A new study looked at Canadians returning from trips to Zika-affected regions who sought treatment at a national network of travel clinics.

Researchers examined 1,118 patients who visited one of those clinics over a year.

They say they found a higher rate of complicated illness than anticipated in Zika patients.

The research was published on Monday in the the Canadian Medical Association Journal and the doctors behind the limited study say it underscores the importance of prevention.

The Canadian patients in the study visited one of seven travel clinics in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec between October 2015 and September 2016 and had travelled to Central and South America or the Caribbean.

Forty-one patients were diagnosed with Zika. Researchers found that 10% of patients with the virus had severe complications. None of the patients who came to the clinic with comparable tropical illnesses like dengue or chikungunya developed severe complications.

The most common symptoms that the Zika-infected travellers experienced were rash and fever followed by muscle or joint pain or headaches.

But of the three pregnant women who visited one of the clinics, two developed congenital infections that affected their babies.

Two patients showed symptoms of Guillain-Barré or GBS-like syndrome, which can cause temporary paralysis and has been linked to the infection, and one also had Zika viral meningitis.

Except for one case of infection through sexual intercourse, Zika cases that were part of the study were most likely transmitted by mosquitoes.

Dr Sumon Chakrabarti is an infectious disease expert at Trillium Health Partners, a Toronto-based hospital group, and was one of the researchers on the study.

He noted Canadians are “big travellers” to those regions and need to take steps to protect themselves from infection.

“We need to keep prevention in mind. Complications are rare but they exist,” he said.

That means protecting against mosquito bites using clothing and a repellent with picaridin or DEET, and considering putting off travel to affected regions if you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant.

He also said it is important to wear condoms during sex if you or your partner travelled to one of the regions affected by the virus.

And Dr Chakrabarti said pregnant women whose partners have travelled to regions with Zika should use protection during sex for the full duration of the pregnancy.

The researchers did note the study was limited by its small size – the sample group made up only 12% of Canadians who contracted Zika virus over that time period.

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Source: BBC

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The conference will be held at the Sunyani Coronation Park.

Below is an infographic about ten key things to know about the conference:

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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post 10 groups of NPP members attending Sunyani Conference [Infographic] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The publication has raised questions about the propriety of the  contract.

The infographic below provides 10 things to know about the controversial deal.

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By: Mawuli Tsikata/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post 10 things to know about the AMERI Power deal [Infographic] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The report dubbed “Accessing the Effectiveness of the Media in Ghana’s Democracy”, was launched at the NCCE’s 5th Dialogue Series in Accra.

The infographic below provides the breakdown of where Ghanaians turn to for information.

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By: Mawuli Tsikata/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Where Ghanaians turn to for information [Infographic] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The report dubbed “People and Corruption: Africa Survey 2015″ sampled 43,143 respondents across 28 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa between March 2014 and September 2015.

In February 2015, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) in its “Socio-economic and Governance” survey, ranked Ghana’s presidency as the 2nd most corrupt public institution.

The infographic below shows the breakdown of corruption perception in Ghana by Transparency International.

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By: Mawuli Tsikata/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post 47% of Ghanaians think Mahama is corrupt – Report [Infographic] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The report was released to commemorate the International Anti-Corruption Day which fell on Wednesday December 9.

The infographic below captures some of the highlights of the report:

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By: Sandister Tei/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post UN report: $3.6 trillion goes into corruption annually [Infographic] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

There are an estimated one billion disabled people in the world out of total population of 7 billion, i.e. 1 out every 7 people are disabled.  The UN has described PWDs as “the World’s Largest Minority”.

5 million disabled persons live in Ghana

According to the Ghana Federation Of Persons With Disabilities, “People with disabilities in Ghana are often regarded as unproductive and incapable of contributing in a positive way to society, and rather seen as constituting an economic burden on the family and the society at large, which leaves them in a vicious cycle of poverty.”

The Federation says “In developing countries, there are rarely strong disability movements actively working to improve the living conditions for people living with disabilities. Disabled persons are often only weakly represented in civil society and Ghana is no exception.”

