“We have a full alert at the port of entry to make sure that those products will not come in. We’ve intensified post-market surveillance throughout the Easter period, we will be going around to check if any has been brought in at all. We will make sure that we collect them all, in what we call a full recall. We will go round all the supermarkets to make sure that there is none,” Chief Executive Officer of the Authority, Delese Mimi Darko, told Citi News.

[contextly_sidebar id=”JpEoUyri5Q0kCPLe5bw774do0mtGLzDf”]In the last few weeks since Rwanda’s caution on food imports from South Africa, the FDA has warned Ghanaians against purchasing possibly listeriosis infected processed meat products by Enterprise Foods.

The Authority also announced that it would destroy the meat products from Enterprise Foods in Polokwane, South Africa.

The outbreak of listeriosis has been going on since the start of 2017. According to the World Health Organisation, 978 laboratory-confirmed listeriosis cases have been reported in South Africa between January 1, 2017, and March 14, 2018. 42% of the cases have been neonates who were infected during pregnancy or delivery.

In January, Rwanda warned Ghana to ban the importation of some food products from South Africa to avert the outbreak of listeriosis. Before the warning, Rwanda had already placed a ban on some food products from South Africa.

After the warning, the Ghana’s Ministry of Health assured Ghanaians that it had beefed up surveillance in the country to forestall the outbreak and spread of the disease.

About Listeriosis

Listeriosis is food poisoning that is caused by eating foods contaminated with the Listeria monocytogenes bacterium. In pregnant women, the infection can result in miscarriage, premature delivery, serious infection of the newborn or even stillbirth.

It mainly affects pregnant women, newborns, the elderly, and adults with impaired immune systems.

According to the WHO, the outbreak in South Africa is the largest that has been detected worldwide. Due to the potentially long incubation period (one to three weeks and up to 70 days), further cases are expected before the impact of the recall of the affected food products is observed.

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By: Jeffrey Owuraku Sarpong/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post FDA intensifies surveillance to stop sale of Listeriosis meat products appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid, at a news conference today [Tuesday], said the Finance Ministry has given clearance for them to be employed. He however did not state specifically which month they will be engaged.

“This year, government is employing 32,000 health professionals, and out of that 27,000 are nurses. The 32,000 are graduates from 2014 to 2016, who are going to be employed, these are people who were left unattended to by the previous administration and we are going to employ them.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”ZiEXFW4Pf8XdbCRMSc8Ai5Nf0T8ou4cj”]This comes after a new group of graduate nurses picketed at the Ministry of Health asking to be employed by government.

Picketing at the Health Ministry to demand employment has become a common phenomenon for various health professionals in the country especially in the last three (3) years.

The about 200 graduates who picketed at the Ministry on Monday say several appeals to the Ministry of Health to engage them after they completed school in 2016, have not yielded results.

Some of the nurses were clad in red and wielded placards with messages that urged government to immediately address their concerns.

The aggrieved students were prepared to spend the night at the Ministry if authorities failed to post them, but they were dispersed by police personnel, only to return to the Ministry today [Tuesday].

Last week, another group of bonded unemployed nurses and midwives staged a protest at the Ministry of Health to demand posting.

They said they have been idling at home for the past two years after successfully leaving school and completing their mandatory national service.

But Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid at the press conference said the picketing must stop because the Health Ministry will soon be posting them.

“Once the paper works are done, the Health Ministry will begin to post them across the country.”

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By: Sammi Wiafe/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Stop picketing; we’ll employ 32,000 nurses this year – Gov’t appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The protesting nurses were chanting “2020 we go show Nana” to convey their displeasure with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Sl71oSAc9Rb5n9YAa77I7MhvpkICm9Ku”]This is after over 200 of them on Monday picketed at the Ministry to mount pressure on the government to employ them.

According to them, several appeals to the Ministry to engage them after they completed school two years ago, have been unsuccessful.

Speaking to Citi News on Tuesday morning, some of the aggrieved nurses vowed to remain there until their demands are met.

The nurses had been forcibly sacked from the Ministry premises by police, who said they would not allow the protesters to sleep there, and that their actions contravened the Public Order Act.

They subsequently accused the police of being insensitive to their plight, whilst others alleged that the police engaged in some acts of brutality.

“Yesterday [Monday], the police came and drove us away. We had to go to the TV3 premises and that was where we slept… There were two ladies. One of them had a broken leg. We were trying to help her. The way they were beating us, it as if we don’t matter in the country,” the nurses complained.

“We all went to government schools. See the private nurses, they are being posted… when we write our application to the private institutions, they will not take us because they will tell us we will be posted [by the government] and leave them,” the nurses further complained.

