Nkaseim (B/A), Jan. 30, GNA- Delegates of the Asutifi South Constituency of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Friday endorsed by popular acclamation Alhaji Collins Dauda, Minister for Transport as the party’s candidate in the upcoming parliamentary election.
The constituency’s 311 delegates, including 37 executives from 69 polling stations, returned Alhaji Dauda, incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for the area unopposed, at an election supervised by officials of the district office of the Electoral Commission (EC) at Nkaseim in Asutifi District of Brong-Ahafo.
In an acceptance speech, Alhaji Dauda said his unanimous Alhaji Dauda enjoined members and supporters of the party to be firm and more committed to the cause of the party, stressing that, political parties were followed not because of monetary handouts but to bring about socio-economic progress and development.
He urged all qualified voters to register when the biometric voter registration exercise is opened, warning that, court actions would be instituted against any individual found preventing a qualified person from being registered.
He entreated them to maintain the bond of unity and love in the interest of the party and pledged that he would continue to work hard as their MP.
Alhaji Dauda said his election does not only justify the confidence reposed in him but a believe that he would bring more developmental projects to the constituency.
Mr Sampson Baton Braimah, District Director of the EC, earlier informed the delegates about the impending biometric voter registration exercise, saying it was a completely non-partisan national programme.
He urged political party activists to restrain themselves from all partisanship actions and tendencies during the exercise to avoid marring the process.
Mr Modestus Nuworsu, constituency secretary of the party, later in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, explained that unlike the other constituencies in the region, where the parliamentary primaries were held last Saturday January 21, the Asutifi South primary with the permission of the party’s National Executive Committee had to be rescheduled because of the burial and funeral rites of a prominent member of the party in the constituency on that day.
Meanwhile a mini-rally had been organised by the constituency executives at the Nkaseim town park after the primary to outdoor Alhaji Dauda as the party’s candidate for elections 2012.
It was addressed by Mr Eric Opoku, Deputy Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister and Mr Opoku Atuahene, Regional Chairman of the party and Alhaji Dauda.
Elite in society urged not to feel shy to go to their villages
Gomoa Abora (C/R), Jan. 30, GNA – The Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Agency, Mr George Blankson, has called on the elite in the society who hail from villages not to feel shy to go to their villages.
Rather, Mr Blankson said, they must go to their villages regularly to help to improve conditions there.
Mr Blankson, who hails from Gomoa Abora near Apam, said this at the celebration of the annual Akwanbo festival of the people of the town.
Mr Blankson appealed to the elite not to make the cities and the municipal towns their homes and leave their people in their home villages to their fate.
He said the conditions in the villages could have been better than what they are now if the people they produced had taken keen interest in their development and go there very often.
Mr Blankson appealed to parents to invest in the education of their children, adding that
poverty in the villages could be improved if parents ensure that their children received quality education.
Mrs Ama Benyiwa-Doe, Central Regional Minister, urged the citizens to plant trees not only to serve as windbreaks but also improve their economic status.
She appealed to the people to go into animal husbandry especially rearing of snails, grass cutters and other ruminants.
Mr Anthony Eyiah Quansah, Presiding Member of the Gomoa West District Assembly, called on the people of the district to document school lands to prevent estate developers from encroaching on them.
He advised people who had attained 18 years and above to register when the biometric registration exercise starts in March 2012.
Nana Aba Kaadze IV, Queen Mother of Gomoa Akyemfo, expressed concern about the upsurge in teenage pregnancy in the district and appealed to parents to take good care of their daughters and ensure that they provide them with their basic needs.
Oheneba Agyei, Assembly member for Gomoa Wassa-Nduem Electoral Area who represented Mr Francis Arthur, MP for the area, pledged on behalf of the MP two computers, extension of electricity to the school and provision of tables and chairs for the school in the town.
Mrs Margaret Acquaye, Headmistress of the Abora D/A Primary and Junior High School, commended the chiefs and elders of the town for showing interest and support for education of the children.
Chief expresses concern over child neglect in Gomoa Akropong
Gomoa Akropong, (C/R), Jan 30, GNA – Nana Odoom Amanfo IV, Chief of Gomoa Akropong Number Two, has expressed concern about the growing neglect of children by their parents in the area.
