Day: September 15, 2023

Angola Press Agency (ANGOP) denied information circulating on social media on alleged day off on Monday (18) decreed by the Angola Head of State João Lourenço.

ANGOP took notice of above news via WhatsApp groups, and therefore denies any involvement of its professionals in preparation of such content.

The media outlet strongly condemns and discourages internet users from carrying out the action.

ANGOP described the action as a direct attack against the company and its employees, perpetrated by people acting in bad faith, aimed at tarnishing its image and reputation.

The company’s board informs the public that the contents related to the Presidency of the Republic and other Angolan State representative bodies are based on official notes.

Meanwhile, ANGOP reiterates its commitment to producing ever better prepared information, which respects the assumption of correct data collection and contradictions

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Dr Paul Enin, Chief Executive Officer at the Women’s Hospital, Airport, Accra, has called on parents to check their genotypes before childbirth.

He said most often, people fail to check their genotypes and this at times could ruin their future and that of their children.

Dr Enin made the call at a Sickle Cell awareness creation and screening, organised by the GNS Foundation at La-Bawaleshie, a suburb in Accra.

Dr Enin said many parents had become overburdened with sickle cell children who were undergoing crisis and its related effects.

Sickle Cell disease is a group of disorders that cause red blood cells to become A group of disorders that cause red blood cells to become deformed and break down.

The disease is a hereditary trait and symptoms usually include infections, pain, and fatigue due to low blood levels and patients are prone to multiple episodes of crises, resulting in frequent hospital visits.

Treatments include medication, blood transfusions and rarely a bone-marrow transplant.

According to statistics, two per cent of babies born in Sub Saharan Africa are born with the Sickle Cell disease annually and Ghana is not an exception.

Dr Enin said it was necessary for individuals to make informed decisions by checking their genotypes before getting together as a couple and childbirth to reduce the number of children born with the disease and its effects on children, parents, and society at large.

Dr Sylvester Mensah, a Medical Officer said that awareness creation with regards to Sickle Cell disease had been very low in the country, considering the increasing number of patients being born annually.

Dr Mensah said getting to know one’s genotype was necessary to avoid having more babies with the disease.

He said with the advancement in research and medication, patients with the disease could live a normal life with good medication and strict hygienic conditions.

Dr Kwame Dzikunu, President of Health CEOs and Scientists, called on the government to support sickle cell patients in the country.

Mrs Sandra Amponsah-Ayivor, Executive Director GNS Foundation said her passion to help give back to society had led to an advocacy to create strong awareness among the public to know more about the disease and the necessary precautions.

She said: ‘We all know about sickle Cell disease but information about the disease is very low. We are creating more awareness making sure that people get to know their genotype so that we will avoid having sickle cell babies in the future and help the younger generation reach their potential in life.’

Mrs Amponsah-Ayivor called on individuals, organisations, and corporate institutions to support the foundation achieve its objectives.

As part of the Sickle Cell Awareness Month this September, about 150 school children were educated and screened to determine their genotypes.

The GNS Foundation is a non-governmental charitable organisation with the objective of raising awareness of sickle cell disease in the country.

The Foundation, since 2016 has organised a series of activities including donation of computers and laboratory consumables to sickle cell clinics and payment of medical bills for sickle cell patients, among others.

Okyeame Kwame, a popular Ghanaian highlife musician and an actor, Kofi Adorlolo were at the programme to grace the occasion and to support the sickle cell advocacy.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah is seeking the support and utmost commitment of the staff of the Ministry of Information and the Information Services Department (ISD) for the transformational agenda of the two outlets of the Government of Ghana.

‘Take personal responsibility the transformational agenda,’ he urged, on Thursday in Accra, in keynote address, at the launching of a manual and a two-day orientation programme of the agenda.

When he assumed office, the Minister began the Transformational Agenda to meet the changing needs of society, with a focus on modernizing the Department’s operations and services to better serve the public.

The Department adopted several initiatives, including increasing the Department’s use of digital technologies, expanding the range of services it offers and improving citizen access to information.

The ISD said it had invested in developing and implementing an advanced digital infrastructure through the Research Division to enable the ISD to better manage its data and to provide citizens with easy access to information.

As part of the reforms, an Access to Information Division was created and the Public Relations Coordinating Division was retooled and reoriented to play a lead role in coordinating government information daily.

Other activities that are being engaged in are a retooling of the newsroom with a number of computers, retooling of the Research Division with new computers and other equipment, renaming of the ISD Operations Division as Public Education Division and reorientation of officers to play a lead role in disseminating government information.

Regional and district offices are also being retooled, and the ISD is in the process of procuring cinema led trucks that will bring innovation and creativity to reach the public in the nook and cranny of the country.

The Minister thanked the directors and staff for their cooperation in the exercise so far, and challenged them to let the visible improvement in the structures and activities be very evident in the next six months,

Mr Oppong Nkrumah noted that the change process would bring some discomfort, and ‘not everybody will get what you personally desire.’

He, however, registered his personal commitment to the ISD Transformational Agenda, saying, ‘the ISD should become an organization that is fit for the purpose of the future, not a champion of the past.’

Mr Oppong Nkrumah pledged to go to all the links to raise money and other resources.