No money for clearance

In response to the nurses’ demands, a Deputy Minister of Health, Tina Mensah, attributed government’s inability to post them to lack of funds.

She indicated that the nurses will be posted as soon as they get clearance from the Finance Ministry.

“We never had the clearance. When there is clearance in payment then you have to introduce the people, alert them and push them to do whatever they have to do. When the money is available you can clear them,” she said.

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By: Michael Ogbodu/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ‘2020 we go show Nana’ – Jobless graduate nurses continue protests appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

They lamented that two years since completing their training, they are yet to be posted by government.

Speaking in an interview with Citi News, the National President of a group of nurses, calling themselves the Ghana Nurse Midwife Trainee Association, Batiah Sami-Ulah Santi, said they had already obtained the necessary clearance and documentation but are yet to be assigned to health centres.

[contextly_sidebar id=”aIMfeOq25FBwpI0kcbVbMPzjSkHfGElg”]According to Batiah Sami-Ulah Santi, the Ministry of Health has shown little interest in posting them although the nation needs their services.

They were the first groups of nurses who completed the training without the allowances and hence were not bonded.

“We are about 9,905 in number. These nurses have been at home for more than 15 months now and are still not being engaged by government.”

He said when the president’s attention was drawn to their “he directed the Minister to respond.”

“The Minister while in front of the president stated that they had almost exhausted the 2017 budget but they look forward to adding this group of nurses to the 2018 budget to get them employed, hopefully, by the first quarter of 2018. We thought that was convincing because we had met with the president and he has given his word on it and right now we are in February. The Ministry of Health is not making any progress or saying anything positive about engaging us,” Batiah Sami-Ulah Santi added.

Bonded jobless nurses picket again at Health Ministry
Scores of bonded unemployed nurses and midwives earlier on Tuesday besieged the premises of the Ministry of Health to demand posting.

The trained health professionals said they have been idling at home for the past two years after successfully leaving school and completing their mandatory national service.

The spokesperson of the group, Daniel Obuor, told Citi News that the Ministry had failed to respond to their various letters over their unemployment.

“We have been here several times and each time we come they will tell you they are working on it. They will say go and come the next day… We just went there are they are still telling us that they don’t have our list. We are having challenges. We are now burdens in our homes,” he said.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post More jobless nurses demand immediate posting appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

[contextly_sidebar id=”LDKKmunC91xkhJ2QErJ2UiYDs1DR192b”]Sources closely involved with the project had early on revealed to Citi News that an agreement was signed between the Ministry of Health and the University of Ghana in 2015, which gave ownership of the $217 million facility to the university.

Following this agreement, the university established a company, the University of Ghana Medical Center (UGMC) Limited to serve as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that will oversee the operations of the facility.

But the Ministry of Health in recent times, is laying claim to the facility, leading to uncertainty over who has the responsibility to manage the centre.

Mr. Casely Hayford on Citi FM’s News Analysis Programme, The Big Issue, said a decision to sell the facility to a private entity will resolve the impasse between the two parties.

“Sell the facility to a private institution and let them brand it. They [UG] have set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). The SPV is suppose to take over and run it as a private company but it will not work because government still wants a part of the pie,” he suggested.

He also wondered why the Public Services Commission and Parliament had not yet summoned the University of Ghana and the Ministry over the issue.

“The Public Services Commission should call government and the University of Ghana and sort the issue. This thing has been raging from time to time but who is responsible? Which institution or body is responsible? If it is Public Services Commission, what are they sitting down doing when we have a facility that is going to waste? Exactly what is Parliament doing?

“Isn’t there a sub committee in Parliament responsible for healthcare so why have they not been called to book? Why has Parliament not summoned the University of Ghana people and the government and sat them down and said; you must solve this problem, we are giving you 30 days. “

Mr. Hayford’s suggestion comes a day after the Ghana Medical Association [GMA] called on President Nana Akufo-Addo to bring an end to what it described as the “unhealthy tussle” over the facility.

Background

The UG Medical Centre, which has its first phase completed and ready to commence operations, was inaugurated by former President John Mahama in 2016.

Whereas the University believes processes leading to the construction of the facility gives it a direct oversight role of the Medical Centre, the current Ministry of Health under the Akufo-Addo government thinks otherwise.

A Deputy Minister of Health, Kingsley Aboagye Gyedu, had earlier said government currently needs about $6 million to make the facility operational, and an additional $50 million to complete the phase two of the project.

Fight for UG Medical centre

The immediate past Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Ernest Aryeetey, has also charged the current university administration to fight to ensure that they have overall control of the Medical Centre.

