The Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu on Point Blank on Eyewitness News explains why the government has postponed the distribution of ambulances procured for the 1-Constituency 1-Ambulance initiative.

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A total number of 2,240,202 registered people across the 25 districts of the Volta region are expected to benefit from the distribution of 1,414,62 Long Lasting Insecticide Nets.

The distribution of the LLIN will commence from March 27 to 29 and will continue after the Easter festivities, from April 3 to 6 this year.

Dr. Yaw Ofori Yeboah, the Deputy Volta Regional Director of Public Health of the Ghana Health Service, making this known at 2018 LLIN Distribution Stakeholders Meeting ahead of the National Campaign launch, said the distribution of the nets is free of charge and charged the public to report anyone seen selling the nets.

He added that the ideal usage is two persons per mosquito net.

To ensure a smooth and fair exercise without nets being diverted to unapproved endpoints, he said the Ministry is working in collaboration with the Ghana Police Service.

He advised users against frequent washing of the nets to protect the efficacy of the chemicals in them. He also warned the general public against the use of the net for food preservation and purposes which are not in line with the fight against malaria.

The average Long Lasting Insecticide Net, LLIN  approved by the Ministry of Health has on it contact numbers of Ghana Health Service and its logo, and can last for a maximum of three (3) years.

Togbe Kweku Ayim IIII, Paramount Chief of Ziavi Traditional area, addressing the participants suggested that much education on the use of the LLIN should be channeled through religious and traditional leaders in the various communities to achieve significant results.

The workshop held in Ho was attended by representatives of  Red Cross, Department of Children and Women, NADMO, NCCE, Media, Religious and Traditional leaders.

The  Ministry (MoH) in partnership with, USAID, PMI, Vector  Words and GlobalFund will later launch the National Distribution Campaign on March 28 at Adidome in the North Tongu district of the Volta region.

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By: King Nobert Akpabli/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The deceased was on admission at the Tema General Hospital with general body weakness, severe headaches and profuse vomiting of blood clots.

[contextly_sidebar id=”kBTBKzR8vQrND3oXW3E5eo1xZmrdjzHE”]Prior to his admission, he was said to have traveled through the Eastern, Volta and Brong Ahafo Regions but finally settled at Ashaiman for about a month.

Head of Public Relations Unit at the Ghana Health Service, Rebecca Ackwuonu, told Citi News the Ministry of Health is mounting a strict surveillance on people the deceased came into contact with prior to his brief stay at the Tema General Hospital.

“He settled in Ashaiman for about a month trying to look for a job, and the incubation is between two and twenty-one days, so we are limiting it to Tema and Ashaiman, and we have started contacting people already, our surveillance department is doing that now,” she said.

The Ministry said it has already supervised the burial of the deceased.

Ghana was alerted of the disease recently following an outbreak in Nigeria. The World Health Organization (WHO), has said it is teaming up with national and international health agencies to tackle what has been noted to be the country’s biggest outbreak.

The latest figures show 1,081 suspected cases of the disease, including 90 deaths.

This number is more than the 305 cases reported all of last year in Nigeria.

Authorities of the Ghana Health Service have told Citi News they are currently in a meeting to find a solution to the outbreak.

General information on Lass fever

Lassa fever is an Acute Viral Haemorrhagic Fever illness which is endemic in West Africa. The incubation period is 6-21 days.

The onset of the fever has non-specific signs and symptoms but fever, general weakness and malaise have been noted in its early stages.

This is followed by headaches, sore throat, muscle pain, chest pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pains.

Severe cases may progress to show facial swelling, and bleeding.

Shock, seizures, disorientation, and coma may be seen in the late stages.

About 80 % of Lassa Fever infections are mild or asymptomatic.

WHO has said the best way to prevent the disease is by promoting good community hygiene to discourage rodents that spread the disease from entering homes.

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By: Farida Yusif/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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A number of Ghanaians have complained to Citi News that they are forced to pay exorbitant fees at private health facilities for MRI scans due to the breakdown of government-owned machines.

[contextly_sidebar id=”HZC1ioNfc9BYS7lxS0NBxr7Fw41SBBaU”]Speaking to Citi News, the Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, said although they are working on dealing with the challenges, he was not aware of the difficulty at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.

“I don’t know of the situation in Korle Bu, it is my major concern. I have asked the parent company that produces the equipment to come for some testing, and they have sent me a report and I  thought it had been fixed. I remembered saying to them that, if it was getting very bad they should find a way to refill and we will talk about it later,” he said.

He added that his office has admitted the challenges and is working to have the problem addressed.

A report filed by Citi FM’s Eugenia Tenkorang revealed that a number of distressed people were turned away by Ghana’s biggest health facility, the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital because the CT and MRI scan machines have all broken down.

These patients had no other alternatives than to go to private facilities which charge higher fees.

