Day: April 21, 2024

Mr. Samuel Yao Atidzah, Executive Director of GOSANET Foundation, a health NGO working in the Adaklu district has said his organization was embarking on critical malaria prevention and immunization outreach in the Adaklu district.

He said these endeavors were not just tasks on a checklist but opportunities to help safeguard the health and well-being of the people in the district, especially the vulnerable.

Mr. Atidzah stated this at a one-day training workshop organised by GOSANET Foundation for Assembly-members, chiefs, opinion leaders and community-based health volunteers drawn from selected communities in the Adaklu district on malaria prevention.

He said in this regard they would continue to give intensive training to the volunteers who would serve as ‘frontline warriors in the fight against malaria and promotion of immunization.

‘These individuals will be equipped with the requisite knowledge, skills and resources necessary to educate, advocate and intervene effectively within our communities,’ he st
ated.

The Executive Director noted that through collaborative dialogue and shared vision they would forge alliances that amplify their impact and foster a culture of health consciousness.

He hoped through that collaboration they would work to ensure 100 percent availability of safe and efficacious vaccines and improve governance and management functions at all levels of the health sector.

It would also strengthen supervision, disease surveillance, monitoring and evaluation at all levels and improve sustainable financing for Universal Healthcare, he said.

Mr. Robert Dedi, Adaklu District Disease Control Officer said malaria cases in the district increased from 24.8 per cent in 2022 to 29.3 per cent in 2023.

He continued that 2776 children under five years tested positive to malaria representing 39.5 percent of OPD cases and 127 pregnant women tested positive to the disease representing 12.3 of OPD cases in the district in 2023.

Mr. Matthew Adam Ayamba, Adaklu District Director of Health said malaria was
among the top three OPD cases in the district and urged all stakeholders to join hands to eliminate it.

He said malaria could affect the brain of children and called for concerted effort to prevent them from mosquito bites.

He urged men to support their pregnant wives to attend ante and post-natal clinics and ensured that their babies were immunized.

During an open forum, the volunteers appealed for torch lights, raincoats, and wellington boots to enable them to work effectively and efficiently during the rainy season.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Widows and Orphans Movement (WOM), a gender focused non-governmental organisation, has urged vulnerable people particularly widows, orphans, and disadvantaged groups to enroll onto the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

That, it said, would help reduce the financial burden on them in accessing health care in the country.

The organization made the call when it sensitised women leaders and Assembly members at Pusu-Namongo in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region on the benefits package of the NHIS.

Organised, in partnership with ActionAid Ghana, the sensitisation aimed at equipping the participants with requisite knowledge about NHIS coverage to guide them in accessing health care while empowering them to take advantage of the exemptions on the NHIS for vulnerable persons in their communities.

Ms Nancy Awinbisa Amiziah, Project Officer at WOM, noted that even though there were exemptions on the NHIS for some vulnerable categories of persons, including persons with disabilities, indigenes,
and persons over 70 years old, for lack of knowledge, these people were not taking advantage of such benefits.

‘While we encourage our women and other vulnerable groups to enroll on the scheme, what we also seek to achieve at the end of the day at this sensitisation is to enlighten our women to access the services the NHIS provides, especially the exemptions,’ she stated.

‘Some of them have vulnerable children who, by the policy, are exempted from paying processing fees for acquiring the NHIS membership cards, but they still pay full amounts to be enrolled in the scheme, and the reason is simply that, they are not aware’. She added.

She emphasised that the leaders, having been sensitised, were expected to in turn educate their members in their respective communities to be abreast with the NHIS coverage to effectively access health care services.

Mr Mumin Muttalib, Assistant Public Relations Officer, Talensi/Nabdam Districts of National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), indicated that the Authority was fu
lly aware of the problems associated with the NHIS as some card bearers complained of not enjoying the full services covered by the NHIS at the facility level and was therefore strategising measures to curb the menace.

While encouraging the women to enroll in the scheme and renew their membership cards annually, he urged them to report cases where they are made to pay for services covered by the NHIS to the nearest NHIA offices for assistance.

