The District Director of Health, Abdul Aziz Abdulai, confirmed to Citi News that the two; James Yeboah, who is believed to have administered the injections and Simon Takeramah, the manager of the facility, are now assisting the police and the regional medical team to unravel the circumstances that led to the deaths.

“The persons who are said to have been given those injections have been handed over to the police. We looked at the criminal aspect of it for which then I needed to make a formal complaint to the police… statements were taken from them and they have been detained for further investigations,” he said.

The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has said its preliminary investigations indicated that the deaths, which occurred after the administering of some injections, may have been caused by contaminated medication.

The deceased persons suffered adverse reactions described as injection site abscess, skin necrosis and ulcers leading to the deaths, the FDA said.

“Preliminary investigations revealed that these reactions may be due to contaminated 0.9% Normal Saline, the solution which was used to reconstitute (mix) the Benzathine Penicillin Powder for Injection. The 0.9% Normal Saline Solution was reported to have been opened and used repeatedly for several days which might have resulted in the contamination,” a statement from the FDA explained.

Since then, the District Health Directorate has ordered the centre to stop all injections at that facility until further notice.

Samples have been collected from the ulcers of the [deceased] patients for investigation at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical research.

–

By: Elvis Washington/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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In an interview, Mr John Agbeko, Registrar at the Births and Deaths outfit, explained that local names like “Nana, Nii and Togbe” are most used as stool names and title for leaders in the traditional setup.

[contextly_sidebar id=”8GfQikR8OtMzCbwpkl9GKDhlhKooFvX2″]According to him, parents choose these names (titles) to honour relatives who have played vital roles in their lives and do not want their names to be missing from their family.

Mr Agbeko suggested that such titles that the registry does not accept as part of names should only be used in the house and the community and not add them to name for birth registration.

He said “if we allow ourselves as a nation to give names the way we want because it is us who have got the child and we will want to name the child the way we want, there will come a time that we will have wonderful names in Ghana. So it is just a control measure to make sure that there are moderating factor on us citizens to direct how our naming should go.”

The Registrar pointed out that it is not the case that his outfit is against only the local names (title) because it does not accept the English ones either as that is how their system operates.

“Nobody is against a local name. The only difference is that I have a baby and I want to name this baby by giving a name like for example where I come from, you have Dzibgordi, which is Patience and also using Mabel and you want to make Dzibgordi the first name, by our operations we tell you this cannot occupy the first name but Dzibgordi can be in the middle name to have Mabel Dzibgordi Abgeko,”he explained.

He further explained that “if you still want the Dzibgordi, then you can leave Mabel and we will use Dzibgordi for you as your first name but because we are English-speaking people, if you take Mabel and Dzibgordi together I do not know how it will look on paper if we do Dzibgordi Mabel Abgeko.”

But the registrar said they are not imposing names on people but just upholding measure and suggested that as a nation if Ghanaians prefer these names they can declassify and rectify them to be used.

“We can have names like Togbe without linking it to titles or stools. That is fine but it will degrade reverence that goes with a title name. Children who are not even one will have title name. It will not change anything from anybody or individual. It will take a lot from the society together as a collective as we start calling babies with titles names,” he said.

In an interview, some parents whose children were affected by the measure of the Registry told the Daily Heritage that they did not name their children after anybody but the registry simply rejected names like Nana, Nii, Naa, Nyhira, Dromo, Dzormo, and Junior from names they presented without explaining anything to them.

Mr Kojo Antoh, a parent said “the registry did not register my son’s name as Nyhiraba because according to them, it is not recognised and that it is just a prefix. When we are being advised to accept local names and use them, the registry is rather preventing us from using them.”

Madam Rose Mensah also told the paper that the change of name has affected her document because right from childhood she was using ‘Naa’ as part of her name but when she went in for her birth certificate ‘Naa’ has been taken off and was told to use only the name accepted by the registry.

‘Blacklists on the use of indigenous names‘

The Births and Deaths Registry of Ghana encouraged people to use indigenous names, but is still adamant on the use of those which it says are just titles.

There have been a lot of complaints from people who say that whenever they try to add traditional titles like Nana, Torgbui, Nii, Maame, etc. to the names of their children, the Registry said that it was not permissible by law.

Adults who were using those names had to swear affidavits at the Commissioner of Oaths to have them changed.

–

Source: Daily Heritage

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Based on surveys of refugees in Bangladesh, the number is much higher than Myanmar’s official figure of 400.

MSF said it was “the clearest indication yet of the widespread violence” by Myanmar authorities.

The Myanmar military blames the violence on “terrorists” and has denied any wrongdoing.

More than 647,000 Rohingya have fled into Bangladesh since August, MSF says.

The aid group’s survey found that at least 9,000 Rohingya died in Myanmar, also known as Burma, between 25 August and 24 September.

