Day: June 2, 2024

The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Ketu South office has assured residents that effective June 1, 2024, illegal payments (co-payments) at credentialed health facilities will stop.

Co-payment is the illegal practice of credentialed healthcare service providers charging a valid NHIS card holder a fee for services or medicines/treatments provided that are covered under the NHIS benefits package contrary to the country’s insurance model which does not permit that subscribers share the cost for services covered by the scheme.

Mr. Jarvis Coffie, acting Manager, Ketu South NHIS, who made the pronouncement urged residents to get enrolled onto the 20-year-old scheme to visit healthcare providers not only to seek treatment but for checkups to safeguard their health.

He said the days one had to first think about money before thinking access to healthcare was long gone.

Speaking during a community durbar and mobile clinic at Aflao to climax neonatal jaundice awareness month, he said there were promotional a
nd preventive interventions happening at the scheme, including a crusade against co-payment.

The scheme, as part of its growth and evolution, intends to among others, prioritise the health and happiness of subscribers stressing, ‘from 1st June, co-payment will be over.’

‘Parliament has some months ago approved the National Health Insurance Authority Allocation Formula for 2024 in which some funding provisions were provided for some interventions.

‘I can assure you of a funding support to absorb the potential increment of service tariffs arising out of the review of the NHIS Tariffs with the hope to end the illegal charges at healthcare facilities.’

Mr Coffie said apart from funding allocation to review NHIS service and medicine tariffs, seemingly accounting for issues of co-payments, there were also allocations to support renal patients and collaborate to register children aged six to 14 for Ghana cards.

Other support is to implement free annual health checks for Ghanaians and, to support the implementat
ion of Medical Health Insurance for all visitors into the country.

The acting Manager encouraged non-members to register under the scheme while entreating those with expired cards to renew them to enjoy the benefits of equitable access and financial coverage for basic health care services.

Dr. Alphonse Makafui Dzakpasu, Medical Superintendent, Ketu South Municipal Hospital, Aflao who gave an address on the role of the Municipal Hospital in achieving universal health coverage (UHC) said they were dedicated to reducing disparities and ensuring that every member of the community received the highest standard of care.

That, he said, informed their services, ranging from 24-hour emergency care to specialised clinics – improving health equity, enhancing the quality of their services and sending healthcare closer to people to ensure a healthier future for their community.

Dr. Dzakpasu highlighted the importance of NHIS card to achieving the UHC which he deemed a fundamental right, ensuring that every individual
has access to the needed healthcare without suffering financial hardship.

‘I urge each of you to take an active role in your health. Early detection and treatment can significantly improve health outcomes, so please do not hesitate to seek medical advice when needed.

Additionally, I encourage everyone to register with health insurance. It provides a safety net that ensures you can access the necessary healthcare services without unnecessary financial stress,’ Dr. Dzakpasu said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ketu South Municipal Hospital (KSMH), Aflao has organised a community durbar and medical outreach to climax neonatal jaundice awareness month.

The event was meant to promote effective awareness on jaundice in newborns, stakeholder engagement and service showcasing through medical outreach, talks from health professionals and stakeholders on timely detection and treatment of the condition.

Dr Roch Sotindjo, Specialist Gynaecologist, KSMH in an address charged everyone including healthcare workers, parents, and the community to play active roles in addressing neonatal jaundice to ensure that newborn babies received the care they needed to thrive.

He emphasised the need for all stakeholders to be united against the disease in newborns saying, though neonatal jaundice was a treatable condition, it required a united effort from all to avoid the devastating consequences of its neglect.

Dr Sotindjo also stressed on the importance for awareness, education, and access to quality healthcare noting, only through
that could caregivers or parents detect the signs of jaundice in their babies to seek medical attention and treatment for them so they could thrive and reach their full potential.

Mr David Yao Agbokpe, Ketu South Municipal Director of Health Services said the week-long celebration saw various activities including raising awareness on the condition, common among babies within the first 28 days of birth, caused by the building up of bilirubin, a chemical the human body makes when it breaks down old red blood cells, causing the yellowing of baby’s skin and whites of its eyes.

He believed that with the knowledge, collaboration, and commitment, they could significantly improve the health outcomes of newborns in the municipality as well as ‘create a healthier future for all our newborns.’

Madam Abla Dzifa Gomashie, Member of Parliament of Ketu South expressed her readiness to support health delivery in the municipality and thanked the health professionals for their vital roles in improving healthcare in the area
.

