Category: Medical

The Widows and Orphans Movement (WOM), a gender focused non-governmental organisation, has urged vulnerable people particularly widows, orphans, and disadvantaged groups to enroll onto the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). That, it said, would help reduce the financial burden on them in accessing health care in the country. The organization made the call when it sensitised women leaders and Assembly members at Pusu-Namongo in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region on the benefits package of the NHIS. Organised, in partnership with ActionAid Ghana, the sensitisation aimed at equipping the participants with requisite knowledge about NHIS coverage to guide them in accessing health care while empowering them to take advantage of the exemptions on the NHIS for vulnerable persons in their communities. Ms Nancy Awinbisa Amiziah, Project Officer at WOM, noted that even though there were exemptions on the NHIS for some vulnerable categories of persons, including persons with disabilities, indigenes, and persons over 70 years old, for lack of knowledge, these people were not taking advantage of such benefits. 'While we encourage our women and other vulnerable groups to enroll on the scheme, what we also seek to achieve at the end of the day at this sensitisation is to enlighten our women to access the services the NHIS provides, especially the exemptions,' she stated. 'Some of them have vulnerable children who, by the policy, are exempted from paying processing fees for acquiring the NHIS membership cards, but they still pay full amounts to be enrolled in the scheme, and the reason is simply that, they are not aware'. She added. She emphasised that the leaders, having been sensitised, were expected to in turn educate their members in their respective communities to be abreast with the NHIS coverage to effectively access health care services. Mr Mumin Muttalib, Assistant Public Relations Officer, Talensi/Nabdam Districts of National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), indicated that the Authority was fu lly aware of the problems associated with the NHIS as some card bearers complained of not enjoying the full services covered by the NHIS at the facility level and was therefore strategising measures to curb the menace. While encouraging the women to enroll in the scheme and renew their membership cards annually, he urged them to report cases where they are made to pay for services covered by the NHIS to the nearest NHIA offices for assistance. Madam Beatrice Saah, leader of the Wakii Titeltaba women's group, said the workshop had exposed her to so many things of which she was unaware of as a member, and added, 'I will make sure everything learned here is relayed to my group members. ' Mr Apana Atubila, Assembly Member, Baare Electoral Area, thanked the organisation for the enlightenment and pledged to support vulnerable people in his community to enroll onto the scheme. Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr. Samuel Yao Atidzah, Executive Director of GOSANET Foundation, a health NGO working in the Adaklu district has said his organization was embarking on critical malaria prevention and immunization outreach in the Adaklu district. He said these endeavors were not just tasks on a checklist but opportunities to help safeguard the health and well-being of the people in the district, especially the vulnerable. Mr. Atidzah stated this at a one-day training workshop organised by GOSANET Foundation for Assembly-members, chiefs, opinion leaders and community-based health volunteers drawn from selected communities in the Adaklu district on malaria prevention. He said in this regard they would continue to give intensive training to the volunteers who would serve as 'frontline warriors in the fight against malaria and promotion of immunization. 'These individuals will be equipped with the requisite knowledge, skills and resources necessary to educate, advocate and intervene effectively within our communities,' he st ated. The Executive Director noted that through collaborative dialogue and shared vision they would forge alliances that amplify their impact and foster a culture of health consciousness. He hoped through that collaboration they would work to ensure 100 percent availability of safe and efficacious vaccines and improve governance and management functions at all levels of the health sector. It would also strengthen supervision, disease surveillance, monitoring and evaluation at all levels and improve sustainable financing for Universal Healthcare, he said. Mr. Robert Dedi, Adaklu District Disease Control Officer said malaria cases in the district increased from 24.8 per cent in 2022 to 29.3 per cent in 2023. He continued that 2776 children under five years tested positive to malaria representing 39.5 percent of OPD cases and 127 pregnant women tested positive to the disease representing 12.3 of OPD cases in the district in 2023. Mr. Matthew Adam Ayamba, Adaklu District Director of Health said malaria was among the top three OPD cases in the district and urged all stakeholders to join hands to eliminate it. He said malaria could affect the brain of children and called for concerted effort to prevent them from mosquito bites. He urged men to support their pregnant wives to attend ante and post-natal clinics and ensured that their babies were immunized. During an open forum, the volunteers appealed for torch lights, raincoats, and wellington boots to enable them to work effectively and efficiently during the rainy season. Source: Ghana News Agency

