the other circulating strains in the country are and to report these to global bodies that are coming up with vaccines so that some of these strains may be incorporated in future vaccines,” she stated.

Dr Ghansah was speaking on the importance of genomics to the delivery of quality health care at the ongoing three-day joint scientific conference by the Biomedical Research Ghana (CoBReG) and the College of Health and Allied Sciences (CoHAS) at the University of Cape Coast (UCC).

The conference is on the theme: “Deploying cutting-edge biomedical and clinical research to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in sub-Saharan Africa”.

Dr Ghansah said research she conducted between 2012 and 2015 in Cape Coast showed that majority of the parasites which circulated at the time were identical to the vaccines but those in Navrongo in the Upper East Region were largely different.

“And if that is what is still circulating, then it is very likely that the vaccine will be very effective in this region. But in regions where the circulating parasite percentage is very low, it is most likely that the vaccine will be less efficacious than where the vaccine identical strains are circulating,” she noted.

She, however, indicated that studies were ongoing to develop new vaccines which might be more effective than the RTS,S.

The Medical Doctor urged the scientific community to constantly monitor and understand the behavourial pattern of the malaria parasite to strengthen Ghana’s drive to eliminate the disease.

Dr Ghansah said although the antimalaria drugs were effective, the parasite could develop resistance to the drugs which could cause another wave of malaria in the country.

She intimated that NMIMR had gathered adequate data on the genomes of both humans and malaria parasites, which provided a solid foundation to explore the diversity of the parasite and how to effectively deal with it.

“And if there is any emerging resistant parasite, we will be able to curtail or contain it where it is occurring before it spreads,” she indicated.

Dr Ghansah said there was the need to train more health professionals in the field of bio-informatics or computational biology to enable them analyse the data provided through genomic sequencing.

“Genomics is a new field that we should all embrace because it provides more timely information about the area it is being applied,” she emphasised.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah, the Minister of Sanitation and Water resources (MSWR), has reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to improved sanitation in Ghana.

She said the ministry had taken every opportunity to provide modern equipment that were needed for health services and management to deliver good sanitation

Madam Dapaah said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency when she donated medical equipment to three schools of hygiene in Accra, Ho and Tamale, worth 100,000 dollars to help in the delivery of health services.

The gadgets were 1,000 pieces of test tubes, 600 pieces of glass pipette and bulbs, 300 pieces each of magnetic fitters, conical flask, glass funnels and volumetric flasks, 100 pieces each of test tube holders and screw cap and plastic container (400 ml).

Others were 150 each of spatula and stirring rod, 120 wash bottles, 50 forceps, 30 measuring cylinders, 15 adjustable volume calibrated micropipette, three each of stuart scientific hot plate, and connect magnetic stirrer

The rest were analytical balance, desiccator, Bunsen burner, weighing scale, benchtop conductivity, six culture plate and one inoculation chamber as well as six each of photocopier machines and projectors, and 18 colour printers.

Madam Dapaah said the donation was to help the schools to provide quality public health education to the students.

Mr Smile Kobina Ametsi, Principal of School of Hygiene in Accra, who received and lauded the gesture on behalf of the school, spoke about the significance of modern equipment in the advancement of public health.

He commended the Sanitation Ministry for the gesture and said the managements of the three schools would ensure that the equipment were well used to encourage government to offer more support.

Mr Ametsi further congratulated the Ministry for the provision of a number of projects in the schools, including the reconstruction and modification of structures to make them accessible to more students.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Key Highlights

• According to the PRESASS seasonal forecast updated in May 2022, average to above average seasonal rainfall is expected in most of the Sahelian Belt (from Senegal through to Chad), including Cabo Verde. Average to below average rainfall is expected in south-eastern Nigeria and south-western Cameroon. The seasonal forecast also suggests that the start of the season will be early to normal, with shorter than normal dry spells during the first half of the rainy season across the SaheloSudanian zone.

• According to the short-range forecast up to 31 August 2022, favourable rainfall conditions are expected over the most of West Africa region except the southern coastal areas over Mano river and Gulf of Guinea (in Guinea, eastern Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, Togo and Nigeria) as well as southern Cameroon and southern CAR. This may cause concern for the southern coastal countries of the region, which have so far experienced unfavourable rainfall conditions.