“The University needs to stand up and fight for what is rightfully its property,” he noted in a Citi News interview.

1,400 staff were shortlisted

A former Deputy Health Minister, Rojo Mettle Nunoo recently said about 1,400 personnel had already been shortlisted and ready to be recruited as staff of the Medical Centre before the John Mahama administration was kicked out of office.

According to him, a total of 28,000 applied to work for the Centre, out of which 1,400 were selected.

Mr. Nunoo said the previous government had an adequate plan in place on the way forward for the Centre, adding that all was set for the facility to be operational before the NDC left office.

“Government will pay salaries so we got the Public Service Commission to agree to the establishment of the hospital and 28,000 people applied to be staff of the hospital. We did interviews and the first round of over 1,400 or so people were identified and appointment letters were going to be given. The Fair Wages Commission had also agreed with the salary structure of the hospital and given approval,” he said in a Citi News interview last week.

Citi News has in the last few days also exposed a number of health projects undertaken by successive governments which cost the taxpayer several millions of dollars but have been abandoned.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

The post Sell UG Medical Centre to private entity – Casely-Hayford appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Republic of Rwanda had earlier warned Ghana to ban the importation of some food products from South Africa to avert the outbreak of the Listeriosis disease.

[contextly_sidebar id=”uIzRByrSdegmJ1hrcWg0ORv0sirr1lOh”]Listeriosis is food poisoning caused by eating food contaminated with Listeria Monocytogenes which affects meat and dairy product, fruits and vegetables.

The infection according to medical practitioners, results in miscarriage among pregnant women, cause premature delivery, cause serious infection to newborns, and even leads to stillbirth.

The Health Ministry in a statement signed by the sector Minister, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, said there is no cause for alarm as measures have been put in place to prevent the outbreak of Listeriosis in the country.

“In view of the public health concern and to avoid a similar outbreak here in Ghana, the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) is monitoring the situation and has increased surveillance on meat, dairy products, fruits and vegetables from South Africa to ensure that they are not contaminated.”

“All officers at the various ports of entry have been tasked to be more vigilant and inspections have been intensified. We are therefore assuring the Ghanaian public that there is no cause for alarm and we shall continue to monitor, investigate and assess the quality of plant and animal products coming from South Africa,” the statement added.

GAWU calls for restriction on food imports from SA  

The General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU), had also called for the immediate ban on the importation of food products from South Africa.

According to GAWU, a further delay by government could put Ghanaians at a high risk.

“That is what we should do immediately because until we are satisfied that products coming from South Africa are wholesome to be consumed, then the immediate thing to do is ban before we go into anything,” General Secretary of GAWU Edward Kareweh said.

Agric Ministry warned

Already, the Republic of Rwanda through its Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, announced a ban on the 19th of December, 2017, from South Africa, to prevent a possible spread of the disease.

According to a document sighted by Citi News, the Republic of Rwanda is insisting that the ban remains indefinite until South Africa brings it under control—as it urges other countries to do same until the disease is completely eliminated from the continent.

“In view of recent measures being taken by some African countries to mitigate the spread of Listeriosis, your ministries may be alerted to these actions to inform the formulation of appropriate preventive measures,” the document warned.

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By: Farida Yusif /citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post No cause for alarm; Health Ministry allays fears of Listeriosis in Ghana appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The vaccines were expected to arrive over the weekend, but the Ministry in a press statement said suppliers had indicated that there will be a slight delay in the delivery.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Ru3L8AwVkArHXnqP9M5yQ971yU6iu83Q”]“The Ministry of Health with the support of the World Health Organisation, WHO, have procured vaccines and have taken steps to airlift them to Ghana for urgent use.

The Ministry says inasmuch as efforts are being made to facilitate the process, the supplier has indicated that there will be a slight delay in delivery.

“It is expected that; the vaccine will arrive in Accra by the middle of next week. The Ministry of Health and WHO are closely following up to ensure this is expedited. The vaccines will be immediately deployed for immediate use on arrival. We will keep you updated on any new development,” the statement said.

Apart from the vaccines, the country was also expected to take delivery of the anti-viral agents Tamiflu from the World Health Organization, as part of measures to combat the threat of the disease.

The drug, Tamiflu, was given to tens of thousands of people during the swine flu pandemic in 2009.

The disease has been detected in at least a dozen students of Kumasi Academy in the Ashanti Region, where four students are suspected to have died from it.

The school’s students and staff were administered some other antiviral agents, and the school was also fumigated, following the detection of the swine flu.

Aside from the suspected outbreak of swine flu at Kumasi Academy, a death from meningitis was recorded at the Koforidua Secondary Technical School in the Eastern Region.

