Day: June 10, 2024

The Director at the Directorate of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health in the Ministry of Health, Doctor Santigie Sesay while speaking at the World No Tobacco Day Commemoration Day ceremony at the Freetown City Council in Freetown on Friday 31st May has said that tobacco consumption among the public is attributed to 3,330 deaths annually in Sierra Leone, adding that this may not entirely be the cause of death but a risk and motivating factor.

Dr. Sesay reiterated that 900 of these lives lost are due to exposure to second-hand smoke which could have been prevented. He added that, 955,000 adults and 4,000 children aged 10-14 years consume tobacco/tobacco products each year, which makes it worrisome and this requires strong actions from all stakeholders.

While explaining the link between tobacco consumption, risk factors and cancers, Dr. Sesay referenced that 4,125 new cancer cases were recorded between 2016- 2018 in Sierra Leone of which 3,002 died.

Talking of the risk factors of noncommunicable disea
ses, Dr. Sesay attributed tobacco consumption of all forms (smoking, chewing, sniffing, Shisha use) as the predisposing factor for heart attack, sudden cardiac death, respiratory infections compared to non-smokers and blood pressure.

Educating on the effects of tobacco consumption especially for pregnant women, Dr. Sesay said that tobacco toxins can cause serious damage to blood vessels, narrowing and reduced the flow of blood to vital parts of the heart, causing bleeding during pregnancy, ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, stillbirth, cervical cancer, early menopause, increased menstrual disorders, impaired and erectile dysfunction in men.

Dr. Sesay warned against second hand smoking stating that it is more dangerous than the smokers as it poses more and severe health risk non-smokers (silent consumers).

He concluded by calling for a robust action by all stakeholders to implement the Nicotine and Tobacco Bill as people are dying from tobacco smoke without even buying or smoking a stick of cigarette.

He cont
inued that there are a lot of benefits if the Tobacco Control Policies including Taxation, Smoke-Free Policies, Advertising Restrictions Public Health Campaigns that are also key components in both the Nicotine and Tobacco Bill and the WHO Framework Coordination on Tobacco Control (FCTC) are fully and effective implemented 19,000 deaths could be averted over 15 years, 1.3 trillion economic loses could be avoided over 15 years.

The regional Director of WHO, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti in his statement during the World No Tobacco Day Commemoration applauded the progress made in the tobacco fight against tobacco use in Sierra Leone, especially with the enactment of the Nicotine and Tobacco Bill by the Parliament of Sierra Leone and emphasized WHO’s position, encouraging countries to accelerated implementation of the WHO FCTC with stringent measures on marketing new and emerging new tobacco and narcotic products, , particularly designed to appeal to the youths, including shisha, e-cigarette, narcotic pouches, and other
s that are aggressively promoted through social media.

Source: Sierra Leone News Agency

Jens Otto Krakstad, a Senior Researcher with the Institute of Marine Research in Norway and Cruise Leader for the Research Vessel Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, has disclosed that Ghana’s fish stock depletion problem is due to overfishing.

Mr. Krakstad said the current 12,000 artisanal fishing boats in Ghana must be re-looked at, as overfishing is the underlining problem of the depletion of the country’s marine fish stock.

He said this when speaking to the media during the commemoration of World Ocean Day at the Tema Port and a tour of the research vessel that is conducting research in the marine waters of Ghana and La Cote I’voire.

He said: ‘I think that with the effort that the two countries are taking together, it will be possible to increase the stocks, but the underlining problem is that we are fishing too much, so even if we are able to regain the fish stock, the situation is that we have more than 12,000 artisanal fishing boats in Ghana, and most probably that number somehow needs to be reduced.’

Mr. Kraksta
d said they have noticed that the pelagic fish stock in Ghanaian waters is especially depleting, as there is a reasonable reduction in pelagic fish in Ghana.

He noted that embarking on the upcoming closed season in July and August was important to give the fish time to spawn and grow up to a size that the fishermen could harvest.

He expressed happiness that Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire were supporting the closed season initiative, adding however that there was a need to reduce overfishing within the marine waters to ensure the sustainability of the fish.