“In the most conservative estimations” at least 6,700 of those deaths have been caused by violence, including at least 730 children under the age of five, according to MSF.

Previously, the armed forces stated that around 400 people had been killed, most of them described as Muslim terrorists.

Causes of violent deaths

A case for the International Criminal Court?

Jonathan Head, South East Asia correspondent

There have been plenty of detailed reports by journalists and researchers, based on interviews conducted with refugees, which make it hard to dispute that terrible human rights abuses took place at the hands of the security forces.

But many of these reports focussed on the worst cases; there are several media reports about a massacre at one village called Tula Toli. Some Rohingya I interviewed told me they had fled in fear of violence, but had not actually experienced it.

This well-researched figure by MSF suggests the operation conducted by the military was brutal enough to raise the possibility of taking a case to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity.

The problem would be that Myanmar has not ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC and is not bound to co-operate with it. Bringing a case would require the approval of all five permanent members of the UN Security Council, and China has until now given its full support to the Myanmar government’s handling of the crisis.

The military crackdown began on 25 August after Rohingya Arsa militants attacked more than 30 police posts.

After an internal investigation, the Myanmar army in November exonerated itself of any blame regarding the crisis.

It denied killing any civilians, burning their villages, raping women and girls, and stealing possessions.

The mostly Muslim minority are denied citizenship by Myanmar, where they are seen as immigrants from Bangladesh. The government does not use the term Rohingya but calls them Bengali Muslims.

The government’s assertions contradicted evidence seen by BBC correspondents. The United Nations human rights chief has said it seems like “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.

“What we uncovered was staggering, both in terms of the numbers of people who reported a family member died as a result of violence, and the horrific ways in which they said they were killed or severely injured,” MSF Medical Director Sidney Wong said.

According to MSF:

69% of the violence-related deaths were caused by gunshots

9% were due to being burnt to death in their houses

5% were beaten to death.

Among the dead children below the age of five, MSF says more than 59% were reportedly shot, 15% burnt to death, 7% beaten to death and 2% killed by landmine blasts.

“The numbers of deaths are likely to be an underestimation as we have not surveyed all refugee settlements in Bangladesh and because the surveys don’t account for the families who never made it out of Myanmar,” Mr Wong said.

In November, Bangladesh signed a deal with Myanmar to return hundreds of thousands of the refugees.

MSF said the agreement was “premature” pointing out that “currently people are still fleeing” and reports of violence have come even in recent weeks.

The group also warned there was still very limited access for aid groups into Rakhine state.

The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority who have long experienced persecution in Myanmar.

–
By: BBC

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The parents also want Watch Night Services to be organized in the school to seek God’s intervention as authorities work to find a lasting solution to the matter.

[contextly_sidebar id=”EkW7J3xPY5MOlwnzxcR4f1BgYAwGw0UH”]Health officials in the Ashanti Region have ruled out Meningitis as the cause of the recent deaths at the school.

The officials however suspect a bacterial infection in the school.

Speaking to journalists, the Ashanti Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr. Emmanuel Tenkorang, said “we have done all the tests for meningitis. They are negative, so it shows that the condition is not meningitis.”

Some of the parents stormed the school on Tuesday morning and took their wards home despite the fact that they are about to start examinations next week.

The students and all staff and non-teaching staff, are also expected to be screened before the closure of the school on Friday, December 8.

Later on Tuesday, some parents were seen running about on the school premises in search of their wards.

The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, was addressing the school following a meeting with the Regional Security Council on the health crisis, when two female students collapsed sparking the action from some parents.

Some of the parents, who spoke to Citi News after a meeting with the Ashanti Regional Minister and other stakeholders, said the matter will require prayers since they believe it has spiritual connotations.

One of the parents said “It is true because it can be that physically it is not any disease, but it is spiritual. So if we are thinking about the disease, we should also think about the spiritual aspect too, so that we can organize prayers as Muslims and Christians so we can find a lasting solution to this problem.”

Another parent also said “I support what they are saying because since we don’t know the cause whether it is a disease or not, it could be a spiritual or anything, prayer is very good.”

Six students have so far been discharged from the KNUST hospital, while 18 others are still on admission.

Four students died earlier in 2017, whilst three died just last week. Another died on Tuesday morning, prompting parents to raise concerns about the safety of their wards in the school.

A medical team from the World Health Organization (WHO) is expected to partner personnel from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to administer antibiotics on students and teachers for three (3) days.

Meanwhile, the result of test conducted by the Noguchi Memorial Institute on the possible cause of the recent deaths is expected to day [Wednesday].
–
By: Hafiz Tijani/Citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The students, who nearly clashed with police officers maintaining law and order at the school on Friday evening, are demanding to go home following these deaths.

According to information available to Citi News, three students who were sick reportedly demanded exeats last week, and after they were granted, they all died within two weeks at the Hospital.