Other meningitis deaths were recorded at the Damango Senior High School in the Northern Region and the Bawku Secondary Technical and Tempane SHS both in the Upper East Region.

Response action

The Ministry in the statement also outlined measures it had taken to prevent a further spread of the disease .

These measures are listed below :

1. Alert has been sent to all health facilities for heightened awareness, early case detection and improved case management.

2. Enhanced surveillance in all the schools and communities.

3. Public education is ongoing.

4. Contact tracing initiated and ongoing.

5. National Technical Coordinating Committee (NTCC), Regional and District Public Health Emergency Management Committees activated.

6. Vaccines and more antivirals for H1N1 arranged for.

7. Initiated process to enhance School Health

8. Designating a hospital to each second cycle institution.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

The post Arrival of Swine flu vaccines to delay – Health Ministry appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Four students have died in the last week because of an unidentified ailment, prompting panicked parents to rush to the school to withdraw their wards.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Tj7q3hlNkpIJYfxf7TzE3EcVYjD3s4rO”]With no confirmed cause of the deaths from the Health Ministry, several purported causes have been suggested by health officials.

Despite earlier suggestions that the deaths were caused by meningitis, officials from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) have since ruled it out, and are instead, suspecting a bacterial infection.

The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, also had to refute claims by some media outlets that he had attributed the deaths to Ebola.

But according to the Minister of Health, experts at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research of the University of Ghana, were still working on the samples they had obtained from the school to determine the cause of the deaths.

“I’ve indicated that Noguchi is still working on samples and they haven’t confirmed whatever suspicions the doctors have to enable us look at what it is. For now, we are doing chemotherapy trying to give whatever medication that can prevent further infections to the students in the school,” he said.

Health officials in the Ashanti Region, have begun administering antibiotics to students in a bid to curb the situation.

Kwaku Agyeman Manu, speaking in Parliament after he was summoned to the House to brief the legislators on the current state of the matter, however expressed worry that some parents had already taken their children home.

The Ministry of Education has since called on parents to allow their wards return to the school to take the antibiotics which are being distributed to both the students and teachers of the school.

The Health Minister reiterated this point in Parliament, expressing his fears that if the condition was eventually revealed to be communicable, it would place other members of the students’ families and neighbours at risk.

“Unfortunately last night, information came up that parents have taken their wards from the school and this has become another health challenge because the medical advice said that we should contain them in the school, and manage them more efficiently. The problem we now have is that, if the disease is confirmed to be a very contagious one, it will mean that those who have come out of the school into their family homes are going to help spread the disease. That is the challenge we are confronted with,” he said.

19 students of the school are currently on admission, with 16 at the KNUST hospital, and three others at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).

The Deputy Education Minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, told the media when he visited the school on Wednesday, that government will do everything possible to address the problem.

He also said the school will be closed down to allow for further investigations after the drugs are administered.

Some parents had earlier called for intensified prayers into the recent deaths at the Academy, as they suspect the happenings there could have spiritual origins.

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.

The MP for Asawase, Muntaka Mubarak, had earlier warned that people in his constituency who are extremely worried about the lack of clarity on the issues might start attributing the situation to a number of factors which could create panic.

“Mr. Speaker, my fear is that, if we are not careful, that school will be empty with all the infrastructure that it has because you will hear people in Kumasi saying it is occultism, it is spiritual, it is some demons that are in the school. All manner of things are being said,” the legislator said.

The Health Minister called on MPs and other officials to be ‘professional’ in how they address the matter so as not to create ‘unnecessary panic.’

“I want to advise that in order not to create unnecessary tension and panic in the system, those of us who are talking about the issue should be a little professional in the way they speak.”

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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post KUMACA deaths: Test results not ready – Health Minister appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Despite the growing demand for his removal by the staff, the Ministry says removing him would serve as a bad precedent.

[contextly_sidebar id=”zTmvHwrI6TIQFeNlI94gANSjceqp0qRI”]The Nurses at the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital in the Central Region, have laid down their tools, in an attempt to compel the government to remove the Director who they accused of maladministration and showing gross disrespect to subordinates.

Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Health, Robert Cudjoe, indicated to Citi News that the committee set up to deliberate on the impasse had asked the aggrieved nurses to be patient with their director.

Dr. Dordoye has already in a four-page letter, apologized to the staff, and he admitted that the approach he used in attempting to implement his reforms may have angered the staff.

“What is happening is that, we asked the staff to bear with the director for a while and see what happens with what they have leveled against him. He could probably change the style of his administration,” Mr. Cudjoe said.