He said it was regrettable that majority of parents had failed to invest in their children’s education and welfare and called for an end to such behaviours.
Nana Amanfo IV said this has affected the human resource and general development of Gomoa, resulting in economic hardship, teenage pregnancy and streets children in the area.
Nana Amanfo expressed the concern when addressing his people to climax the weeklong celebration of their Annual Akwambo Festival on Saturday.
He said the time had come for parents in Gomoa to perform their responsibilities by educating their children to help reduce poverty in the area.
Nana Amanfo said “investing in children’s education is the greatest legacy one can offer a child, to enable him or her to become a responsible adult in society”.
He said results of last year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in Gomoa Akropong, Gomoa Aboso, Gomoa Ekroful and Gomoa Benso were bad and appealed to teachers, chiefs, assembly members and other stakeholders in education to adopt measures to reverse the situation.
Mfantseman East NDC candidate thanks delegates for electing him
Ekumfi Essuehyia (C/R), Jan. 30, GNA – The newly elected parliamentary candidate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Mfantseman East Constituency, Mr Abeiku Crentsil, has expressed his gratitude to the delegates who voted for him.
“I thank you all for the confidence reposed in me to lead you to retain the seat on December 7,” he said at a meeting with some supporters of the NDC at Essuehyia.
Mr Crentsil said the NDC could only retain the seat when the supporters registered in their numbers when the biometric registration starts and appealed to people who had attained 18 years to register.
He said since the constituency was made up of mainly farmers and fishermen he would make efforts to assist them when elected into Parliament and added that the Central Region Development Commission had decided to establish pineapple processing factory in the constituency to add value to pineapple which is the main crop produced by the farmers.
Mr Crentsil expressed concern about the poor catch fishermen had been getting in recent times and appealed to them not to use unapproved methods, such as light fishing, use of dynamite and other explosives and mesh nets.
He said marine resources were getting depleted due to bad method of fishing and urged them not to deplete the resources further.
The aspiring MP said he would make education his priority when elected and that students would be helped to improve upon examination results.
Mr Crentsil commended Mr George Kuntu Blankson, the MP for the constituency, for the numerous projects he had brought to the area and pledged to continue with the good work he had done.
Assin Nyankomase (C/R), Jan 30, GNA – Mr John Kingsly Nsiah, a 27-year-old Senior Officer at the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) was on Saturday installed Chief of Assin Nyankomase Aboaboman under the stool name Nana Kweku Apputae IV.
He succeeded his late brother Nana Apputae III, who died three years ago.
Earlier in the day, he was carried in a palanquin amidst ‘Fontonfrom’ and ‘Kete’ traditional music and went through the principal streets of the town.
The procession ended at the durbar ground, where he took the oath before the Omanhene and other sub-chiefs to symbolize his installation.
Nana Apputae IV promised to cooperate with the people and the sub-chiefs towards the rapid development of the area.
He said his priority is to initiate an Educational Trust Fund to carter for all children of school going age in the town to become useful future citizens.
The Chief urged his people to rekindle their communal spirit towards the development of the town.
He called for unity to enable them to forge ahead in their quest to develop the area.
The Municipal Chief Executive for Assin North, Mr Alex Antwi Boasiako, Assembly Members and Chiefs from nearby communities were among the people who graced the occasion.
Ban political groupings in tertiary institutions – NCCE
Agona Nsaba (C/R), Jan. 30, GNA – The Agona East Inter-Party Dialogue Committee has been inaugurated with a call on Parliament to ban the formation of political groupings in tertiary educational institutions in the country.
Mr Stephen Agyei-Yeboah, Acting Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) in Agona East who made the call said student political groupings such as TESCON and TEIN were encouraging indiscipline in Ghanaian tertiary institutions.
He said as students whose education was being taken care of by their parents or relatives they should not be allowed to participate in active partisan politics.
Mr Agyei-Yeboah said indulging in active politics could affect their studies and their performance in their final examinations.
On indiscipline, the Acting Director said some members of these political associations could insult some important personalities and elderly persons, including the Head of State, just because of politics.
“If these insults are allowed to continue, we will be setting a very bad precedence for the young ones who are the future leaders to follow,” he said.
Mr Agyei-Yeboah advised members of the Committee to serve as a unifying body which could promote peace and resolve conflicts before, during and after the 2012 general election.
