Category: Health

Nana Akwasi Ofori Ababio, the Chief of Sefwi-Bodi, has registered 1000 children (17 years and below) onto the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to facilitate their access to quality healthcare.

This is to help give some relief to parents who could not afford to register or renew their children’s membership onto the NHIS.

The gesture forms part of activities to celebrate this year’s Elou Festival of the chiefs of people of Sefwi-Bodi in the Western North Region.

‘We are doing this as a result of the fact that cocoa trees of parents are dying here in our area, making it difficult for them to either renew or register their children onto the National Health Insurance Scheme,’ Nana Ababio told the Ghana News Agency in an interview.

He advised political actors, especially those in the region, to desist from personal attacks and offensive languages before, during and after the 2024 general election.

‘When we live together as one people, and desist from divisions among ourselves, that is when we can focus
on developing our area,’ he said.

Mr Ignatius Akwasi Amankwah, the Bodi District Chief Executive, called on the people to really behind the Government to implement more development projects in the area.

He appealed to the people to adopt a maintenance culture to ensure government projects last longer to benefit them and future generations.

‘It Is when we take good care of what we have, that is when we can ask for more, but if we refuse to maintain what we have, the money to be used to initiate new ones will be used to repair the ones we have destroyed,’ he said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Hohoe Unique Lions Club has held a blood donation exercise at Hohoe in the Volta Region to collect 200 pints of blood to restock the Regional Hospital’s blood bank.

It was held in partnership with the Tema Supreme Lions Club, Tema Supreme Leo Club and Koforidua U-Tech Leo Club at the St Francis College of Education.

The exercise was to mark the Charter Night of the Club with some humanitarian activities, Mr Crosby Bansah, the President of the Club, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview.

He said the Volta Regional Hospital at Hohoe faced blood shortage, therefore, the need to pull along students from the Fred N. Binka School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied (UHAS), Hohoe Nursing and Midwifery Training College, St Francis College of Education and St Teresa College of Education to support the exercise.

Mr Bansah said since blood was a scarce commodity, which a lot of people needed to survive, all should avail themselves to donate.

The Club’s Charter Night focuses on raising f
unds to help renovate the Out-Patients Department (OPD) of the Regional Hospital.

Mr Bansah said the condition of the Hospital’s OPD needed an upgrade to ensure patients’ privacy and provide a conducive environment for the health staff, who were at the mercy of the weather.

Mr Mawuli Dzamefe, Immediate Past President, Tema Supreme Lions Club and Guiding Lion for Hohoe Unique Lions Club, said the Hohoe Club would be the 45th to be officially admitted into ‘Lionism’.

He said the Lions Club was the biggest humanitarian organisation worldwide with about 1.4 million members worldwide and 1,350 in Ghana.

Mr Dzamefe called on individuals to join the Club to serve the community the best they could.

Mr Thomas Worlanyo Tsekpo, Hohoe Constituency National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary Candidate, said he benefited from a pint of blood after an accident and that made him realise the importance of blood donation.

He said it was his second time donating blood and called on all to avail themselves for the exe
rcise to save lives.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The West Africa Institute for Special Surgery (WAISS) has officially opened a facility at Pantang.

The commissioning of the facility was done with the unveiling of a logo that will inspire the delivery of excellent healthcare services to the populace.

WAISS is a state-of-the-art 46-bed special surgical hospital aimed to improve access to quality and affordable surgical care in West Africa.

The facility, which shares the same premises with FOCOS Orthopaedic Hospital, has four operating rooms, private patient rooms, telemedicine, and family-sized consultation rooms.

Its areas of focus include minimally invasive urology, Andrology and men’s health, female urology, Plastic and Reconstructive surgery, Facial Paralysis and Bells Palsy, Ear, Nose and Throat, Head and Neck cancer, and Pituitary Tumor Surgery.

The rest are CSF (Brian Fluid) Leak Repair, Microvascular Reconstruction, Pediatric Craniofacial, Surgery, Facial Trauma, Sleep Surgery, Aesthetic Medicine, Interventional Spine and Pain Management among ot
hers.

Professor Kofi Boahene, Founder of WAISS and Foundation for Special Surgery, speaking during the opening of the Hospital, expressed appreciation to the doctors, project team, donors, volunteers, and sponsors for the support in bringing the vision of establishing the facility to life.

He said WAISS was partnering FOCOS Orthopaedic Hospital so they could leverage each other’s expertise and not reinvent the wheel.

The Baltimore-based surgeon said the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, as well as the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital were overstretched as such, the new speciality facility would help reduce the pressure on them, saying: ‘This is my little way to give back to my motherland’.

‘I see a great partnership between WAISS and FOCOS in future. We will combine expertise to enable us to do more over a short period, but this is a process.’

Nana Professor Oheneba Boachie-Adjei, the President and Founder of FOCOS Orthopaedic Hospital, commended Prof Boahen and his partners for the foresight.

He said the lack
of adequate manpower especially for specialty care, worsened by losing trained professionals to greener pastures abroad and the inadequate number of well-equipped facilities to train future specialists continued to be a challenge.

‘Above all the inadequate healthcare financing characterised by poorly funded National Health Insurance Scheme, has made it almost impossible for many households to have access to good quality health care. Instead of good healthcare becoming a right it is now a privilege most people can’t afford.

‘It is for these reasons that FOCOS Orthopaedic Hospital sees the partnership with WAISS as crucial to help enhance Ghana’s healthcare system and Africa.’