Besides this, he added that “I don’t think if we go on that tangent, it will help anybody because it may set a precedent which will not help this nation at all. If staff get up and start agitating that they want a director [sacked] and a Minister goes by that decision and takes him away, it is going to set a precedent for others to follow suit.”

“So we are waiting to see within the next few months if he changes and if not, the appropriate action will be leveled against him or something… three to six months should be okay for him to change for the better,” Mr. Cudjoe said.

On the way forward for the strike, a representative of the nurses declined further comment when Citi News contacted him.

The staff, however said there is a meeting scheduled for today  [Tuesday], to further deliberate on issues.

By: AJ Akuoko Sarpong/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Removing Ankaful Director will set bad precedent – Gov’t appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The country incurred a $2.4 million loss after 30 ambulances were procured in 2014 by the Ministry of Health, but were later found to be faulty.

[contextly_sidebar id=”ddiDdqheNNg6xkKVK4Kr77ZjHKuTfebk”]With 200 ambulances originally supposed to be purchased, the government suspended the deal after the ones which had been delivered did not meet required specifications.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Minority spokesperson on Finance stated that, the Finance Ministry at the time only “issued at sight letters of credit” on behalf of the Health Ministry after they had put in a request.

“The Ministry of Finance also instructed the Controller and Accountant General’s Department to pay for the bank charges accrued to the Bank of Ghana as a result of the issuance of letters of credit on behalf of the Ministry of Health,” the statement from Ato Forson said.

“It is important to note that letters of credit issued by the Bank of Ghana is only a guarantee for payment and not payment in itself.”

According to him,  the letter only guaranteed that payment would only be made once the supplier of the ambulances fulfilled their end of the agreement.

“In modern business practice, a letter of credit (LC) also known as a Documentary Credit, is a written commitment by a bank issued after a request by an importer (foreign buyer) that payment will be made to the beneficiary (exporter) provided that the terms and conditions stated in the LC been met, as evidenced by the presentation of specified documents,” the statement added.

” I, Cassiel Ato Forson acting as Deputy Minister of Finance then, never made payment to Big Seas for the supply of ambulances.

‘Unfit ambulances result of no inspection’

With fingers being pointed at several officials over the acquisition of the faulty ambulances, the Executive Director of the National Ambulance Service, Prof. Ahmed Zakariah, revealed that the vehicles were not inspected before the payment was made.

According to him, there should have been inspections at various levels of the production to ensure that the manufacturer was producing exactly what was required by the country when it was being procured in 2015 under the John Mahama government.

“Ordinarily, there should have been three inspection processes; one before the start of the production to enable the manufacturer to gather the specifications of government, and the second is in the course of production to ensure that the vehicles are being produced according to the given specifications, and the final one should have been after the vehicle had been produced, to confirm that all the specifications have been followed.”

Story So Far:

September 13 – EOCO to investigate purchase of 30 ambulances $2.4 million, under the Mahama administration

September 13 – Former Health Minister Alex Segbefia denies contract for ambulances was signed under his tenure

September 14 – Executive Director of the National Ambulance Service says ambulances weren’t inspected before purchase

September 18 – Cassiel Ato Forson denies sanctioning payment for faulty ambulances

Below is the full statement from Cassiel Ato Forson:

I have become aware of a series of media reportage indicating that I, Cassiel Ato Forson acting as the Deputy Finance Minister authorized payment of some defective ambulances ‘procured’ in 2014 by the ministry of health.

I want to put on record that the Ministry of Finance only acted upon an instruction from the Ministry of Health to issue at sight letters of credit on their behalf using MOH 2014 budgetary allocations.

The Ministry of Finance also instructed the Controller and Accountant General’s Department to pay for the bank charges accrued to the Bank of Ghana as a result of the issuance of letters of credit on behalf of the Ministry of Health.

It is important to note that letters of credit issued by the Bank of Ghana is only a guarantee for payment and not payment in itself.

It is only when the supplier fulfills their part of the obligation under the contract that payment will be made.

In modern business practice, a letter of credit (LC) also known as a Documentary Credit, is a written commitment by a bank issued after a request by an importer (foreign buyer) that payment will be made to the beneficiary (exporter) provided that the terms and conditions stated in the LC been met, as evidenced by the presentation of specified documents.

At Sight — A credit that the announcer bank immediately pays after inspecting the carriage documents from the seller.

Finally, I, Cassiel Ato Forson acting as Deputy Minister of Finance then NEVER made PAYMENT to BIG SEAS for the supply of ambulances.

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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post I didn’t sanction payment for ‘useless’ ambulances – Ato Forson appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.