Madam Beatrice Saah, leader of the Wakii Titeltaba women’s group, said the workshop had exposed her to so many things of which she was unaware of as a member, and added, ‘I will make sure everything learned here is relayed to my group members. ‘

Mr Apana Atubila, Assembly Member, Baare Electoral Area, thanked the organisation for the enlightenment and pledged to support vulnerable people in his community to enroll onto the scheme.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Reverend Albright Banibensu, a Consultant Counselling professional and the immediate past National Vice President of the Ghana Psychological Association, has asked men experiencing Erectile Dysfunction (ED) to seek psychological help.

He told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that although some ED conditions were medical, the majority of the cases were psychological and advised men with the condition not to shy away from counselling and clinical psychologists to avoid abusing drugs.

Erectile Dysfunction according to John Hopkins Medicine is a persistent inability to achieve or maintain penile erection sufficient for satisfactory sexual performance.

Controllable risk factors are overweight, lack of exercise, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and smoking.

Rev. Banibensu said in Ghana, erectile dysfunction was highly triggered by increased stress, and misinformation on sexuality causing performance anxiety.

‘Economic pressures, workload, long travel distance to work, housing problems and noise pollution,
all expose men to ED. There is so much noise in the environment, which makes it difficult for men to focus or concentrate during sex,’ he said.

Rev. Banibensu said that among most Ghanaian couples, ED was the third cause of marital problems, leading to divorce in some cases.

He said misinformation on sex and advertorials on aphrodisiacs in the media was a major concern and urged men to be circumspect about their sexuality.

Dr Kelvin Owusu, a Wellness Consultant Doctor at Violet’s Medical Center, a Private Health facility in Accra, said the uncontrolled and continued use of alcoholic and non-alcoholic aphrodisiacs in the form of bitters, dried herbs and pills may worsen erectile dysfunction conditions.

He said the composition of those aphrodisiacs could also predispose men to health complications like kidney and liver dysfunction or failure.

‘When it comes to sex, the best aphrodisiac is exercise and healthy living, your sexual performance is dependent on your heart health, if your heart is healthy, your
sexual performance will improve naturally; taking medication to last long during sex puts pressure on the heart and can lead to death while in the act,’ he said.

Dr Owusu said ED was also the body’s way of signalling men to check and improve their health, eat well, exercise regularly and get enough rest, adding ‘Your sexual performance is part of your holistic health; once you are healthy, your waist will do the job’.

He said everyone at some point in life would experience ED depending on what they were going through, and that research had also shown that penetrative sex would only last from three to six minutes.

The International Index on Erectile Function (IIEF) says in 1995, there were over 152 million men worldwide, who experienced ED and projects that by 2025, approximately 322 million men will have ED, an increase of nearly 170 million with Africa largely affected.

Dr Owusu said Non-Communicable Diseases like hypertension and diabetes expose men to ED due to complications or poor treatment of the di
seases, explaining that ‘hypertension will cause ED, the treatment of hypertension may cause ED, but ED caused by the medication can be corrected.’

Selling sex enhancers is a growing business for many, especially drinking bar operators and herbalists.

Some individuals also prepare their own concoctions.

Kwame Amanfo, a public servant, told the Ghana News Agency he had his own mixtures to enhance sexual pleasure.

‘… not the ones advertised on the market, I have herbs, I prepare by myself with alcohol and it is very effective,’ he said.

A commercial driver, Master Karkari, said ‘There is this medicine I take, it’s from China, the medicine is super when you take it, you can have sex with women till the next day and you will still be hard.’

Mr Kingsley Boamah, a pharmacist at A Blacks Pharmacy, Ablekuma, said in Ghanaian society, the social expectation that a man had to be strong in bed-and last longer during sex-had landed many in health crises.

‘Some men take the drugs to increase the size of their manho
od, most of the men, who buy aphrodisiacs here tell me how they feel disgraced when unable to perform well in bed,’ Mr. Boamah said.

Dr Kenneth Klufio, a Specialist Urologist at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), said his facility recorded many cases of priapism among men who used aphrodisiac.

Priapism is a painful erection that lasts for several hours when blood remains in the penis and can not drain.

He said five to eight men reported with ED daily during consultations and encouraged men, who experience ED to report to the hospital because there was help available to manage the condition.

‘ED affects the quality of life, a person’s happiness… seek help,’ Dr Klufio said.

Source: Ghana News Agency