The students thus demonstrated today [Friday], when three more students fell sick and were taken to the Garden City and Manhyia Government Hospitals respectively.

The main entrance to the school was blocked with several people including parents and townsfolk demanding that authorities open the gate for them to take their wards home.

One of the students, who helped convey some of his ailing colleagues to the hospital, narrated what transpired to Citi News, “It all started last week Wednesday when we heard that one of our guys, a form one student is dead. The next week, also on a Wednesday, we also heard of the death of another form two student, and on Thursday, the following day, we heard another student had died bringing the number to three. This morning we heard about the death of another student, and also this evening we also heard another student is dead. So the students decided that if this is happening, the school should allow us to go home whether for prayers or any kind of protection. From the look of things the school hasn’t thought of allowing us to go home so we had to demonstrate for the authorities to know how serious we are about what is happening.”

Sick students stable

According to the student who wished to remain anonymous, those at the Hospital are recuperating.

“This evening we have taken three students to the Hospital. Some complained of heart attacks and headaches, and when we took them to the sick bay they complained a lot, so we decided to rush them to the Hospital. And when I was leaving the Hospital some of them were okay.”

Mysterious deaths?

He alleged that, the school has experienced about six mysterious deaths, which often occur every third term, hence students feel unsafe to stay in the school.
According to him, the students are even more scared because this time round, the deaths are happening in the second term, and management of the school appear unconcerned.

He even revealed that the Headmistress of the school is also currently unwell and on admission.

“These deaths have been occurring mostly every third term. But the reason why the students are furious is that, this time it is happening in the second term and administration is not saying anything about it. As I speak to you right now, the Headmistress herself is seriously sick and in the Hospital. So we have spoken to the Assistant Headmaster of administration and the Senior House Master, and they are saying that they may close down the school for the students to go home, so probably by tomorrow (Saturday) they will allow the students to go home.”

“I have personally witnessed about five students who have fallen sick seriously and have been taken to the Hospital. But I have also heard of the death of about six people.”

Meanwhile Citi News gathered that, the number of people dead from the school include two matrons.

Angry parents

Some of the parents who had gathered in front of the school gate expressed disappointment that the school authorities failed to come out and speak to them on what exactly was happening, and whether their kids were safe.

“Are the police officers waiting for chaos before they bring more people? The man should come and speak to us the parents so we have our peace of mind. I have two children in there and I can’t be feeling good” an angry parent said.

“We are parents and we are very worried, so kindly come out and speak to us just to calm us down. There are a lot of parents here. Why is this going on? We have rumours that some deaths are happening; that there’s cholera and all that, they should come out and speak to us” another angry father said.

The Assistant Headmaster of the School in charge of Academics, Ernest Wiafe, said the students became agitated and were becoming chaotic following rumours that another student had died after supper.

“…So in the process, there was a bit of stone throwing and some noise; and so we had to call the police who were close and they came with a little bit of reinforcement. So as you can see the situation has normalized. Unfortunately, some media houses presented a completely different story, that’s why you see a few parents outside the school trying to get their wards back home. But let me confirm that our students are all safe and they are sleeping. So the parents would have to leave and find a better time to come back and find out things for themselves.”

No food poisoning

On the matter of deaths in the school, Mr. Wiafe said none of the students died in the school, but at external health facilities. He also debunked reports that the students may have died from food poisoning in the school.

“We have two form two boys and one form one student who died. As I speak to you, we don’t know the cause of death. However they didn’t die in the school. They fell sick, reported to the sick bay, they had first aid, and the nurses sort exeat for them; their parents took them to the Hospital and they passed on. They all died on different days within a span of about fifteen days. These are isolated cases. For a very long time we haven’t recorded such situations, these are unfortunate times; we have a student population of over 2,800. In the case of the last person who died, he took an exeat, went home and the father took him to a Hospital, he was treated and discharged; later in the day he felt sick again and was taken to Tech Hospital and he died.”

He said the deaths cannot be linked to food poisoning since the entire student population ate the same food with the deceased persons.

“Nothing like food poisoning; Mind you we have a boarding population of a little over 2,100 who all take food from the dining hall. There’s also a canteen where the students go to buy food from. So if it were to be a case of food poisoning, you could have imagined the number of casualties. So we have no doubt at all, that these are students who had ailments and unfortunately passed on. However investigations by professionals are still ongoing and I believe we will know everything.”

Investigation into deaths

According to Mr. Ernest Wiafe, the matter has been reported to the municipal health directorate, which has dispatched officials to the school to collect vital information, and also do same at the hospitals where the students died, to ascertain the cause of death.

Mr. Wiafe also said closing down the school would not be necessary considering that the West African Senior High School Certificate Examination, WASSCE, is ongoing.
–
By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie & Lauretta Timah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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