• During the first dekad of August (1-10 August), in West Africa was recorded heavy rains in the far western coastal areas (south-western Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Guinea and Sierra Leone), in central Sahel (central Burkina Faso) and the far eastern part of the region (in southern Chad, most of Cameroon, and north-western CAR). Elsewhere was received moderate to little seasonal rainfall in central and northern Senegal, Mali, Niger, northern Nigeria and Chad sahelian Belt. Meanwhile light rains were received over the Gulf of Guinea (southern Cote d’ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and south-western Nigeria) as well south-eastern Liberia and southeastern Cameroon.

• Compared to the regional long-term average, the seasonal rainfall during this first dekad of the month of August was mostly below normal. Some areas over the region remained abnormally dry particularly western Mali, Mano River’s and Gulf of Guinea’s countries (Sierra Leone, Cote d’ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria), southern Mauritania and the half eastern Niger. However, areas such as central Burkina Faso, most of Chad (including the Sahelian belt), most of Cameroon, northwestern CAR, south-western Senegal, Guinea Bissau, western Guinea and eastern Mali experienced above normal rainfall.

• Over the past month, in West Africa seasonal rainfall conditions were mixed. The eastern part of region (Eastern Niger, NE Nigeria, most of Cameroon, Chad), Central Burkina Faso, south-western Niger, the westernmost areas of the region (Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau) benefited from normal to above normal conditions. However abnormal dryness was recorded over the Mano River’s and Gulf Guinea’s countries (Sierra, Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria, as well as far western and pockets in central southern Mali and western Niger. Rainfall patterns: 1-10 August

Source: World Food Programme

Accra, Aug. 25, GNA – Mr Bernard Brown, the Greater Regional Director, National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), has tasked managers to double up efforts in attracting more people on to the National Health Insurance Scheme.

He said that was the best way of achieving universal health coverage.

According to Mr Brown, although the NHIA within the region had seen significant improvement in its membership drive, managers needed to work hard to propel growth of membership.

Speaking at the NHIA Greater Accra Regional Half Year Review Meeting held in Accra on Wednesday, Mr Brown mentioned the Ga East District as one of the districts that had obtained significant improvement in its membership drive.

The meeting, which brought together managers and Public Relation Officers from all the districts within the regions, afforded them the opportunity to reflect and re-strategised their operations. 

Mr Brown noted the improvement of the membership drive was a result of the Authority’s ability to move to churches, mosques, and the various markets.

He appealed to members not to wait until they got sick before enrolling on to the scheme.

The Regional Director also indicated that the new Chief Executive Officer of NHIA had assumed office with his vision and urged members to reposition themselves to work towards that.

According to him, the region was poised to become one of the best regions in terms of service delivery.

Mr Daniel Duodu, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Greater Accra Region, NHIA, said the national active membership figure of the first half of the year 2022 was 14, 114, 805 representing 45.78 per cent of the population of 30, 832,019.

He said the region’s active membership drive figure as at the end of June 2022 was 1,966, 775 representing 70.07 per cent of the proposed target of 2,806, 955.

“There was a 9.00 per cent increase in active membership figures,” he emphasized.

Mr Duodu said the region had also registered 30,231 indigenes and 701 LEAP beneficiaries in the first quarter of the year.

According to him, the Ashiaman District Office was adjudged the best performing district for mobilising GHC778,890.68 as revenue while Adenta District was adjudged the least performing district, which mobilized GHC650,157.30.

Mr Duodu mentioned inadequate supply of consumables, administrative support, and logistics as some of the challenges facing the region.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ghana Champions Asante Kotoko has completed the signing of enterprising defender John Tedeku from WAFA SC for the upcoming season on a 3-year deal.

The enterprising left-back penned a three-year deal with the Porcupine Warriors and is expected to replace Imoro Ibrahim who recently left the club to join Sudanese giants Al Hilal.

Tedeku who previously had a trial at Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg enjoyed an amazing 2021/22 season with the Academy boys, featuring 28 times.

He played a combined 16 matches for WAFA across the previous two seasons – 2019-20 and 2020-21 while following his promotion to the first team from the U17 team.

Kotoko sealed the signing of Tedeku on the transfer deadline day on Monday, August 22 which official announcement is expected in the coming days.

Source: Modern Ghana

England great James Anderson marked becoming the first player to appear in 100 home Tests by taking 3-32 as South Africa were dismissed for just 151 on Thursday’s first day of the second Test at Old Trafford.