Professor Boachie-Adjei called for the cooperation of all who signed up to work at the facility to be diligent, trusting and hardworking to ensure Prof Boahene’s labour was not in vain.

Dr Joseph William Akornor, a Board Member and a Urologist, said the facility would help provide surgical services that were not being done in the coun
try currently.

‘As a Urologist, I don’t think anybody is doing Robotic Surgery and Complete Urological Procedures so my goal is to bring all that technology and expertise to Ghana and West Africa,’ he added.

Dr Akornor said aside treatment, the Hospital would provide training to future urologists.

Source: Ghana News Agency

WINDHOEK: The Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Kalumbi Shangula, says the ministry will put the N.dollars 10.8 billion it received to good use.

Shangula was reacting to Finance Minister Iipumbu Shiimi’s 2024/25 budget tabling speech delivered in the National Assembly on Wednesday. He told Nampa that they are going to do more with the money they have been allocated with.

‘This is the first time that the Ministry of Health and Social Services gets N.dollars 10 billion since its inception and we are quite comfortable with that, not only with the amount of money we received but also how we deploy the resources that are made available to us, which is critically important,’ Shangula said.

He has since urged members of the public to be grateful for whatever amounts each sector received.

‘Let us understand that there is only so much money that can be distributed. Not everyone will be catered for, just like in our own homes. We must understand this at a macro level and appreciate what we received,’ Shang
ula stressed.

He further maintained that the 2024/25 budget is one of the best to have ever been tabled in the National Assembly.

‘I wish to congratulate the Minister of Finance for a well-crafted budget. It touched on all aspects of our human endeavour and it is a positive budget in the sense that almost all sectors got an increase in the appropriation,’ he added.

He noted that much emphasis has been put on capital development to ensure that the investment in some sectors drives the economy forward, so that more money will be available to the Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRA), to redistribute to other sectors.

‘It is a well-balanced budget,’ Shangula told this news agency.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

WINDHOEK: Health and Social Services Executive Director, Ben Nangombe, on Tuesday called on members of the public not to be alarmed by the COVID-19 cases reported at Rehoboth in the Hardap Region.

Nangombe, in an interview with Nampa, said the cases discovered in Rehoboth last week are only in Rehoboth and all affected individuals are under proper supervision.

He however urged the public to take precautions.

‘Although the COVID-19 protocols have been repelled since 2022, the public must maintain the basics of wearing masks when in crowded areas, washing their hands regularly, and sanitising,’ Nangombe said.

Meanwhile, the ministry’s spokesperson, Walter Kamaya told Nampa that the government has not yet enforced mandatory measures to curb COVID-19 should it start spreading again.

‘For now, the public should just maintain the basic protocols, and go for individual testing if they wish to know their status,’ he said, adding that if the number of COVID-19 cases rises, necessary measures will be put in place
and the public will be updated.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

OMUTHIYA: The Ministry of Health and Social Services Director in the Oshikoto Region, Joshua Nghipangelwa has encouraged community members to seek early treatment against the outbreak of malaria in the region.

Nghipangelwa said this in an interview with Nampa on Tuesday after he reported 256 malaria cases between January 2024 and 18 February 2024.

He said epidemic monitoring data indicates that the Oshikoto Region has surpassed epidemic thresholds, and is thus experiencing malaria outbreaks.

‘The regional rapid response team and the district response team have started to respond to the outbreak,’ said Nghipangelwa.

He added that the team has investigated most of the cases and visited the most affected areas for risk communication and community engagements and distribution of long-lasting insecticidal mosquito nets.

‘We have also started new methods to curb the increasing cases of malaria in the region by larviciding breeding sites and spraying of houses that reported cases,’ reported Nghipangelwa.

He fu
rther said they are testing and treating cases both at health facilities and also in the community, which is being done by community healthcare workers.

‘These cases are sporadic. The whole region is affected but the most affected constituency is Okankolo,’ Nghipangelwa said.

Nghipangelwa said the Onandjokwe District Hospital recorded the most cases with 92 and most of these cases emanated from the Okankolo Constituency, while Tsumeb Hospital has 84 cases and the Omuthiya District Hospital recorded 80 cases during the period of January 2024 up to 18 February 2024.

‘Everyone is at risk of getting malaria so no one is safe. Children and pregnant women used to be at risk in the past but nowadays everyone is at risk,’ said Nghipangelwa.

He also urged cattle herders and marginalised communities to wear clothes with long sleeves to protect themselves from mosquitoes.

He further encouraged residents of the Oshikoto Region to protect themselves from mosquito bites both while outside and inside their bedrooms.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

WINDHOEK: The Road Fund Administration (RFA) on Tuesday handed over an ambulance to the Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund for use by the Divundu Emergency Centre in the Kavango East Region.

Receiving the donation, MVA Fund Chief Executive Officer Rosalia Hausiku said the distance between Kavango East and the Zambezi Region made it difficult for medics to attend to road accidents in time, hence the establishment of the emergency centre at Divundu about a year ago.

The emergency centre was equipped with a response vehicle which allowed medics to get to accident scenes, but it could not transport patients.

‘The new ambulance is expected to eliminate this challenge,’ Hausiku said.

Handing over the donation, RFA CEO Ali Ipinge said it is within the fund’s mandate to bring services closer to people.

‘We took it upon ourselves to partner with the MVA Fund to deliver this ambulance to help our citizens in the regions of Kavango East and Zambezi,’ he said.

The ambulance, which was converted into a 4×4 vehicle, i
s valued at N.dollars 1.3 million.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency