PKG

At least, 27 SHS students in the Kwabre East Municipality of the Ashanti Region have contracted HIV/AIDS due to unprotected s*x.

Source: Ghana Health Service

NHIS to cover treatment of four childhood cancers The National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, will now cover the treatment of four childhood cancers.

"Today I tested positive for COVID-19. I have no symptoms, and I will continue to isolate and follow CDC guidelines. I'm grateful to be both vaccinated and boosted," Vice Prez Harris tweeted Tuesday afternoon.

Kirsten Allen, the vice president's press secretary, said in an earlier statement that Harris tested positive for Covid-19 on rapid and PCR tests. Harris "will isolate and continue to work from the vice president's residence," Allen said.

Every human being is the author of his/her own health or disease....

DR. NDUOM HONOURED AND APPOINTED BY U.S. PRESIDENT TO LEAD CANCER FIGHT.

Ghanaian by blood, American by birth - Dr. Edjah Nduom, son of businessman Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, has been honored and appointed by U.S. President Biden to lead the fight against cancer in a “Cancer Moonshot Program”.

Dr. Edjah Kweku Nduom is a top neurosurgeon in Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America. He specialized in Brain and Spinal Tumor, Pituitary Surgery, and Skull Base.

Edjah was a pre-medical student at Stanford University in California before he went on to obtain a degree from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

He is currently researching on how to harness the power of the immune system to fight brain tumors.

His passion for the science world was inborn and as a child, he was always thrilled to get a science kit but his ambition to become a neurosurgeon was inspired by a book "Gifted Hands" an autobiography of neurosurgeon Ben Carson, which was given to him by his aunt.

That inbuilt ambition became a part of him until he graduated from college. Having achieved a lot through much study and experiments, the young surgeon now has his works centered on using the immune system to fight brain tumors.

WHY BUYING SEAFOODS AT GHANA'S SEASIDE MORE EXPENSIVE?
A student questioned

"Fish is very expensive here in Cape Coast (Oguaa). Whenever I am coming from Kumasi to campus I bring my dried fish. Yesterday, I just needed 1 cedi salted fish at Science Market and I couldn't get one. Salted fish was 2 cedis upward. While I'm able to buy 50 pesewas in Kumasi. I don't know why seafood is expensive here in Cape Coast like that. Seaside paa.

It's even worse at Abura. I have been to all the markets. They sell very expensive to particularly we students. So most of us don't want to buy from here. I mostly buy all my items from home and bring them to school. When it gets finished I don't cook at all. I only buy kenkey. We want to buy from the people at the seaside but they always exploit us and overprice items for we students. If you can't speak Fanti koraa dea it's worse."

~Emmanuel Amoah Boateng

SURGE IN UNHEALTHY LIFESTYLE: DIABETES CLAIMING MORE LIVES

Health experts say the country is losing at least 15 lives, mostly in their most productive ages to diabetes every day due to the surge in unhealthy lifestyles.

Diabetes mellitus is also a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower limb amputation in the country.

The unhealthy lifestyles, the experts said, included little or no physical activity, to***co use, poor eating habits such as consumption of too much carbohydrates and unhealthy fats (saturated and trans fat found in animals or fatty meat); consuming sugary drinks, taking too much salt and alcohol.

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has also cautioned that the unhealthy lifestyles manifest in high blood pressure (BP), increased blood glucose, elevated blood lipids (high cholesterol), overweight and obesity which increase an individual’s vulnerability to Type Two diabetes by 90 per cent.

The two main types of diabetes mellitus are Type One (T1DM) and Type Two (T2DM).

The T2DM is often described as a lifestyle disease because lifestyle contributes more to reducing or increasing one’s vulnerability. This accounts for 90 per cent of recorded cases across the world.

The common symptoms in diabetic patients are increased thirst, urination and appetite.

Complex disorder

A Senior Diabetes and Endocrinology Specialist at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, Dr Henrietta Fiscian, told the Daily Graphic that if one's blood sugar was higher or lower than it should be (hyperglycemia), it led to diabetes.

She described the condition as a complex metabolic disorder characterised by persistent hyperglycemia resulting from the defects in insulin secretion, insulin action or both.