She called on residents to always seek medical attention when sick and not attribute everything to evil spirits or curses, thus, seeking spiritual remedies rather than medical care, and resorting to various products being advertised on the airwaves saying, ‘God has given wisdom to the health professionals so that they can care for you when you’re sick.’

Friday’s event chaired by Torgbui Anubo IV, Senior Divisional Chief of Aflao Traditional Area, had about 300 community members, mostly aged men and women screened for various health conditions such as blood sugar, body mass index and Tuberculosis with the reigning diagnosis being hypertension.

Some attendees in an interview with Ghana News Agency expressed their gratitude to the healthcare team for the education and services rendered, Madam Gomashie for supplying boxes of Zincovite tablets for them and to Ketu South National Health Insurance Scheme for the free renewal of their cards.

Mr Samuel Lantei Aryee, one of them said he had no idea he was coming
to such an interactive and educative programme and that ‘in addition, I got my health status checked and received medication for free. They told me when I finish taking my medication, I should visit the hospital for further checks. It’s such an experience.’

Source: Ghana News Agency

As part of activities to mark the world Menstrual Hygiene Day 2024, the Family Health University College, comprising the Family Health Hospital, Medical School, and Nursing and Midwifery Schools, donated over 1,500 packets of sanitary pads to students.

The recipients were from the Ledzokuku Municipal Authority (LEKMA) Southern Cluster of Schools.

The gesture according to the President of the Family Health Medical Students’ Association, Mr Abeeku Zuriel Idun, was to mitigate the distress some girls go through during their menstrual periods.

Menstrual Hygiene Day, observed worldwide on 28th May each year, is a day dedicated to raising awareness on the difficulties women and girls face during menstruation.

Various stakeholders, including health professionals, gender activists, educators, NGOs, and conscientious citizens, strive to provide education and support to eradicate period poverty and its detrimental effects.

The theme for this year is ‘Together for a period-friendly World,’ which envisions a world
free from the stigma and taboos associated with menstruation.

At the event which was held at the Presbyterian Church Hall, Teshie, the LEKMA Municipal Director of Education, Mrs. Theresa Tetteh, emphasized the need for more support for girls to manage their periods safely and confidently.

She expressed gratitude to the Family Health University College and urged other organizations, donors, and the public to follow suit and support girls in underprivileged communities struggling to access menstrual products.

Dr. Gifty Ofori Ansah, the LEKMA Health Director, called for prioritizing menstrual hygiene policy in the government’s Girl Child Education agenda and encouraged girls to seek professional help and guidance from their counsellors and teachers about menstrual hygiene challenges.

Dr. Naa Adorkor Sodzi-Tettey, a lecturer, and Clinical Coordinator at the Family Health Medical School, educated the girls on menstruation and safe practices emphasizing that menstruation was a natural and normal process and sho
uld not be stigmatised.

She called on the LEKMA Municipal Director of Education to prioritise and improve washroom facilities. ‘We cannot educate girls every year to change their pads regularly and wash their hands after changing when there is no decent place in the school for doing that: no privacy, no water, no soap’ she said.

She called for innovative and sustainable solutions for a period-friendly world for girls and told the students that there was no shame in using reusable materials for their periods if the reusables were washed well, dried, and reused.

She demonstrated the use of a reusable menstrual product that was being produced by some entrepreneurs and NGO’s and encouraged their patronage.

Over 600 girls from 17 Junior and Senior High Schools from the LEKMA Southern Cluster of Schools benefited from the interaction with the staff and students of Family Health University College on acceptable menstrual practices. The students expressed their gratitude for the sanitary pads and the education th
ey received.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Madam Mary Azika, a Senior Midwifery Officer (SMO) at the Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compound at Daporitindongo, in the Bolgatanga Municipality, has admonished young girls to study their menstrual cycle to avoid soiling themselves in public.

She said it was embarrassing for females who unexpectedly menstruated in public and soil themselves and stressed the need for women, especially young girls within the menstruation age to know their cycle and manage themselves properly to avoid any embarrassment in public.

She explained that menstruation is the monthly blood flow from the vagina of a female, which was part of the development stages of life of females, ‘So if a female has her menstrual flow, it shows that she is a woman, and everything is normal with her.’

Madam Azika, who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview at her facility to mark the International Menstrual Hygiene Day, insisted that ‘If a young girl starts to menstruate, she should know her cycle so that she d
oes not mess herself up in public.’

The International Menstrual Hygiene Day is marked annually on May 28, to highlight the importance of good menstrual hygiene.