Kagiso Rabada starred with both bat and ball as the Proteas fought back, the fast bowler top-scoring with 36 and then dismissing star batsman Joe Root for just nine as England, bidding to level this three-match series at 1-1, slumped to 43-3.

But by stumps England had recovered to 111-3, a deficit of 40 runs, with struggling opener Zak Crawley surviving to be 17 not out off 77 balls.

By contrast, Jonny Bairstow was 38 not out off 45 balls, including six fours, after sharing an unbroken partnership of 68 with Crawley.

“It was sort of one of those good tosses to lose in a sense,” England veteran Stuart Broad told Sky Sports after taking 3-37 in the unfamiliar position of first change.

“We were quite keen to have a bowl with the overhead conditions.

“We’re in a really strong position. It looked at one point as if South Africa could have picked up five (wickets) but we’re pretty happy with that day.”

Rabada meanwhile defended South Africa’s fallible top order.

“None of them are getting out on purpose,” he told reporters.

“It is a young batting line-up and they are gaining experience. You can’t go around pointing fingers, it’s just energy-sapping.”

South Africa’s innings ended in sunshine but the improved batting conditions initially did England little good.

Alex Lees was caught behind off Lungi Ngidi for four before Ollie Pope, who made a promising 23, was bowled by a 90 mph delivery from express quick Anrich Nortje.

Rabada then dismissed Root for his third low score this series, although first slip Sarel Erwee needed four attempts to hold the outside edge.

Anderson double

Anderson, who has now played in 97 Tests in England and three in Wales, had earlier made the initial breakthrough when — bowling from the end named after him on his Lancashire home ground — he removed Erwee during a morning session where the Proteas slumped to 77-5 at lunch.

The 40-year-old paceman then struck twice in successive balls to reduce South Africa to 92-7.

But Rabada and Nortje (10) checked England’s progress with a ninth-wicket stand of 35.

South Africa captain Dean Elgar, with the Proteas top of the World Test Championship table, took a calculated risk in batting first after winning the toss despite overcast conditions favouring fast bowling.

His thinking was influenced by the recall of off-spinner Simon Harmer in place of left-arm quick Marco Jansen, unfortunate to be dropped in the only change to the team that thrashed England by an innings and 12 runs in the first Test at Lord’s last week.

The pitch is expected to offer more turn as the game goes on.

“We played two spinners for a reason, knowing it can get quite dry out there,” explained Rabada.

Anderson struck in just the fifth over when Erwee, fresh from a fine 73 at Lord’s, was caught by diving wicketkeeper Ben Foakes off an inside edge.

Fellow opener Elgar had a couple of reprieves before he fell for 12, with seamer Ollie Robinson, in for Matthew Potts in the only change to England’s side at Lord’s, denied his wicket by a marginal no-ball.

Broad twice beat Elgar before he dismissed him, with Bairstow holding a good low catch at third slip.

Broad then removed Keegan Petersen (21) with another catch in the cordon.

Stokes (2-17) got in on the act with just his third ball when Aiden Markram (14) top-edged a pull to Foakes before Rassie van der Dussen (16) was lbw after the all-rounder’s raucous appeal was confirmed on the batsman’s review.

Anderson, yet to claim a hat-trick while taking more wickets than any other fast bowler in Test history, went close on Thursday.

He had Harmer and Keshav Maharaj plumb lbw only to spear the hat-trick ball, to Rabada, well down the legside.

Source: Modern Ghana

Starting a business from scratch in any market is hard and if the market is like Ghana, it becomes even harder because it requires a great deal of knowledge, discipline, and a business mind. Most small businesses and startups usually fail within their starting 2-3 years because they don’t consider important things that every business owner should do before starting a business.

In a market like Ghana, starting your business can be difficult, but it is never impossible. If you are determined to work hard and your products are of top quality, then there is no stopping your business. No matter how slim the chances of success may be, you can turn things around with sheer dedication, hard work, and knowledge of several important things. We will be discussing with you some important things that you should consider before starting a business in a market like Ghana:

Conduct Market Research

The first thing to consider is conducting market research. Most businesses collapse within a few years because they are not familiar with the area of business that they are into. To be able to succeed, you need to have detailed and in-depth knowledge of the market or industry in which you intend to start your business. You will need to perform extensive market research so that you can know about the customer base, consumer taste, consumer preferences, and market needs before jumping straight into the market.