In other words, she said diabetes was a chronic condition that occurred when the pancreas did not produce enough insulin or when the body could not effectively use the insulin it produced.

“Insulin is essential for staying alive. Insulin also assists in breaking down fats or proteins for energy. If insulin levels are too low or high, excessively high or low blood sugar can start to cause symptoms. If a state of low or high blood sugar continues, serious health problems might start to develop.

“Hyperglycaemia and other related disturbances in the body’s metabolism can lead to serious damage to many of the body’s systems, especially the nerves and blood vessels. The causes of diabetes are complex but mostly attributed to obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, and poor eating habits,” she said.

Testimonies

Some persons living with diabetes and their relatives shared their perspectives on the disease.

Mrs Mary Asante, whose daughter was diagnosed of the disease, told the Daily Graphic that although she was shattered and feared losing her daughter when she was diagnosed with the condition at age 10, she was happy that with the help of health professionals her daughter was now 17 and healthy.

“She is able to inject her insulin without support and she has been empowered with information and so she takes her diet and physical activity very seriously,” she said.

A patient, Mrs Mercy Ansah, who said she was an advocate of diabetes prevention and management, intimated that she got to know about her condition in the United States of America, where she had gone to seek greener pastures.

She said although the doctors told her there was hope if she was ready to make some lifestyle changes, she still believed it was a death sentence for her because she had lost both parents and a number of her family members to diabetes.

“After a couple of years in the US, I returned home still on my medication and managing fairly with the condition until I met a dietician who explained the nutrition and lifestyle bit to me properly.

“With the knowledge I got, I stopped taking sugary and alcoholic drinks, I cut down on my meat and carbohydrates intake, I am exercising more and drinking a lot of water.

“Now my sugar level dropped from 400 millimoles per litre (mmol/l) to 200mmol/l and currently I am at 100mmol/l working hard to reverse the condition. Now I am no more depressed because I understand myself better. If I had known all this, I would not have found myself in this condition in the first place,” she said.

Fifty-six-year-old Kofi Manu said he had to quit his job as a driver because his leg was amputated due to diabetes complications.

He said he never knew he had diabetes and did not know so much about the condition either.

“In my youthful days I ate and drank so much of all the things I am told are unhealthy and that has contributed to my plight today,” he stated.

He said when he went to hospital and was told his sugar level was too high and so had to work at it, he ignored it and refused to take any medication with the excuse that diabetes was a “family disease” but no one in his family had ever been diagnosed with the condition.

“Unfortunately I got a deep cut from an exposed sharp metal at a fitting shop where I was fixing my car and I started treating it at home. For months the sore was not healing so I took it to hospital. They treated it for some time but it did not get better because of my diabetic condition and the delay in seeking medical care left to the amputation of my leg.

“Since then I started changing my lifestyle as advised by health personnel and today I am doing far better,” he said.

Policy

The Minister of Health, Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, has stated that a non-communicable diseases (NCD) policy currently before the Cabinet, prioritises health promotion, early detection and health system strengthening, as well as support for children with diabetes.

According to him, the ministry planned to mainstream the interventions into the management and treatment of diabetes to reduce complications associated with the disease.

“I am happy to mention that diabetes care is fully covered under the National Health Insurance Scheme, thereby providing comfort, especially for lower-income patients,” he said.

However, international organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the West African Health Organisation has recommended population-wide measures including the regulation of the impartation, advertising and use of to***co and fizzy drinks to reduce levels of overweight and obesity.

Also recommended are more walking and cycling to encourage physical activity.

Prevention

The prevention of type 1 diabetes is not yet possible and remains an objective for the future. However, the prevention of type 2 diabetes has been shown to be possible.

Trials have shown that sustained lifestyle changes in diet and physical activity can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. A better diet, increased physical activity and modest weight loss could substantially reduce the development of type 2 diabetes in middle-aged adults at high risk.

Dr Fiscian said it was estimated that over half of all cases of type 2 diabetes could be avoided if excessive weight gain in adults was prevented, which meant that all adults should maintain a healthy body mass index (BMI) through healthy eating and moderate exercise daily.