‘EOCO investigates‘

The Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO),  investigated the breakdown of MRI and CT scan machines at some five major government hospitals across the country.

But the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, revealed that “EOCO is investigating the project that installed the MRIs in the hospitals that are not working. They have not completed their investigations so we haven’t gotten any report from them yet.”

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By: Farida Yusif/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The graduates said several appeals to the Ministry for employment after they completed school in 2016, have not yielded results.

Citi News’ Michael Ogbodu reported that some of the nurses were clad in red and wielded placards with messages that urged government to immediately address their concerns.

The aggrieved students say they are prepared to spend the night at the Ministry if authorities fail to post them.

The leader of the group, Samuel Asante, told Citi News they believe they are being treated unfairly by the ministry.

“We are not moving an inch. We are here with our mosquito coils and everything so if we don’t get our posting, we are not leaving here,” he said.

He explained that the Ministry is trying to deliberately exclude them from the ongoing postings although clearance was given for all trainees from 2012 to 2016.

“We had a meeting with the Deputy Minister [Kingsley Aboagye Gyedu] and he tried to compare us with the private nurses saying that since we are not bonded, we are not part of the posting. It didn’t go down well with us and that is why we are here this afternoon to seek our immediate posting because they have released clearance and it is supposed to be given to the 2012 – 2016 batch of nurses so why is it that we who completed in the government-training centers, and we are being denied of posting now?” he said.

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.

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 government has consistently given assurances that it will address their demands, but that has often been after series of protests including picketing at the ministry.

Late in 2017, a group of unemployed nurses spent two days at the Ministry demanding their posting. They had their issue resolved after they spent the night at the Ministry.

This appears to have set a precedent that has seen many other trainee nurses picket the ministry’s premises demanding posting and threatening to spend the night there.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Over 200 jobless nurses vow to sleep at MoH over delayed postings appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The decision was arrived at after an emergency meeting today [Friday] between the Ministry and the medical director.

[contextly_sidebar id=”NXjML8P0yk3cowTicvaNbw8VTxJi6SQq”]The nurses and physician assistants at the facility withdrew their services earlier this week, and demanded that Dr. Dordoye’s appointment be terminated, claiming that he disrespects them and so they cannot work with him.

Dr. Dordoye will take a management training course which is expected to help him improve his relationship and interactions with the staff at the hospital.

In an interview with Citi News, Public Relations Officer for the Health Ministry, Robert Cudjoe, said a new director will take over next week.

“It was at a meeting that this came out. Dr. Dordorye was with us at the meeting and we all agreed that he should give way for another person to act…As time goes on, another person will take over from him,” said Mr. Cudjoe.

When asked whether Dr.Dordorye will return to head the hospital after the course, Robert Cudjoe said,”it’s possible but the chances of that are very small.”

Meeting called off

The Ministry of Health had earlier called off a planned meeting with nurses at the hospital aimed at resolving the impasse.

This is because the staff had refused to be part of that meeting.

Spokesperson for the staff, Emmanuel Ofori, had told Citi News earlier that “if the minister has intentions of removing him, he doesn’t need us in Accra before doing that. When we went there the other time, certain comments he passed really put us off. That is why we didn’t want to go there”

“Does the Minister need us to sign that the hospital director has been transferred or reshuffled or relieved of his post? He doesn’t need that”, Mr. Ofori said in an earlier post.

Staff get their way

The news of Dr. Dordoye’s removal, although temporary, will be welcomed by the staff of the hospital who had claimed that his presence at the facility posed a danger to their mental and physical health.

Among other things, they had accused him of putting them through emotional and psychological stress.

Aside from withdrawing their services at the facility, the nurses had also threatened to release the patients at the hospital if their demands were not met.  This was the second time they had embarked on strike.

The staff are now expected to resume work. The Mental Health Authority had earlier stated that the medical doctor was going to undertake a three to four months course to improve on his human relations with the workers.

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By: Jonas Nyabor & Zoe Abu-Baidoo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Ministry hopes to resolve the growing resentment of staff of the facility against their director, Dr. Eugene Dordoye, which has seen the staff declaring a strike for the second time.

[contextly_sidebar id=”sxYM6cSihBtwZKsmmYfVXjTU6PVjdPxa”] The staff say Dr. Dordoye’s presence at the facility poses a danger to their mental and physical health.

Among other things, they accused him of putting them through emotional and psychological stress.

Although the Mental Health Authority has urged the staff to reconsider their decision, they insist they will not return to work until Dr. Dordoye is finally removed from the facility.

The Public Relations Officer for the Ministry of Health, Robert Cudjoe, in a Citi News interview said that the emergency meeting today [Friday] will help to bring closure on the matter so as not to further jeopardize mental health care at the facility.