For instance, if your products are playing cards or board games then jumping into a market without performing any research can lead to failure. By performing market research, you can find out about the interests of consumers such as whether they like playing games like Solitaire or board games. Depending on your research, you can then choose to enter a market or not.

The market research also provides you with invaluable information about your competition, their strategies, their marketing channels, and their strengths & weaknesses. This information will help you to make the best decisions in terms of product pricing, launching, and branding to gain an edge over competitors.

Formulate A Business Plan

After you gather information about your target market, you need to write a business plan in which you should clearly define your business model, your mission, your goals, and which strategy you will follow to achieve your mission and goals. Having a strategic business plan is very important because, in times of confusion, it will be the ultimate document that you will refer to, consider it as a blueprint of your company. A well-formulated business plan also helps you to attract investments and business partners because of the lack of professionally designed business plans.

Money Management

As an entrepreneur who is going to start a business soon, you should consider practicing your money management skills. If you don’t want to end up like most businesses and want to be successful, practice money management. It is a skill that every successful entrepreneur and business owner possesses. If you have the ability to manage your finances and capital on your own without needing the help of anyone else, it won’t be a big hurdle for you to build a profitable business.

Entrepreneurs who don’t know how to manage their money, finances, and expenses are usually bound to be on the list of collapsed startups. As the owner, it will be your job to keep a note of everything and come up with a detailed budget for every little thing related to your business. Generating income or coming up with capital in the first few months of a business isn’t easy and you should be mindful of the way you manage your money and spend it. Trusting someone with your finances and capital is also something that you should avoid.

Get Advice From Someone Already In Business

Getting advice from someone who is already in the field where you are going to start your business is very useful. Whichever field or business industry you plan to start your business in, you will find people who are already in that field and running a successful business. Getting advice from such people will help you in growing your business because such people can provide you with hidden facts and valuable information that they learned from their experience in the market, just as a professional card player can tell you all about different card games like the Spider Solitaire because of his vast experience.

They will also tell you what kinds of challenges to expect and how to overcome those. Building good, professional relationships with such people can be very useful because they will provide you with the knowledge that they got from their years of experience in the field. In a country like Ghana, building relationships with such people can be very helpful to make your business a success.

Learn How To Sell

?In Ghana, business owners face a problem with selling their products. Since they don’t know how to sell their products, their business is unable to reach its intended heights. As an entrepreneur and business owner in Ghana, you should be able to convince people into buying your products and choosing your brand over others. If you haven’t learned this skill, invest your time and energy into acquiring this skill because only after learning how to sell you will be able to run a successful business.

Source: Modern Ghana

The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) says it will resist any attempt to link the worsening economic situation to trading activities of its members.

The Association said it had noted with concern how political communicators, including some senior government officials were blaming traders for escalating commodity prices on the market and said such acts must stop.

“They do this by calling traders all manner of names such as ‘kalabule’, profiteers, economic saboteurs, hoarders, recalcitrant and mischievous elements, and thieves who do not care about the welfare of the Ghanaian people but themselves.

“Much as we are traders, we are also consumers of other products and so we cannot surcharge ourselves with unnecessary cost when it is not legitimate,” Dr Joseph Obeng, President of GUTA, said at a press briefing on Monday to announce the closure of shops.

He attributed the rising prices of commodities to the fast depreciation of the cedi, which he said had eroded their capital and increased their cost of doing business.

“As we speak now, one’s working capital of GH¢640,000 which could buy USD 100,000 at the beginning of this year can now buy USD 64000. Again, this borrowed capital of GH¢640,000.00 is now attracting interest payment of about 35 per cent representing GH¢224,000 per annum,” he said.

Dr Obeng said it was time government brainstormed with stakeholders within the economic sector to fashion out short to medium term solutions to the ailing economy.

He also advised against any attempt by government to increase duties at the port with the hope of raising more revenue as that would compound the precarious economic situation where inflation was as high as 31.7 per cent.

Mr Eddy Akrong, President of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders, said the plight of traders was tied to the operations of freight forwarders and so declared the support of GIFF to any decision that would inure to the growth of trading.

He also urged government to address the concerns of the traders adding that, “when the last trader dies, the last freight forwarder will die. Without their business, we don’t have a business.”

GUTA is the umbrella body of trade associations across 67 sectors of the economy and estimated to have over 2.5 million members nationwide.

The Association has threatened to close shops on Monday in protest of the economic conditions in the country.

Source: Modern Ghana