With a health screening and education on nutrition and preventing lifestyle diseases, Renel Ghana Foundation has marked World Health Day with women-led farming groups at Walewale in the West Mamprusi Municipal Assembly. Under the theme: 'My Health, My Right', the Foundation collaborated with the Municipal Health Directorate to empower the women with the health information that would also benefit their families and communities. A total of 60 women from the Sungataba and Sakintihi farming groups benefited from the event, held at the Assembly, a press release issued to the Ghana News Agency, on Friday, said. 'The focus of the event was to empower women-led farming groups with essential knowledge about maintaining good health and ensuring access to healthcare services, as women are at the centre of sustainable development,' the release said. They were educated on their rights to health and the importance of a balanced-diet for overall well-being. 'Participants were encouraged to assert their rights to health care services and prioritise their health needs, especially in preventing anaemia, the most common health issue in the Municipality.' They were thus advised on locally accessible iron-rich foods and how to plan their families for a healthy lifestyle. They shared their experiences and concerns regarding health-related issues and expressed their appreciation for the knowledge imparted to them. The screening covered their blood pressure and sugar levels, body temperature, and body mass index, among other issues. It also identified underlying health issues and provided the necessary guidance for further medical intervention. Representatives from the Walewale Chief''s Palace, the Chief Imam of Walewale, and the Office of the Municipal Chief Executive attended the event, demonstrating their support for the cause. Their participation, according to the release, underscored the collaborative efforts towards promoting community health and well-being. 'Such initiatives are essential for fostering a culture of goo d health and well-being (SDG 3) within communities, ultimately contributing to sustainable development and livelihoods,' it said. Source: Ghana News Agency

The national and regional leadership of the Network of Persons Living with HIV (NAP+Ghana) and individuals receiving care, have issued a communique calling for urgent redress of the persistent medicine stock-outs that plague Ghana's health system. They said the inability of individuals to access essential Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) due to stock-outs in some facilities across the country, did not only jeopardize their health but also posed a significant barrier to achieving the national HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) targets. The Network and its partners, therefore, urged the Government and relevant stakeholders to prioritise the development and implementation of robust and lasting policies and mechanisms that ensured consistent and uninterrupted access to life-saving HIV and AIDS medicines in all designated healthcare facilities nationwide. 'This includes the meaningful involvement of NAP+Ghana in the planning and strengthening of supply chain management systems, enhancing forecasting and p rocurement processes, and increasing involvement in local manufacturing capacity,' they said in a communique issued on Friday. The Communique was signed by the NAP+ President, Ms Elsie Ayeh, and all the 16 regional chairpersons, at the close of a special planned conference by the Ghana Health Service (GHS), as part of activities to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of introducing the Antiretroviral Therapy in Ghana. It said as stakeholders deeply invested in the well-being of their community, they were committed to working collaboratively with the National AIDS and STI Control Programme (NACP) and other relevant stakeholders, to develop and implement sustainable solutions to address the challenges facing Persons Living with HIV (PLHIV). The communique suggested that by embarking on community engagement, strengthening peer networks and improving community level healthcare service delivery, the impact of 'lost to follow-up' could be mitigated and ensure that every individual living with HIV received the care and support they needed to thrive. It drew the attention of stakeholders to the importance of engaging NAP+ members at every stage of national deliberations on HIV care delivery and related matters, to enable them to bring their expertise to bear in action that would positively impact their lives. 'We are also aware that some PLHIV solicit funds before medications are administered to clients. These medications are given to us for free, so to turn it into an income generating venture is a crime,' it said. NAP+ Ghana had zero tolerance for such acts and would take action to cease those acts. It reiterated the Network's unwavering commitment to partnering with the Government through the Ghana AIDS Commission, NACP, GHS, civil society organisations and other stakeholders to address the challenges of 'lost to follow-up' and medicine stock-outs. They could do that by working together to build a more resilient, sustainable and inclusive healthcare system that prioritised the needs and rights of all, including P LHIV. Panelists at the session admitted that in commemorating 20 years of progress in the fight against HIV and AIDS, it was imperative to engage recipients of care (PLHIV) and provide them an opportunity under the auspices of the National AIDS and STI Control Programme, to hear back from them regarding challenges and barriers to linkage and retention in ART services. The event also seeks to provide firsthand perspectives and strategies by stakeholders towards improving Ghana's Antiretroviral Therapy programme, towards achieving the 95-95-95 aspirational targets by 2025. During the session NAP+ members showcased some success stories with the ART since its inception in 2003, while selected partners and the GHS-NACP highlighted new programmes intended to enhance the treatment, care and support for PLHIV. Ms Ayeh encouraged PLHIV to stop self stigmatisation, embrace their ARTs, observe healthy dietary practices with appropriate exercises and urged those yet to enroll on the life-saving medicines to immediate ly do so to live normal lives. Source: Ghana News Agency

Parents, especially nursing mothers, have been advised to ensure the completion of their children's immunisation packages and child welfare services by age five. Dr Naziru Tanko, the Deputy Programme Manager, Ghana's Expanded Programmes on Immunization, made the call during a two-day training workshop to equip media professionals with the tools and knowledge to effectively communicate the importance of vaccination. It was organised by the African Media and Malaria (AMMREN) in partnership with Ghana Health Service and the World Health Organization, on vaccines uptake in Ghana for selected journalists across the country. He said it was unfortunate that some nursing mothers stopped attending postnatal services when their babies were about nine to 10 months old. It was imperative to send babies to be weighed regularly from birth and continue till age five to enable them to receive all the recommended vaccines. Dr Tanko noted that the risk in unvaccinated children, particularly in urban areas, posed a signifi cant threat to the health and well-being of the population. He said parents played a crucial role in ensuring their children received all the recommended vaccinations by age five to prevent the spread of infectious diseases and protect children from serious illnesses. Dr Tanko urged parents to put in place measures in safeguarding their children's health by adhering to vaccination schedules recommended by healthcare givers. Vaccination not only protected individuals but also contributed to the overall health of the community by preventing outbreaks of vaccine- preventable diseases, he noted. Ghana, like many African countries, faced the challenge in achieving optimal vaccination coverage, partly because of fear, myths, misinformation and misconception about vaccines and stressed the need for continuous education and awareness campaigns to address those issues and encourage vaccine uptake, the Deputy Programme Manager said. 'Vaccines are safe, effective and crucial for the health and wellbeing of children . By vaccinating our children, we are investing in a healthier future for our nation,' he said. He reminded parents and healthcare givers to ensure children received the recommended vaccination not only to protect their health but also strengthen the resilience of the entire country against preventable diseases. Touching on the country's Expanded Programme on Immunisation, Dr Tanko said the EPI had significantly evolved over the past 20 years after its launch in 1978. He said with its main mandate of contributing to poverty reduction by reducing the magnitude of vaccine-preventable diseases through immunization as an essential component of Primary Health Care, the programme had seen an increase in number of vaccines it delivered routinely to children and pregnant women. From an initial six antigens against the six childhood killer diseases, the number has increased to 11-vaccines, including malaria vaccine that is being piloted in seven regions. The programme now vaccinates against 14 vaccine -preventabl e diseases, Dr Tanko said, and that plans were afoot to include the COVID-19 in the routine vaccines. The journalists were taken through topics like Immunisation as a Global Tool for Public Health Intervention, and Ghana's Expanded Programme on Immunisation: The journey so far. Others were the development of Vaccines and How Vaccines Work in Disease Prevention, Vaccine Financing, The COVID-19 Pandemic and Vaccine Hesitancy: The Ghana Experience, and Media as Partners in Vaccine Uptake in Ghana. Source: Ghana News Agency