Miss Mirian Osae-Addo, Assistant Co-ordinating Director for Agona East who inaugurated the Committee on behalf of the District Chief Executive for Agona East, said conflicts in some neighbouring countries which came as a result of elections must guide Ghanaians to take precautionary measures to protect the peace the nation was enjoying.
“No one must take the peace the nation is enjoying for granted,” she said and appealed to politicians to be circumspect with what they say and do.
Miss Osae-Addo advised the Committee to liaise with the District Security Committee (DISEC) which is in charge of the security of the district whenever they were in difficulty.
The Inter-Party Dialogue Committee comprised representatives of the National Democratic Congress, the New Patriotic Party, the Convention Peoples Party, the only three political parties which are operating in the district, the Police Service, the NCCE, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, the District Assembly, Christian and Muslim organizations, Women and Youth groups, traditional authorities and the media.
Withdrawal of Global Fund Support to Ghana could be disastrous – Akobeng
Agona Swedru (C/R), Jan. 30, GNA – The Agona West Municipal HIV and AIDS Monitoring and Evaluation Focal Person, Mr Eric Akobeng has appealed to the Global Fund which funds about 70 per cent of Ghana’s anti-HIV campaign activities to rescind the decision to withdraw its support by 2013.
Mr Akobeng said the withdrawal of the Global Fund Support could have a telling effect on the HIV education campaign and reverse the successes so far chalked in the reduction of HIV prevalence rate in Ghana.
“I do not think that the Global Fund will be happy to hear that what it has taken some years to achieve in the fight against the dreadful HIV and AIDS pandemic has to be reversed,” he said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Agona Swedru.
Mr Akobeng, who is also the Municipal Budget Analyst, said it appeared complacency was trying to set in by the reduction in the HIV prevalence rate in the country leading to a cut in the funding of HIV activities.
He said the epidemic was at a point of stabilization, adding that “Ghana is not out of the woods yet.”
He called on all organizations and individuals in the fight against the disease to maintain the momentum until the achievement of the overall national target of freeing the society of the threat of the disease.
Mr Akobeng said results from a scientific study released in 2011 proved that treating HIV positive people with anti-retroviral drugs could reduce the risk of transmission by 96 per cent.
“It is ironical that while we have the hard evidence about the power of HIV treatment, we don’t have the needed funds to protect people and save more lives,” he said and added that there would be crisis if nothing was done about the aid cut.
He appealed to the government to look for internal funding for HIV prevention with contributions coming from government agencies, private sector enterprises, philanthropists, individuals and donor agencies.
The HIV and AIDS Focal Person said the Agona West Municipal Assembly recorded 103 HIV and AIDS cases in 2008, in 2009 it moved up to 141 and 325 in 2010 and reduced to 205 in 2011.
He said the Municipal AIDS Committee had prepared an HIV and AIDS Policy aimed at stabilizing and reversing the trend of the pandemic in the area.
Mr Akobeng said an annual resource mobilization forum had been instituted to bring all stakeholders, including business entities together to pledge their support for the fight against the pandemic.
He said the AIDS Committee was also working on forming HIV and AIDS Response Committees at the urban and zonal council levels.
Though much of the world has never heard of diseases like lymphatic filariasis or schistosomiasis, these and other neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a daily reality for many living in Africa and across the world. These terrible diseases affect more than one billion people worldwide, disabling, disfiguring and blinding their victims, and making it difficult for the world’s poorest communities to lift themselves out of poverty.
I have spent decades working to help combat these menacing diseases as a physician and official at the World Health Organisation, and I have been fortunate to witness increasing momentum from the global community to work together to control these NTDs.
But significant gaps remain today – we still need better treatments for certain NTDs, more treatments for others, and more effective ways to deliver existing drugs to those who need them.
Now there is more reason to hope that we may soon see a future free of these diseases. In London this week, global health organisations, bilateral donors, pharmaceutical companies, private foundations and representatives from NTD-endemic countries came together to undertake a robust, collaborative response to these challenges. They launched the largest coordinated effort to-date to combat NTDs.
Working together, these organizations have created a real opportunity to help hundreds of millions of people affected by these terrible diseases build self-sufficiency. Their innovative partnership is changing how we approach global health problems and will increase the impact of previous NTD programmes, building on tremendous progress so far.
