Category: Medical

Kadjebi (OR), August 12, GNA – The Kadjebi District in the Oti Region has recorded 66 new HIV/AIDS cases as of June 2021 compared with 51 cases recorded in the same period in 2020.

Out of 4,763 people tested for HIV, including 1,690 males and 3,173 females by June 2021, 66 people tested positive for HIV.

The number includes 46 females and 20 males.

During the same period in 2020, 4,907 were tested for HIV, including 1,734 males and 3,173 females with 51 positive cases.

Currently, 505 patients are on treatment.

Madam Sophia Senam Zoryiku, the District Public Health Nurse, disclosed these to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at the Kadjebi District Health Directorate of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) mid-year performance review meeting at Kadjebi.

Madam Zoryiku, who did a presentation on behalf of the Family Health Unit, described the situation as scary and urged partners to be faithful to each other or use condoms.

She called on the stakeholders to help curb maternal and child mobility by stopping home delivery and encouraging visits to health facilities for medical attention.

Madam Zoryiku said within the period under review, the district recorded 952 live births with 51 having less than 2.5kg weight as against 817 live births with 47 having weight less than 2.5kg in the mid-year of 2020.

Mr Derick Atitsu, the District Disease Control Officer, said the mandate was to investigate all suspected cases of public health, monitor priority diseases and other cases, investigate and report on suspected cases, collect and collate data on communicable diseases, among others.

Mr Atitsu said within the period under review, they recorded eight Buruli Ulcer cases and 19 Tuberculosis (TB) cases, involving 15 men and four women.

He mentioned resistance to some services, reduced patronage of services, dependence on commercial motorbike for outreach by some facilities, delayed release of supportive funds for staff, inaccurate reporting at some facilities, among others as challenges affecting the Disease Control and Surveillance Unit.

Miss Fafali Doe, the District Nutrition Officer, said they aimed to promptly detect all cases of malnutrition among children less than five years and appropriately manage them, to increase Vitamin A coverage from 51 per cent to at least 55 percent by the end of June 2021 for children between 6-59 months.

Miss Doe advised lactating mothers to do six months of exclusive mandatory breastfeeding to help keep their babies healthy.

She said breast milk contained important antibodies that help fight off viruses and bacteria.

Madam Mavis Atisu, the District Mental Health Officer, said according to World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Situational Analysis, many Ghanaians are living with undiagnosed mental illness.

She said, “it is estimated that of the 21.6 million people living in Ghana, 650,000 are suffering from severe mental disorder and a further 2,166,000 are suffering from moderate to mild mental disorder and the treatment GAP is 98 percent of the total population.”

Madam Atisu said within the period under review, the Mental Health Unit recorded 47 epilepsy cases as against 30 cases recorded last year.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Tema,- The Tema West Municipal Office of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has stepped up education and sensitisation efforts on COVID-19 to curb the recent surge in reported cases across the country.

Mr Fidel Bortey, NCCE Tema West Municipal Director who spoke in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Tema said, the sensitisation had been ongoing to ensure full adherence to the COVID-19 safety protocols despite the seeming reduction in cases in the country at some point.

He said with the increasing number of cases in the Greater Accra Region particularly, the need to upscale the sensitisation at public places in the Municipality was non-negotiable to help stem the tide.

“It has become necessary for the NCCE to intensify its activities with regards to the global pandemic with the increase in deaths and cases recorded due to the emergence of the Delta Variant in Ghana,” he said.

Such sensitization activities, he indicated, were geared towards reminding Ghanaians of the existence of the disease and the need to observe all safety protocols, especially the washing of hands and the wearing of the face mask at all times in public places.

He said the NCCE had mainstreamed COVID-19 education into its activities and that; churches, markets, bus terminals as well as sensitization of individuals in shops along the streets, would continue unabated in the Municipality.

He added that such activities would not only be limited to COVID-19 but would focus on topics such as; environmental sanitation, national unity, duties of citizens, and other issues the Commission was mandated to undertake.

Mr Bortey said the NCCE recently took its sensitisation to the State School for the Deaf at Adjei Kojo where officials of the NCCE took turns to educate students on the safety protocols to prevent the spread of the virus at the school and their homes.

He cautioned the students of the dangers of not adhering to the protocols especially with the emergence of the Delta Variant which spreads much faster than the other variants and encouraged them to wear masks at all times no matter how discomforting it could be.

Mrs. Christabell Lumor–Somie, another NCCE Staff called on the students to keep their environments clean to prevent other diseases aside from COVID-19.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra,- The Nursing and Midwifery Training College of the 37 Military Hospital Thursday announced that it would end the sale of online admission application vouchers for the 2021/2022 academic year next week.

A statement issued in Accra on Thursday by the Ghana Armed Forces Public Relations Directorate said the sale of E-Vouchers would end on Monday 16 August 2021.

It said the College would commence with the entrance examination and interview process on Saturday, August 21, 2021.

The statement cautioned that no agents or individuals had been commissioned to sell the E-Vouchers.

“Only qualified applicants would be contacted for the next stage of the admission process,” it said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Takoradi, – Mr Daniel Bomfeh, Western Regional Health Promotion Officer, says eight Districts in the Region have so far recorded the COVID-19 Delta Variant cases.

According to him, the Regional COVID-19 cases have seen a surge with a total of 142 active cases reported in the Region.

The Regional Health Promotion Officer told the Ghana News Agency that it had become Paramount for the public to adhere to all the COVID-19 safety protocols.

They are; Hand washing with soap under running water, wearing of nose mask, avoid hand shaking and hugging and observing social distance.

Others are the use of hand sanitizer when water is not available and avoiding crowded areas.

