Seth J. Bokpe's Ghana Newsreel

The Ministry of Health is establishing alternative medicine centers at 17 hospitals in the country. The centres, which would be housed by the Korle Bu and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospitals and all regional hospitals in the country would be manned by graduates of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology  herbal medicine programme. The Deputy Minister of Health, Mr Rojo Mettle-Nunoo made this known as the swearing-in of Executive Council of the Premier International School of Homeopathy and Alternative Medicine (PISHAM). Members of the Council in a group photograph with the Deputy Health Minister, Mr Rojo Mettle-Nunoo The school is  a joint initiative with international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Homeopath Without Borders and the Ghana Homeopathy Project in the United Kingdom. The 10-member council led by Mr James Agboada is expected to promote homeopathy in Ghana through the strengthening of the school. Homeopathy is a system for treating disea...

Two members of a syndicate suspected of altering the expiry dates on food items before supplying them to hawkers on the streets of Accra have been arraigned before an Accra circuit court. Diana Abbey, 37, and Kwame Owusu, aka Gozzy, 35, each pleaded not guilty and were released on a GH¢40,000 bail with two sureties each.  Earlier, the Food and Drugs Board (FDB), in a post-market surveillance operation with the Monitoring Unit of the Ghana Police Service, had arrested the accused persons when they were labelling food products. The syndicate, which operates in a warehouse at Tudu in Accra, deals in food products, including baby foods, tomato ketch-up, beverages, biscuits, cornflakes and yoghurt. Majority of the products found in their warehouse which expired in July last year had their expiry dates extended to July 2011. Among the products were Heinz and Ideal tomato ketch-up, Countre Dairy (Full cream milk), Elle and Vire Dairy baby food, Don Simon, best in oran...

Fifteen per cent of Ghanaian children develop language or speech problems that affect their development and performance,  Dr Ebenezer V. Badoe, the Director of  Neurology/Developmental Services at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, has said. “The situation therefore calls for the country's  policy makers to identify the needs of such children and incorporate it into the country's health and educational sectors,” he said. Dr Badoe, who spoke  to the Daily Graphic in an interview on the fringes of the  2011 International Autism Policies and Practices Conference in Accra, said  the early childhood policy adopted by the country must seriously deal with screening children with language problems in order to develop the appropriate remedies for them. Autism is a condition that affect children before age three and leaves them unable to form normal social relationships or develop normal communication. A child may become isolated from human contact and absorbed i...

Telecommunications company Vodafone Ghana, on Monday launched a health campaign to partner medical superintendents in the regional hospitals to identify and cater for the medical bills of patients who are in need of life-saving medical procedures but cannot afford them. Known as HealthLine, the initiative also seeks to address the most important health concerns of Ghanaians through a 26-week television and radio programme in partnership with a team of medical experts selected throughout the country. Among the conditions targeted for the project are fibroid, cervical cancer, maternal mortality, mental health and prostate cancer and impotence, while the team of medical experts will include a paediatrician, a gynaecologist, a general practitioner and a dermatologist. The television show will be in two parts; the first part will discuss health issues relevant to today’s society, while the second part will track the recovery process of patients treated under the campaign. The radi...

Fourteen year-old Laila (not real name) was forced to marry a man who sexually abused her and physically assaulted her when she turned down his sexual advances. She became pregnant at 15 years but never availed herself of antenatal care. When she could not take the abuse anymore, Laila left her ‘matrimonial home’ and escaped one dawn to Accra in search of the peace that has eluded her. The touching plight of a 22-year old, Dora Galley, is not different. As a trokosi, she was compelled by the 'priest' to work on the shrine's farm without any wage or food. Her meal for the day comes in the evening. “I had to cut  and uproot tree stumps to burn charcoal and then  sell to make some money to take care of myself,” she said. “I did not have the right to take crops from the farm unless the 'priest' allowed me to do so. Occasionally, my parents sent me some food, but that was kept in the priest's room and any time I needed some, I had to make a request for it. I ...

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has extended a $3.9 million package to Ghana to improve the nutrition of malnourished women and children in the three northern regions, as well as people living with HIV and AIDS throughout the country. A memorandum of understanding to that effect was signed on Tuesday between the USAID and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). The USAID support goes to the WFP’s Protracted Relief and Operation which is aimed at  providing food relief and recovery for 423,000 people in the three regions. The USAID fund is expected to provide a safety-net of nutritious support to some of the poorest and most vulnerable women and children, specifically, malnourished children, pregnant women and nursing mothers in districts across northern Ghana. Additionally, 12,000 people living with HIV and on Anti-Retroviral therapy and their families will also receive assistance over a two-year period. The  WFP representative...

The Nazareth Congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana at Kwabenya in Accra has  organised a health screening exercise as part of activities marking its Health and Blue Cross Week celebrations. The Blue Cross week is celebrated to educate the public on the dangers of alcohol abuse. The two activities are prominent features on the annual calendar of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. The screening exercise organised jointly by  the Ashongman Community Hospital and the Save Your Liver Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), with focus on preventing liver related diseases, had more than 200 people screened for hepatitis B, diabetes, hypertension obesity and counselled in proper dieting and nutrition. The week-long programme organised in collaboration with the Kwabenyaman No Yaa Kpee, an association for the advancement of Kwabenya, highlighted the importance of health in the development of the nation. Other programmes that featured in the celebration were ...