For decades, partnerships that combined the resources of public- and private-sector organizations have provided a viable alternative to the historically limited research and investment from for-profit drug companies. For example, thanks to the WHO Tropical Diseases Research Programme’s collaboration with the pharmaceutical industry, a variety of tools have been developed to combat river blindness, lymphatic filariasis, leprosy, sleeping sickness and other diseases.
The new coordinated action announced this week will take these previous efforts to a whole new level. Together, these partners have pledged to increase the supply of existing drugs and invest and collaborate on research to accelerate the development of new and better drugs. Additionally, global health organizations will provide critical funding to support strengthening and improving delivery systems to ensure existing treatments are delivered to those who need them. Partners have signed onto the “London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases” – a document that pledges enhanced levels of collaborative efforts to combat NTDs.
Building off the tradition of “pharmaco-philanthropy” set forth by past public-private partnerships on NTDs, a number of companies have pledged to provide for as many drugs as needed to protect people from these diseases. As such, many companies will extend their donation programmes to the end of the decade, and companies will provide a total 1.4 billion treatments on average each year. This follows in the footsteps of past drug donation programmes, such as Merck & Co. Inc.’s historical pledge in 1986 to donate “as much as is required for as long as it takes” of its drug to fight river blindness, as well as other programmes that successfully reduced cases of leprosy, river blindness and other diseases.
Innovative partnerships such as this—that partner the resources of private-sector players with those of public-sector health programmes, governments, and aid organizations — have the potential to make immense progress against these diseases where individual efforts or bilateral partnerships are not enough.
To ensure these commitments make a public health impact, it is essential that NTD-endemic countries, like Ghana, work to ensure that the newly available medications can be effectively delivered to those who need them. Ghana has already launched an integrated programme to combat neglected tropical diseases. The announcements made this week by international partners will undoubtedly help Ghana strengthen its current control programme.
Ghana and other African countries can build on the lessons learned in implementing the Mectizan Donation Programme. When the innovative, more efficient Community Directed Treatment with Ivermectin (CDTI) programme replaced traditional methods with health workers, more than 140,000 communities were empowered to take responsibility for collecting and distributing drugs to millions of people each year. This community approach has since been extended to distribute bed nets, Vitamin A, and other health care practices.
When the history of the elimination of river blindness based on the mass treatment with Ivermectin (Mectizan) is written, it will highlight the remarkable contribution of a Ghanaian doctor, the late Dr. Kwablah Awadzi. His work at Tamale Hospital guided the late-stage development of Ivermectin for the treatment of river blindness. His clinical research systematically established the efficacy of Ivernectin and its optimal dosage. This type of exemplary leadership is needed once again in Ghana.
I have spent decades fighting against neglected tropical diseases. In my 80 years, I have hoped to see a day when these neglected diseases will no longer blight the lives of the poor communities in Africa and worldwide.
With this new innovative partnership, I see a light at the end of the tunnel.
Adetokunbo O. Lucas, MD was the director of the UNICEF/UN Development Programme/World Bank/World Health Organization Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) from 1976-1986.
Accra, Jan 30, GNA – Cases such as rape and high level criminalities including murder, armed robbery and first degree felonies are not suitable for Appropriate Dispute Resolution (ADR), Mr Austin Gamey, an ADR expert has observed.
Mr Gamey, the Chief Executive Officer of Gamey and Gamey Academy of Mediation and Appropriate Dispute Resolution (ADR), therefore advised players in ADR, saying: “Do not tackle such cases, even when under pressure”.
Speaking at the end of the Academy’s 13th Master of ADR programme in Accra at the weekend, he said, not all cases were suitable for ADR though Ghana’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Act, 2010 (Act 798) gives enough flexibility for Ghanaians to resolve their differences without resorting to the traditional adversarial litigation system.
Mr Gamey said the country’s democracy had received accolade globally, in the face of daunting challenges like chieftaincy, land, labour, religion, petroleum products and political disputes.
He noted that many commentators had pointed out that the peace in Ghana must not be taken for granted; therefore it had become imperative to take measures to deal with the issues before they degenerate into violent conflicts.
Mr Gamey said the prevention and early resolution of conflicts in whatever form, needed a structure and a frame that transcended boundaries of politics and ethnic considerations.