Among other recommendations, she stated: “Eat regular healthy meals and snacks, eating between three and five servings of fruit and vegetables a day, and eating less sugar and saturated fats has been shown to be important in maintaining appropriate weight, and therefore a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.”

“Avoid fasting to lose weight, consume more of plant-based diets (high in fibre, low in calories or glycemic index, and high in phytochemicals / antioxidants). Use mild cooking techniques instead of high-heat cooking. Everybody should be able to exercise at least between 150 minutes a week. Exercise could range from moderate to rigorous exercises, particularly, aerobics,” she advised.

Silent killer

Dr Fiscian said like other NCDs, diabetes was a “silent killer” because its complications often killed without diagnosis.

However, the good news is that many of the NCDs have common risk factors, targeting diabetes will help reduce one’s vulnerabilities to the others.

Family history

Studies have shown that people who have a strong family history of diabetes such as in a parent or sibling are at high risk of developing diabetes.

In the case of type 1, which is often seen among children, the risk factors include a strong family history of type 1 diabetes.

People with type 1 diabetes require daily injections of insulin to survive.

Common symptoms of type 1 diabetes include excessive thirst, constant hunger, excessive urination, weight loss for no reason, rapid, hard breathing, vision changes, drowsiness or exhaustion. These symptoms may occur suddenly.

Another form of diabetes is the gestational which occurs in expectant mothers and usually disappears after pregnancy but places them at greater risk of type 2 diabetes later in life.

Management

NCDs are generally chronic and management includes regular check-ups at the health facility.

Effective management includes lifestyle measures such as a healthy diet, physical activity, maintaining appropriate weight and not smoking.

Medication often has an important role to play.

Complications

Eye disease is the earliest and most common complication of diabetic disease compared to other complications.

Diabetic eye disease, among others, includes cataract and glaucoma.

Adults with diabetes are two to five times more likely to develop cataract.

Support

Dr Fiscian said stakeholders, including affected persons, government and development partners, were needed to ensure quality care and support for diabetics to help them live their normal lives as much as possible.

She said the support could range from making medications and information affordable and accessible to those who needed them.

“The Ministry of Health (MoH) and Novo Nordisk, a Danish healthcare company, have therefore launched an initiative to provide accessible and affordable diabetes care for children and the aged in Ghana.

“Known as iCARE, the initiative involves a changing diabetes in children (CDiC) and insulin for seniors programmes to build the capacity of health professionals to provide early diagnosis,” she said.

Checks by the Daily Graphic showed that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the programme was signed between the health ministry and Novo Nordisk in Accra.

The CDiC programme was being undertaken at 17 hospitals to support 1,500 needy children and adolescents with type one diabetes within a five-year period, while the insulin for seniors programme will come off at 21 hospitals to provide holistic diabetes care and insulin access for 4,000 patients aged 60 and above within three years.

The iCARE initiative is leveraging four key areas: capacity, affordability, reach and empowerment, to help patients defeat diabetes.

The Minister of Health said the launch of the iCARE initiative was a continuation of an already established partnership with the Danish company in 2014 when they signed an agreement to promote private-public participation to bridge the gap in the growing health needs of the people.

He said the International Diabetes Federation had projected that 1.32 million Ghanaians would be living with diabetes by 2045.

Mr Agyeman-Manu said the federation also estimated that there were 1,200 children with diabetes in the country who needed access to quality care and insulin.

“In recognition of the impact of non-communicable diseases on public health, the Ministry of Health has started activities to tackle diabetes, including diabetes in children, he said.

Written by:
Doreen Andoh
(DailyGraphic)

VOLCANO ERUPTION CAUSES TSUNAMI IN TONGA

Significant damage has been reported after a tsunami hit the Pacific island nation of Tonga, but communications problems are making getting the full picture difficult.

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano erupted on Sunday, about 65km (40 miles) north of the capital Nuku'alofa.

The eruption, which was heard as far away as the US, caused waves higher than a metre to crash into Tonga.

So far there have been no confirmed reports there of injuries or deaths.

Friends and family of British woman Angela Glover say she is missing. In social media posts, they say she was swept away in the waves.

More than 10,000km away, two people drowned off a beach in northern Peru amid abnormally high waves.

Internet and telephone communications in Tonga are extremely limited and outlying coastal areas remain cut off, leaving the real scale of the damage unclear.

"Significant damage has been reported along the western coast of Tongatapu, including to resorts and the waterfront area of northern Nuku'alofa," the New Zealand High Commission in Tonga posted on Facebook, referring to Tonga's main island.

"A thick layer of ash remains across Tongatapu," it added.

There are particular concerns over the remote outer islands.

• Tonga communications 'may be down for two weeks'

• Satellites key to understanding Pacific volcano

The Ha'atafu Beach Resort on Tongatapu was "completely wiped out" and "the whole western coastline completely destroyed", according to a post on the resort's page written by contacts overseas.

The post said those living there "just managed to get to safety running through the bushes and escaping", and were "not able to save anything".

The Pacific correspondent for Television New Zealand, Barbara Dreaver, wrote on Facebook that it would take "at least two weeks before international phones and internet are working again", due to damage inflicted on a critical submarine cable as a result of the volcanic eruption.

The Red Cross said even satellite phones, used by many aid agencies, had poor service due to the effects of the ash cloud. The organisation estimates that up to 80,000 people may have been affected by the tsunami.

Much of the information has come from family and friends of Tonga residents living overseas. They face an anxious wait for news.

One woman, Fatima, said she had not heard anything from her colleague who runs a seafront restaurant in Tonga's capital Nuku'alofa.

"It's all very sad, we are hoping for the best," she told the BBC. "This will hit them so hard as they have been in lockdown a long time with no tourists visiting and now this."

The dust from the volcano could contaminate water supplies, with locals advised to drink bottled water and wear masks.

Some officials have voiced concerns over relief efforts resulting in a spread of Covid in the country, which only recorded its first case in October.

"We don't want to bring in another wave - a tsunami of Covid-19," Tonga's deputy head of mission in Australia, Curtis Tu'ihalangingie, told Reuters.

Source: BBC

TWO NURSING TRAINEES DIED IN PRAGYA-GRADER COLLISION

Two nursing trainees of the Asankrangwa Nursing and Midwifery Training School in the Amenfi West municipality in the Western Region met their death when a tricycle, popularly known as Pragya in which they were travelling collided with a grader when it was descending a hill.

The two were returning from the market with foodstuff for their upkeep when the accident occurred.

Their death threw the whole community into a state of shock and mourning.

The driver of the grader did a wrongful overtaking of a saloon vehicle at the peak of the hill and descended the hill with the same speed, resulting in the collision with two tricycles, including the one the decesed were riding in.

The deceased have been identified as Priscilla Antwi Williams, a Level 300 student, and Ellen Ayitey Ansah, a second-year student of the training institution.

The Principal of the Asankrangwa Nursing and Midwifery Training School, Ms Jessie Asiedua Aduako, said reports reaching the school indicated that the grader veered off its lane after overtaking a couple of vehicles and collided with the two tricycles.

She said the riders of the tricycles jumped off upon sensing danger, leaving the two students who got crashed and died on the spot.

Ms Aduako said effort was being made to contact the families of the two deceased students.

Distraught father:

The father of Priscilla Williams, Mr Kwame Kissi Sam, said her daughter and Ellen, who happens to be her (Priscilla) school daughter, visited home and he saw them off.

"I saw the other girl with whom she normally comes home, after engaging her and she told me that she only arrived last night and that Priscilla asked her to come and wait for her at home as she was at the salon tidying up her hair," he said.

Mr Sam said the girls prepared food before leaving for school and told him that they would pass by the market for some items before proceeding to campus.

The Municipal Chief Executive of Wassa Amenfi West, Mr Lord Nana Tandoh, who visited the scene, expressed sadness over the accident describing it as unfortunate, and said effort was being made to get in touch with the parents of Ms Ansah.

Written by:
Dotsey Koblah Aklorbortu
(DailyGraphic)

POLICE OFFICER DRIVES INTO BYSTANDERS KILLING ONE AT ATICO JUNCTION, ACCRA.