He what they had noticed during the research was that Ghana was in the upwelling system period, in which the ocean current was speeding up and the cold water was coming up to the coast, producing a lot more food for the fish.

‘So, what we see now is that the anchovies are coming into the coast and feeding on the phytoplankton, and we see that most of the sardinella is still in Cote d’Ivoire, albeit moving towards Ghana because the upwelling and production of p
hytoplankton are increasing in the Ghanaian waters. We expect that within a couple of months now there is going to be more pelagic fish also in Ghana,’ he added.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ghanaian Times supports President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Ad­do’s call for a collective effort to sustain the gains made under the ‘Green Ghana Project’ (GGP) over the last three years.

The Green Ghana Project is a tree-planting measure the government of President Akufo-Ad­do is spearheading to curb the incessant degradation of our forests, which has been ongoing for years.

Most often simply referred to as Green Ghana, it has a designated day for tree-planting, dubbed ‘Green Ghana Day,’ with the maiden one held on June 11, 2021.

The gains are that since its introduction, over 42 million trees have been planted, while the target for 2024 is 10 million, to make the figure 52 million.

It is obvious no tree-planting exercise will have a 100 percent survival rate, and so the rise in the 67 percent survival rate in 2021 to 81 percent in 2023 is highly commendable.

However, this must not make Ghanaians complacent but forge ahead to increase the rate to at least 98 percent, which means not more than 200,000 o
f the trees should die.

The Ghanaian Times thinks if this happens, it will be a sign that Ghanaians are now serious about sustaining their green environment.

This point is being made on the basis that Green Ghana is not a novelty project to sustain the country’s environment, but the previous measures obviously did not get the needed attention and support.

Thus, it has become imperative for every Ghanaian to heed President Akufo-Addo’s call to ensure the success of the GGP.

It can be recalled that there had been such previous measures as the 1994 Forest and Wildlife Policy to replace that of 1948; the 2012 Ghana Forest and Wildlife Policy to replace the 1994 Forest and Wildlife Policy; the 1999 Forest Plantation Development Fund established to support the private sector with funding for commercial forest plantation investment; the 2001 National Forest Plantation Development Programme; and its relaunch in 2010 to plant about 30,000 hectares of trees per year in all administrative municipals of the country.

T
here is a need to find out why all these laudable initiatives failed to give cause for the introduction of Green Ghana and see how the lessons can guide the GGP to success.

Generally, it is said that climate change, human behaviour, and institutional factors like policy and governance failure undermine measures to ensure environmental sustainability.

In the face of this, the government cannot just call for support but also check factors that unnecessarily deplete the country’s green environment, such as indiscrimi­nate felling of trees and galamsey, which the government is already seriously fighting.

After all, the experts say climatic and institutional factors can be controlled when laws and regulations guiding behaviour are effective.

The Ghanaian Times thinks advocacy can also play a significant role, so public education about the need to preserve the environment must be increased and sustained.

It is likely that if people are made to appreciate the ecosystem services the green environment provides, s
uch as cleaning the air, purifying water, reducing chemical and noise pollution, and cooling the streets, as well as the economic loss valued in billions of dollars when the environment is not preserved, their support for Green Ghana will come readily.

Source: Ghana Web

Madam Lydia Seyram Alhassan, the newly appointed Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR) has visited Kpong and Weija water treatment plants to acquaint herself with the challenges facing them as part of her familirisation tour to the districts.

At Kpong she expressed satisfaction at the progress of work so far and encouraged the engineers to continue with the good work for a continuous supply of water to the people.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Madam Alhassan said: ‘This visit is to find out whether there are challenges with sanitation issues as well as improving water supply to the communities within the catchment areas.’

She later visited the G-Water Company, producers of the filtered water of the Ghana Water Company also to inspect progress of work there and expressed satisfaction of the work.

Mr Yaw Adjei, Station Manager of Kpong Water Treatment Plant who took the Minister round called for more funding to procure equipment’s to complete the expansion so far going on.

He expr
essed the hope that when the expansion work was completed Ghana Water Company could produce about 132 million gallons daily to the Volta, Eastern and the Greater Accra Regions respectively.