He said rather the focus must be on the contending parties having the confidence to talk about the issues in a gentle, honest, open manner.
The ADR Master programme students studied subjects including, Effective Listening and Speaking Skills, Effective Management of Industrial Relations under Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651), Interest-Based-Negotiation and Arbitration, Managerial Mediation Self Mediation, mentoring and coaching.
Mr Gamey hoped participants were well grounded as impartial third parties capable of using neutral language in a confidential setting to help the entire society to resolve their differences or disputes.
He said the programme contains resources for changing national and organizational culture, carefully altering the norms that so often cause obstructive behaviours and replacing them with constructive and positive behaviours.
Mr Gamey urged participants to use these practical tools for the prevention and early resolution of community and workplace conflicts.
“…the unmanaged conflicts like the Dagbon, Ga Chieftaincy, Anlo, Peki-Tsito, and the numerous workplace conflicts is the largest reducible cost in any country and organization today, and the least recognized.
”Nations like Somalia, Congo DR, Sierra Leone, and many organizations and families are paying the price for ignoring to spend time, money and energy to learn how to prevent and resolve conflicts early,” Mr Gamey concluded.
Certification will be awarded to students after completion of their project works, which will be subjected to strict scrutiny here in Ghana and PULSE Institute based in Calgary, Canada.
Meanwhile, the next programme commences on April 7, 2012.
Koforidua, Jan. 30, GNA – The Society of Private Medical and Dental Practitioners (SPMDP) Ghana has said they would not take part in the Capitation arrangement of payment for medical services as it exists in its present form.
“The Capitation rate is too low and will collapse the system,” they said.
Dr Kwasi Odoi-Agyarko, President of the Association, said at a press conference on Friday that Capitation-based reimbursement significantly influenced the practice of medicine and that “as physicians, we need to assure that payment models do not jeopardize the care we provide when we accept higher levels of personal financial risk”.
He said a World Bank working paper No. 210 published in 2011 revealed among other things that access to private health care was increasing with 64% of those having an illness obtaining care in 2005-06, compared with 44 per cent in 1999.
“Users of all types of medical care across socio-economic status, geography, and sex, choose private providers for a substantial portion of their use of health services-in all cases, around 50 per cent of their use of services.”
The research also noted that National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) coverage appears to encourage consumers to use Ghana Health Service (GHS) services relative to privately provided services but this may be related to the incomplete accreditation of Self Financing Private (SFP) providers.
“Consumers continue to spend money out-of pocket despite NHIS coverage and they do so at GHS, Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG), and SFP providers. NHIS coverage has increased the frequency with which consumers pay nothing at all. However, it has not changed the amount of out-of pocket spending in those cases when it is still required”.
Dr Odoi-Agyarko said global health facts and world health statistics published in 2011 showed that private expenditure on health as percent of total expenditure on health in Ghana is 48.4 and out-of- pocket expenditure as percent of private expenditure on health in Ghana is 79.3”.
He said the picture was already gloomy adding that under the new Capitation system the situation would go worse.
Dr Odoi-Agyarko said primary care physicians needed to work to assure that the capitation system incorporate checks and balances which protects both patients and providers.
He said as a payment model, capitation offered opportunities for primary care physicians to influence the future of health care by improving the management of resources at a local level.
Dr Odoi-Agyarko said as practicing physicians, their work demanded that they managed a number of concurrent risks.
“Our foremost responsibility is to manage the individual health risks of our patients, be they risks associated with lifestyle, predisposition to illness, or diagnosed conditions”.
“We also have a broader social responsibility to prudently use the resources civil society allocates to health care, civil society’s financial risk”.
Dr Odoi-Agyarko said Capitation affected all aspects of medical practice adding that it has the potential to clarify the boundaries between primary care physicians and their consulting sub-specialist colleagues.
He said it would certainly expand the financial risks faced by all practitioners adding “It will probably force changes in the allocation of health care resources, perhaps leading to a more accurate determination of true costs.
“Realistically, the necessary conditions for capitation to function as an acceptable and sustainable reimbursement model may never be achieved”.
“Our task is to actively participate in the re-engineering of health care delivery while maintaining our personal and professional standards in order to create a system that will work for everyone in our society”.