At least one person has been killed after a police officer drove into bystanders at Atico junction near Kaneshie.

The police man who was driving a Toyota Vitz taxi, is said to have been pursuing an errant trotro driver when he tripped over a mound and veered onto the pavement, ramming into the people.

Eyewitnesses told JoyNews that the body of one of the victims, identified only as Abena, was completely crushed.

They revealed that about two pedestrians who were around when the incident occurred also sustained various degrees of injury.

However, some eyewitnesses criticised the police officer for using an unofficial vehicle to conduct such an operation.

According to one interviewee, “you can’t use a commercial vehicle on a top speed to do this. If it were a patrol car, I am sure the trotro driver would have stopped. But you sit in a taxi and drive at such a speed, that is unfortunate.”

Meanwhile, Officer in Charge of the Motor Transport and Traffic Directorate (MTTD) at Odorkor, ASP Kingsley Kanda said investigation has commenced on the incident.

Although he refused to reveal the suspect, ASP Kanda confirmed that the suspect is indeed a police officer.

Source: Manuel Koranteng & Ama Cromwell

CERVICAL CANCER VACCINATION FOR 90% GIRLS GLOBALLY BY 2030.
WHO Aims

The World Health Organisation (WHO) through the Cervical Cancer elimination initiative is aiming at vaccinating 90% of girls globally with the human papillomavirus, or HPV vaccine by the age of 15.

WHO is hopeful of achieving this by 2030. HPV is the most common Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI).

“Cervical cancer is preventable and curable, as long as it is detected early and managed effectively. Yet it is the fourth most common form of cancer among women worldwide, with the disease claiming the lives of more than 300 000 women in 2018.

Few diseases reflect global inequities as much as cancer of the cervix. Nearly 90% of the deaths in 2018 occurred in low- and middle-income countries. This is where the burden of cervical cancer is greatest, because access to public health services is limited and screening and treatment for the disease have not been widely implemented.”

According to the Organization, Cervical Cancer could be the first cancer ever to be eliminated if aside vaccination, 70% of women screened use a high-performance test by the age of 35, and again by the age of 45.”

Also, if “90% of women with pre-cancer treated and 90% of women with invasive cancer managed.”

January has been dubbed Cervical Cancer Awareness Month.

To eliminate cervical cancer, the WHO says all countries must reach and maintain an incidence rate of below four per 100 000 women.

“Each country should meet the 90-70-90 targets by 2030 to get on the path to eliminate cervical cancer within the next century. Together, we can end cervical cancer once and for all!”

In May 2018, the WHO Director-General announced a global call for action to eliminate cervical cancer, underscoring renewed political will to make elimination a reality and calling for all stakeholders to unite behind this common goal.

Following this, the World Health Assembly in August 2020, adopted the Global Strategy for cervical cancer elimination.

Source: MyJoyOnline

MEAT OR FISH, WHICH IS BETTER?

There is the widespread belief that fish is healthy and meat is not healthy. For this reason, many people have decided not to eat meat again, thereby relying on fish alone as their protein source.

It is true that meat intake has been associated with diseases like cancers, heart diseases, high cholesterol, obesity, etc. But in these cases and many more, excessive meat intake is the culprit and not the mere intake of meat. Also worthy of note is the fact that meat problems are as a result of the fat they contain.

It is fair to suggest that eating meat without its fat might just be what the human race needs to master in order to lessen its bad and unwanted health effects.

Fried pork is a delicacy especially among the population of alcohol drinkers. People drink with fried pork. This only sums up the extent to which this generation cherishes fried meats. Another proven way of getting negative health effects from meat is by eating them fried.

They end up delivering excess calories, as well as increased amounts of saturated fatty acids to the system of the consumer. So beyond the savouring taste one gets from enjoying their fried meats, there are hidden dangers as the components of the fried meats begin to spread throughout the body.

Fish on the other hand is consumed in a variety of ways in a variety of dishes. Fried fish consumption tops the list of fish intake; remember your favourite kenkey and fried fish. Grilled fish is also a delicacy. Dry and smoked fish is also widely consumed.