‘I’m personally committed, what I need is your commitment,’ he emphasized, adding, ‘take ownership of it, and treat it like your own property, your private business. You are writing your own story of excellence

‘I want to see you in about six months doing some wonders.’

Mrs Charlotte Morgan Asiedu, the Chief Director, said the Ministry wants to scale up, in addition to the widely known traditional information van service delivery.

‘Let’s scale up, we should be the change agents,’ she urged.

Mr David Owusu Amoah, Acting Director of the ISD, said the Department aimed to become a one-stop shop for government information and communication delivery.

There were presentations on the ISD Transformation Agenda dealing with Administration and Human Resources, Research, Media, Public Education, Public Relations Coordinating, Access to Information Division, Planning Budgeting and Finance Divisions.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Internal Audit Agency (IAA) has adjudged Mrs Jean Adukwei Mensa, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, as ‘the Best Head of Covered Entity that supports Internal Audit Unit’ within the Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDA) Category.

Mrs Mensa was honoured at an awards ceremony at the 2023 Annual Internal Audit Conference, at the University of Professional Studies, Accra.

The awards ceremony is aimed at recognising deserving internal auditors, Audit committees and Heads of Public Institutions for dedication to complying with Internal Audit requirements within an auditing year.

These among other things include enterprise risk management compliance, regular and timely submission of audit reports and consistency in holding audit meeting.

The theme for the conference is: ’20 years of Internal Audit Practice in Ghana: Achievements, Challenges and Way Forward.’

Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, the Senior Presidential Advisor presented a plaque and a citation to the EC Chairperson.

The citation read: ‘You ensured that the Internal Audit Unit was provided with adequate resources, space and logistics to enable it to deliver on its mandate in an objective and independent manner devoid of intimidation.

‘Your actions have undoubtedly enhanced the internal control systems of the Electoral Commission of Ghana

‘The Agency recognises your timely implementation of audit recommendations and general support to internal audit activities,’ the citation highlighted.

Mrs Mensa, a lawyer by profession became the Chairperson of the EC on July 23, 2018, after an 18-year career at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) where she eventually became the Executive Director in 2009.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Professor Olalekan Akinbo, Head of the Centre for Science Technology Innovations, AUDA-NEPAD has called for the need to defuse the minds of African youth about science and convince them that science can translate the development of the continent.

‘Africa has a strong youth population, and we need to build the minds of these young minds for them to see the benefits of science that can positively translate development especially the health sector.

Speaking at the Imaging Cellular and Chromosome Dynamics Conference, organised by the Sena Institute of Technology Foundation in collaboration with The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Prof. Akinbo noted that the youth needed not to travel outside the continent before they could use whatever they have been trained in the medical space.

The four-day conference brought together scientists, academic and clinical partners from around the world to discuss emerging technologies on chromosome and cellular imaging.

Prof. Akinbo said Africa had a demography of youth that could positively be engaged to improve science on the continent by translating the knowledge acquired in country and in continent into usability.

‘Africa is not a dumping market for any foreign technology. The continent is capable and has resources and the human capacity needs to grow it,’ he added.

He explained that what the youth needed was to believe in themselves, and gain confidence in themselves in the world of health care to enable them to compete favourably with other continents

Prof. Akinbo expressed concern about the weak structure of the health systems in Africa compared to other continents and ‘until we create an ecosystem to involve every stakeholder in the health space, we will be doing ourselves more harm than good especially the health sector.

He said there was lack of connectivity between service providers, scientists, and the medical system and to address such a challenge, he hinted that AUDA-NEPAD was driving the Agenda 2063, which seeks to enhance the Africa We Want.

‘Africa is driving Agenda 20263 and one of them is to drive its own health sector, which we need the youth to have a mind change to discover and make the health sector strong, make it competitive and drive the demand beyond the continent.’

To achieve this, AU is helping to connect policy to science for end users to benefit, develop our own and be self-sufficient where Africans develop their own health sector without any external influence,’ he added.

Prof. Akinbo called for a stronger collaboration, expand research, and synergise activities to involve more youth on the continent to achieve the Africa we want.

Dr Andrews Kwasi Agbleke, Executive Director, Sena Institute of Technology Foundation, Boston who was the convener said there was the need to bring together the scientific community to talk about innovations and new developments happening in the world.

‘A meeting like this encourages Ghanaian scientists and researchers to develop their science by learning what is currently happening in their laboratories.’

He explained that some of the scientists were working on DNA functioning in cells to know the sorts of diseases and how to solve them as well as the new discoveries from the laboratories which sometimes break the knowledge in the textbooks.

The meeting focused on three main themes -Imaging cellular and chromosome dynamics; Image processing and integration; Computational biology and data mining.

It also presented the latest research and fostered discussion on: Environment and Epigenetics, Disease and Whole Organisms Imaging, RNA Imaging and Transcription, Emerging Technologies and Image Analysis, Chromosome Structure and Organization, DNA Recombination, Cellular and Protein Imaging, Quantitative Biophysics.

‘FASEB is committed to sustaining diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI) in the biological and biomedical sciences. Our goal is to create and support a conference environment that is welcoming and safe for all. FASEB believes in inclusion of diverse participants,’ he added.

Source: Ghana News Agency