Mr. Bomfeh said everyone should make an informed decision to adhere to all the safety protocols for personal safety and responsibility.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra,- The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has urged the government to Fast-track the deployment of available vaccines in the country to vaccinate more people and curb the spread of infections.

“We will be in for a huge problem if we do not break the chain of transmission”,Dr Justice Yankson, General Secretary of the Association told the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Accra on Wednesday .

He said the Delta variant which is largely the cause of increase in infections comes along with a high viral load and a high burden of disease.

Dr Yankson said currently, health facilities and human resources handling moderate to severe COVID-19 cases are overstretched and the centers are becoming full.

He encourage the public to wear their face masks at all times, wash hands regularly with soap under running water, observe social distancing and sanitize hands often to help curtail the spread of the disease.

Dr Yankson commended Mr Henry Quartey, Greater Accra Regional Minister for directing Municipal, Metropolitan and District Assemblies to cause the arrest of person not adhering to the COVID-19 protocols.

An Update of COVID-19 cases on the Ghana Health Service page showed that Ghana as at August 7, recorded 892 COVID-19 deaths with 109,022 confirmed cases.

Currently the active cases stands at 6,765 with 345 new cases.

The GMA in a press statement issued on July 30, 2021, after its National Executive Meeting (NEC) said the Covid-19 situation in the country is alarming and dire especially with the rapid spread of the Delta variant in our communities.

The statement said the risk of further exponential rise in the number of Covid-19 cases and its attendant strain on the already over-stretched and fragile health system, as well as the national economy cannot be

overemphasized or discounted.

It further called for an urgent scale up of free and enhanced COVID testing in communities especially in all identified COVID-19 hot spots, contact tracing as well as strict isolation and management of all infected persons at designated centers.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Kayoro (U/E),- The Youth Harvest Foundation Ghana (YHFG), a youth focused Non-Government Organization has adopted quiz competitions as means of providing sexual and reproductive health education to adolescents in 10 communities in the Upper East Region.

The competitions were organized for Adolescent Clubs in the Datuku, Namoranteng, Nbong and Yagore communities in the Talensi District and Akaa, Saboro, adania, Akania, Agwongo and Kaba-achela communities, suburbs of Kayoro community in the Kassena-Nankana West District.

The initiative dubbed, “Sexual Health Education and Advocacy”, targeted Adolescents put into clubs of 10-14 years and 15-19 years in each of the communities to provide them with accurate information regarding their sexual life.

The quiz competitions were therefore organized to assess Adolescents’ understanding of sexual and reproductive health issues and further equip them with accurate information to access sexual and reproductive health rights and services.

Ms Khadija Hamidu, the Assistant Project Officer in charge of Research and Advocacy, YHFG, said the competitions revealed the information, knowledge and confidence gained by the adolescents which would enable them discuss their reproductive health issues with their peers, the ambassadors of reproductive health education, parents and nurses without hesitation.

“This will thereby enable adolescent girls and boys to develop positive attitudes and behaviour in dealing with their reproductive health challenges such as menstrual and wet dreams hygiene, unhealthy relationships, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) and risky behaviours,”

The Assistant Project Officer said in 2020 when schools were closed due to the coronavirus disease, the YHFG observed that adolescents were likely to engage in risky behaviour that could affect their sexual and reproductive health.

She said her outfit decided to implement the project in September, 2020 in the communities with the overall goal of contributing to improve young people’s access to Reproductive Health Education and services, to be well equipped to stand for their rights.

As part of the project, she said, 23 young people were selected and trained as Ambassadors in the beneficiary communities to form the adolescent clubs and deliver age-appropriate RHE lessons using manuals, charts and other materials towards increasing knowledge and understanding of adolescent reproductive health issues.

“Also, 25 nurses and midwives from health centres and Community-Based Health Planning System (CHPS) in those communities were trained and provided with educational and gaming materials to improve the provision of Adolescent and Youth Friendly Health Services.

“The nurses support the Ambassadors in delivering lessons on sensitive topics like Understanding pregnancy, Contraceptives and Sexually Transmitted Infections and offers practical knowledge in these areas to enrich the understanding of the adolescents,” she added.

Ms Hamidu said the main aim of the project was to contribute to reducing teenage pregnancy, forced marriage, sexual and gender-based violence and achieve gender equality and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Mr Francis Akelinza Welaga, a Community Health Nurse at the Kayoro Health Centre said although the facility did not have adolescent corner which initially made the young people shy to access the facility, the collaboration with YHFG had helped to motivate adolescents access to health services such as Family planning services, counselling and STIs treatment at the facility.

Certificates were awarded to Ambassadors and prizes such as books, pens, mathematical sets and sanitary pads were rewarded to all participants of the quiz competitions.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Danfa, – Dr Kwame Ayisi, a Medical Doctor at the Police Hospital on Sunday said the covid-19 vaccines are safe and encouraged Ghanaians to take the vaccines once the government makes them available.

He said: “The side effects of the vaccines are transient and encouraged people to ignore the social media misinformation about the vaccine.”

Dr Ayisi was speaking at the Mount Moriah Congregation of the Presbyterian church, Danfa, where a health talk was organized to mark Health Sunday.

The medical doctor reiterated that Covid-19 was real and a lot of people were dying from the Delta Variant and urged members of the congregation to endeavour to wear a nose mask anytime they go out.

“Please continue to wash your hands frequently with soap and water, use a hand sanitizer frequently and avoid going to crowded places, Covid -19 is real,” he emphasized.

Dr Ayisi also educated the congregation about hypertension and diabetes and urged members to adopt healthy lifestyles, eat more fruits and vegetables in addition to being prayerful.

Source: Ghana News Agency