This year’s celebration is on the theme: ‘#PeriodFriendlyWorld.’

Madam Azika advised women who menstruated to endeavour to always get their sanitary pads in readiness for their menses, ‘If they know they would menstruate in two or three days time, they should at least keep some sanitary pads in their bags so that at any point in time they get a flow, they will not mess themselves up’.

Touching on personal hygiene during menstruation, the SMO emphasized the need for females who menstruated to bath twice a day and change their sanitary pad anything it was wet.

She said it was not hygienic to bath once and use the same sanitary pad for the whole day, ‘Normally, when we advise them to bath twice a day, they think that once they put the pad on in the morning after bathing, they have to leave it on until they bath again in the evening and change.

‘No,
that is wrong, they must change the pad anytime it gets wet, and properly wash their hands after changing the pad. They should also dispose the used pad properly,’ Madam Azika advised.

She acknowledged that education on proper disposal of used sanitary pads had been adhered to, and said it was not common to see used sanitary pads in the environment.

She urged family members, especially fathers to support their girl children with sanitary pads monthly to enable them to go through the menstrual cycle successfully, ‘We want the men to get involved. They should not think that is only women who should buy pads for their girl children.’

Madam Azika further admonished women who missed their menses to immediately report to the nearest health facility for care, and said for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, it was important for expectant mothers to visit the facility for care.

‘If they keep the pregnancy and visit the facility by 20, 24 or 30 weeks, they will miss a lot of the services we render to pregnant women,’
the SMO advised.

Source: Ghana News Agency

In move to combat the scourge of tobacco smoke, the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has joined forces with the Ghana Police Service to launch a crackdown on illegal tobacco smoke activities in Eastern Region.

This collaborative effort is a major step forward in the fight against the harmful effects of tobacco smoke, which is a significant public health concern in the region and in Ghana as a whole.

Mrs. Anita Owusu-Kuffour, Eastern Regional FDA Head, said ‘When we see fliers and posters indicating activity of tobacco smoke we join forces with the Police to ensure such activity doesn’t happen.’

She was speaking at the World No Tobacco Day commemorated in Koforidua in the Eastern Region, an annual awareness day that takes place on May 31.

It is organised to raise awareness about the health risks associated with tobacco use and advocate for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption worldwide.

The 2024 theme was: ‘Protecting children from the interference of the tobacco industry.’

Tobacco smoke is a s
erious public health concern, as it contains over 7,000 chemicals, including 70 known carcinogens that can affect various parts of the human body.

Mrs. Owusu-Kuffour said in 2012, Ghana enacted and implemented a national Tobacco Control Act, the Public Health Act 851, which prohibited smoking in all public places, however, the social trend these days was getting out of hands.

Notwithstanding, she said the FDA as part of its regulatory activities for licensing of foods establishment ‘we shall persist to enforce the law on tobacco at the licensing level.’

In a presentation, Mr. David Arhin, Principal Regulatory Officer of the FDA, Eastern Region, explained that tobacco is any of the several green leafy plants belonging to the group of plants called Nicotiana, especially the type called Nicotiana tabacum, that yields nicotine rich leaves and grows very well in warm climates.

He explained that there were two main types of tobacco smoke, smoked and smokeless.

Smoked tobacco includes cigars, cigarettes, pipes,
and shisha, while smokeless tobacco includes chewing tobacco and snuff.

‘Unfortunately, these products are responsible for the loss of millions of lives,’ he said.

Research has shown that eight million people die every year due to tobacco smoke, while 1.2 million deaths are attributed to second-hand smoking.

Second-hand smoke is the harmful smoke that is inhaled by people who are not smoking themselves, but are breathing in the smoke that others exhale or release from burning tobacco products.

Second-hand smoke exposure occurs when people breathe in this smoke, which can be found in public areas such as hotels, restaurants, and bars.

Mr. Arhin noted, ‘This is why it is essential for all stakeholders to play a role in promoting a smoke-free environment.’

He outlined several roles that stakeholders could play in this effort, including the need to increase public awareness about the dangers of tobacco use and second-hand smoke exposure.

He also said the FDA would work with the Ghana Tourism Authority and
other stakeholders to ensure that hotel and public area owners comply fully with tobacco control regulations.

They would also initiate prompt response to complaints; engage with interest groups; and collaborate with the Ghana Police Service to arrest violators.

The world no tobacco day was observed with the traditional rulers, students, Narcotics Control Commission, Ghana Health Service, Ghana Police Service, and other institutions.

Source: Ghana News Agency