“It is a worrying situation. The minister is calling an emergency meeting [on Friday] to take a decisive decision on this matter. His demeanor and management style is not one that we can write home about. We thought that we can talk to him to be of good behavior. In fact his administration is not bad, he has managed the facility well, there is discipline now. But I think his attitude towards staff is not one of the best,” Robert Cudjoe said.

‘Human relation courses’

The embattled Medical Director, Eugene Dordoye, is currently undertaking some courses to improve his interpersonal and human relation skills.

This is according to Mental Health Authority which has urged the staff to back down on their action, arguing that they will have a legitimate concern if after the courses, Dr. Dordoye persists with his poor human relations.

‘Medical Director will not be removed’

The striking health professionals embarked on an industrial action in 2017 over the same matter, but the government said removing the director will set a bad precedent.

“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,” the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Health, Robert Cudjoe said in an interview.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Health Ministry holds emergency meeting over Ankaful impasse appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

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.

[contextly_sidebar id=”gPm0RVNAeF8K7wumG2K5RnKPTaZwcoFW”]The spokesperson of the group, Daniel Obuor, said the Ministry has 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.

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 government has consistently given assurances that it will address their demands, but that has often been after series of protests including picketing at the ministry.

Late in 2017, a group of unemployed nurses spent two days at the Ministry demanding their posting. They had their issue resolved after they spent the night at the Ministry.

Some of the frustrated jobless nurses now deem it worthwhile to refer their concerns to the media since they believe the Ministry deliberately ignore their concerns and fail to respond to letters over their unemployment.

The commitment of the government to absorbing these doctors, and healthcare in general, was recently questioned when one of the doctors wrote to Citi FM conveying the frustration of the jobless doctors who ready to serve the country.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Bonded jobless nurses picket again at Health Ministry appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

In a statement issued after a meeting of the National Executive Council of the GMA, the Association stressed that “there should be a speedy and amicable solution to this impasse,” in the interest of the nation.

[contextly_sidebar id=”JkQ3XFWuOSz6lSXm8IsEy26byhYPCioi”]The facility has been idle since the commissioning of its first phase  in January 2017, because authorities of the University are at odds with the Health Ministry on who should manage the facility.

Cabinet is believed to have met over the operationalization of the facility, and other abandoned health facilities across the country this past Thursday.

“The GMA, therefore, calls on His Excellency the President of the Republic of Ghana to speedily intervene to bring an immediate resolution to this matter. This would ensure that the facility is as quickly as possible started to offer the much-needed health services and research it was designed to offer, and also generate the necessary income,” the Association’s statement said.

The statement expressed its dissatisfaction with the delays associated with the granting of financial clearance for medical officers.

It also called on the government to “rectify this administrative bottlenecks immediately to enable these medical officers to begin work, and also take all necessary steps to prevent future occurrences.”

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, has 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 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: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Nana Addo must end UG Medical Centre impasse – GMA appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to the Ministry, it is in talks with the Finance Ministry to release funds for the doctor’s clearance and posting.

[contextly_sidebar id=”dBbBhDPxbREIDi6W65DiXoqalbJhMRar”]Speaking to Citi News, the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Health, Robert Cudjoe, explained that “the policy of the government is that, they want the backlog to be cleared so that going forward, when our brothers and sisters complete their national service, they will be posted.”

Mr. Cudjoe added that, although the concerns of the unemployed doctors are legitimate, it is unfair to accuse the government of being inconsiderate to their plight.

“We are aware of the fact that there are still a few pending clearances that we are waiting to be given by finance, so for our brothers and sisters not to go through the normal process by getting closer and getting to know exactly what we are doing and all of a sudden going on air, I think it is not the best.”

Some doctors who are without work renewed calls to the government to urgently resolve the perennial issues that surround their absorption into the public health system.

The doctors, who completed their housemanship in 2017, have since not been absorbed by the Ghana Health Service, and according to them, this is largely due to the failure by the Ministry of Finance to grant them clearance.

Junior doctors seeking greener pastures

Amidst these problems, disillusioned junior doctors are seeking external opportunities because of the tedious processes within Ghana’s health sector.

The number of Ghanaian doctors in New York are reported to be almost equal or more than doctors in Ghana put together in Ghana.

According to the General Secretary of the Junior Doctors Association, Mawuena Hafeh, who disclosed this, he is also seeking for opportunities overseas.

“A lot of people are seeking opportunities outside the government sector because it seems like these days, it is quite difficult to work for the government. We seem to be practically begging all the time for the government to give financial clearance to begin working.”

“So there are opportunities out there which quite a number of doctors are now exploiting these days and these are not limited to travelling outside to work in other countries,” Dr. Hafeh said.

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By: Naa Kwarmah Siaw Marfo & Caleb Kudah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Be patient, you’ll be posted soon – MoH to junior doctors appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.