At Weija water treatment plant the Sector Minister was briefed on the level of encroachment by residents around and she used the occasion to warn the encroachers to desist from building close to the dam.

She called on the ministerial and district assemblies to ensure permits were not issued to people for construction to be undertaken.

‘We have been saying this all the time but still there appear to be recalcitrant individuals,’ she said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Ellembelle Constituency in the Western Region, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has launched an educational program called the Ellembelle School Bus Initiative for pupils in the rural communities of the constituency.

The beneficiary communities for phase one are Obayeboe, Nyamebekyere, Fiasolo, Sendu, Kanokware, New Sanfo, Old Sanfo, Atababo, and Onsonyameye.

The program aims to alleviate the transportation burden for public elementary school pupils, ensuring they have a reliable and safe means of travel to school.

The Ellembelle School Bus Initiative promises not only to enhance the safety and security of the pupils but also to serve as a source of motivation for other children who have yet to attend school.

By removing one of the key barriers to education, the initiative will help boost school attendance and punctuality, contributing to better academic performance and overall pupil well-being.

Additionally, the initiative underscores Armah-Kofi Buah’s commitment to fulfilling
his promises and improving the lives of the people in those communities.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the initiative at Kanokware School Park on Saturday, June 8, 2024, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah disclosed that the initiative was a pledge he made to the good people of Ellembelle some years ago.

“When I was coming to be Ellembelle MP, I promised to initiate the Ellembelle Mobile Clinic to provide free healthcare to people in rural communities, and I did that. In my second term, I promised to establish the Ellembelle Elderly Care Center, and I have done it, and it’s still working. In my third term, I promised to establish the Ellembelle Food Bank, and I have done it, and it’s working. I also promised to buy buses for pupils in rural communities who walk long distances to school, and today I’m launching it,” he stated.

“Today’s program is phase one, and the buses are two, and they cost me GHC500,000. These buses will take pupils from outside Nyamebekyere School and Kanokware School in and out free of c
harge. This will help pupils be in school on time.”

“I have done this because I grew up and attended school at Nyamebekyere, and I experienced how children in these areas suffer before attending classes. When I became MP, I always saw children here walking long distances to school during the rainy season and dry season, and I was touched to vow to buy buses to support them,” he added.

He urged the pupils to take their academic work seriously to become responsible citizens in the future.

“Nobody thought I would become an MP because my parents were poor, but they did everything possible to send me to school, and today I’m a great person in Ghana. The same thing can happen to our children here today; these children that we see here are our future doctors, teachers, nurses, MPs, lawyers, engineers, and pastors, so let’s help them, and I have vowed to help them,” he said.

He pledged to maintain the buses regularly and also to buy fuel and pay the drivers monthly.

Former Ellembelle Education Director, Peter Ac
kah Blay, also spoke at the event and commended Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah for the initiative.

He said the initiative would go a long way toward helping the pupils in the communities.

He called on the school management and drivers to take proper care of the buses to make them last longer.

The Chief of Ampain, Nana Nyameke Fofole II, who chaired the colorful ceremony, thanked Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah.

He described the initiative as unprecedented and historic.

“This is unprecedented; no sitting MP has done this before. God bless our MP. I’m happy to see these brand new buses here for our children,” he said.

He took the opportunity to rally support for Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah to be retained as Ellembelle MP for another four years to do more projects for the constituency.

The Assembly Member of the area, Nicolas Mawule, commended the MP for coming to the aid of the pupils and promised not to allow the buses to be used for different purposes.

Moreover, the staff, pupils, community members, and sub-chiefs in
the communities expressed their profound appreciation to Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah for the intervention.

Present at the colorful and historic event were the NDC 2024 parliamentary candidate, Mavis Kuukua Bissue; former Ellembelle DCE and a member of the NDC Western Regional Council of Elders, Daniel Eshun; Ellembelle Assembly Members; former Ellembelle presiding member, Dominic Nyanzu; Esiama Divisional Police Commander; staff of the Ellembelle Education Directorate; Ellembelle NDC Executives; Odikro of Nyamebekyere; Odikro of Fiasolo; Odikro of Kanokware; and the media.

Source: Ghana Web