Fresh fish on the other hand does not enjoy so much patronage in our society. There are people who have decided to eat only fish and not meat. For obvious reasons; they want good health.

These same people eat fried fish; thinking it is healthier than meat. The fact is that fried fish will hurt your health in the same way that meat does. It therefore makes no good reason to avoid meat but eat fried fish.

Now let us go back to the title of this article; Fish is filled with omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins such as Vitamin D and vitamin B2 (riboflavin). Fish is rich in calcium and phosphorus and is a great source of minerals, such as iron, zinc, iodine, magnesium, and potassium.

Fish consumption is recommended several times a week as part of a healthy diet.
Meat is a major source of five of the B-complex vitamins: thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12. Meat contains biotin and pantothenic acid. Those who avoid meat and other animal based foods actually stand the risk of lacking vitamin B12.

So fish is very nutritious, meat is also very nutritious. It is dangerous to decide that you are avoiding a food that is very nutritious. In the same vein, it is dangerous to eat too much of a food that is nutritious or purported to be good.

What you do with a good and nutritious food is to eat them the right way; eat them at the right time, cook them the right way and eat them in the right quantity.

Fish or meat, which is better; my take is that none is better than the other. Eat any of them you prefer or eat them both but remember to eat them the right way.

Written by Wise Chukwudi Letsa (Dietician, Trust Hospital)

Source: Graphic online

UGANDA'S SCHOOLS REOPENED, ENDING WORLD'S LONGEST LOCKDOWN DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Children in Uganda have expressed their joy at finally returning to school on Monday, 10th January, 2022 nearly two years after they were closed because of Covid.

"I am really excited because it's been a long time without seeing our teachers. And we have missed out a lot," Joel Tumusiime told the BBC.

"I am glad to be back at school," echoed another, Mercy Angel Kebirungi.

But after one of the world's longest school closures, authorities warned at least 30% of students may never return.

Some have started work, while others have become pregnant or married early, the country's national planning authority said.

About 15 million students have been affected by the closure, the government says.

"We can't let this happen again. We must keep schools open for every child, everywhere," the UN children's agency, Unicef, warned on Twitter.

Some classes reopened in October 2020 temporarily, but closed again in May and June of the following year.

While schools were closed, there have been some lessons via the radio, TV and newspapers while some schools have provided printed materials, but these have not reached everyone.

Wealthier Ugandans have also been able to access online classes and home tutors.

But many children have not been to school for about 22 months.

One pupil explained how she continued learning during the long hiatus.

"My parents never had the time to study with me. When schools were closed, I was able to read, but on my own. Sometimes I would meet with friends to study," said Christine Teburwa. Like Joel and Mercy, she is in Primary Five, meaning they are between nine and 11 years old.

Pupils who have not had any education since March 2020 will resume classes a year above where they were before the pandemic.

However, some parents in the capital, Kampala, questioned this.

"My children have not been learning at all. I wish they could be allowed to continue from where they stopped," Rachael Nalumansi said.

"Before the first lockdown our children had only been in school for two weeks. So it is a bit concerning that they are now promoting them to the next class," Vanetta Bangi said.

For those students who have not accessed any form of studying during the pandemic, the curriculum will be abridged to focus on core areas and give them a chance to catch up.

Lessons were already underway at some schools I visited on Monday morning while at others, students were still cleaning classrooms and re-organising their desks. Others were still registering with the school administration.

Boarding school students in Kampala and the nearby districts will start throughout the week, to avoid congestion on public transport.

Despite authorities instructing that health and safety measures like masks and social distancing should be in place, not all institutions have the space or facilities to ensure that these steps are properly followed. Some have huge numbers of students and very few classrooms.

But it is not only learners who will struggle, many parents' incomes were also hit by the pandemic, and some will find it difficult to raise money for tuition fees and other school requirements.

The phased reopening of schools, which started in November with universities and higher education institutions, was pegged to the vaccination of over 550,000 teachers, their support staff, and students aged 18 and above.

Uganda, which has had some of the world's strictest lockdowns, is now moving to fully reopen the economy despite being at the start of its third wave of the pandemic driven by the Omicron variant.

Source: BBC News