According to the United Nations, “evidence and experience shows that when barriers to  [people with disabilities] are removed and persons with disabilities are empowered to participate fully in societal life, their entire community benefits. Barriers faced by persons with disabilities are therefore a detriment to society as a whole, and accessibility is necessary to achieve progress and development for all.”

Disabilities and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Disability is referenced in various parts of the SDGs and specifically in parts related to education, growth and employment, inequality, accessibility of human settlements, as well as data collection and monitoring of the SDGs, for instance:

Goal 4 on inclusive and equitable quality education and promotion of life-long learning opportunities for all focuses on eliminating gender disparities in education and ensuring equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities. In addition, the proposal calls for building and upgrading education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and also provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all.

In Goal 8: to promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all, the international community aims to achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value.

Closely linked is Goal 10, which strives to reduce inequality within and among countries by empowering and promoting the social, economic and political inclusion of all, including persons with disabilities.

Goal 11 would work to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe and sustainable. To realize this goal, Member States are called upon to provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, such as persons with disabilities. In addition, the proposal calls for providing universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, particularly for persons with disabilities.

Goal 17 stresses that in order to strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development, the collection of data and monitoring and accountability of the SDGs are crucial. Member States are called upon to enhance capacity-building support to developing countries, including least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS), which would significantly increase the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data that is also disaggregated by disability.

SOURCE: United Nations Enable

The forgotten of the left behind [People with specific learning disabilities]?

Research has shown that 20% of all street children in Ghana are on the streets because of learning disabilities.

A Research Officer with the Special Attention Project (SAP Ghana), Ishmael Hammond, explained that there is a strong correlation between Specific learning disability (SpLD ) and Streetism among children.

According to him, when children are faced with learning difficulties in school, the stigma and teasing from colleague pupils forces them to dropout. After dropping out of school, the children stay at home for a year before running from home onto the street.

Most parents and teachers attribute children’s inability to learn to laziness and witchcraft and discriminate against them rather than helping them.

Specific learning disability (SpLD ) means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual handicaps, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. The term does not include children who have learning problems which are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor handicaps, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

There are a variety of causes that can contribute to a student’s struggle to learn. While a certain number of students struggle due to basic genetic limits and others struggle because of poor or inadequate instruction, the largest single cause of learning struggles is weak underlying cognitive skills.

Though there are no available statistics on the proportion of Ghanaians with SpLDs, it is estimated that about 10% of the population of any country has SpLDs.

There are different types of Specific Learning Disabilities which are manifested in individuals. These include:

Dyslexia Difficulty in reading, writing and spelling

Irlen Syndrome has to do with difficulty in how the brain interprets printed material

Dyspraxia Difficulty in movement and coordination (‘clumsiness’)

Dyscalculia: Difficulty in mathematics

Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder: Inability to concentrate well, pay attention and control behaviour.

Autism:  Difficulty in relating and communicating with other people.

Ghana’s Ministry of Education only recently integrated SpLDs into the “inclusive education policy”.

In spite of this integration, the general public has little knowledge on what SpLDs are and how they affect children.

There is also very little being done in terms of adapting existing infrastructure to accommodate PWDs.

Two organizations leading the advocacy and campaign for the recognition of children with SpLDs ; providing  them help and educating both teachers and street children,  is the Special Attention Project (SAP Ghana) and the Specific Learning Disabilities Demystified (SpLenDiD) Expertise Centre for Specific Learning Difficulties.

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By: Kwame Botchway/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Left behind? 5 million Ghanaians live with disability [Infographic] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Ghana has in the last 8years issued four eurobonds generating a total of $3.75 billion.

Find details in the Infographic below;

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By: Mawuli Tsikata/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post All of Ghana’s Eurobonds; who borrowed what? [Infographic] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

An obstetric fistula is a hole between the vagina and rectum or bladder that is caused by prolonged obstructed labour, thereby leaving a woman with no control over urination or defecation or both.

The infographic below shows how serious the situation of Obstetric Fistula is in Ghana.

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By: Raymond Acquah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Over 13,000 women in Ghana can’t control urinating or defecation [Infographic] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Below is an infographic of what he has to show:

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By: Benjamin Nketsia/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Avram Grant 1 year as Black Stars Coach [Infographic] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.