Day: May 20, 2023

Ghanaians have been advised to insure their health for financial cushioning against future health emergencies.

‘It is very important to have an insurance surrounding health because no one can predict what the future holds regarding our health. Try and entrust your health into an insurance because it takes care of risks that are unknown.

‘In these times when money is very hard to come by, don’t wait until you are hit by any emergency. Go and get your insurance card and be sure that you’ll get the best benefits.’

Mr Robert Ofosu-Apea, Chairman of Robert Ofosu-Apea and Friends gave the advice during Phase Two of a Free National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) Registration Exercise in Accra.

It was organised and fully sponsored by Robert Ofosu-Apea and Friends, in collaboration with the National Health Insurance Authority.

Mr Ofosu-Apea said the event was put together to mitigate health expenses of community members by helping those who for some reasons, found it difficult to register or renew their NHIS cards.

He added the huge patronage of the Phase One, informed his decision to put together the second Phase to benefit about 800 people from neighbouring communities.

Mr Ofosu-Apea said he and his team had organised free extra classes for Senior High School students on vacation, adding that, he had plans of putting together other programmes to improve living conditions of community members.

He thanked his friends and partners for the assistance so far and urged the community to embrace all other activities he would put together for them in future.

Mr James Agban and Madam Mary Danyipe, both beneficiaries of the exercise thanked Mr Ofosu-Apea for the kind gesture and urged others to emulate.

They advised Ghanaians to take advantage of the exercise to either get a new card or renew their old one.

‘Until my card got missing, I used to benefit from it anytime I went to the hospital. I did not pay any money except for drugs not available at the hospital or not covered by the insurance. I advise Ghanaians to take their NHIA card registration and renewal seriously because it proves helpful in critical times,’Madam Danyipe said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Angolan President of the Republic João Lourenço Saturday in Ndalatando voiced satisfaction with the level of execution of the work on General Hospital of Cuanza Norte.

The president, who visited the work, with 48 percent execution, said he received assurance from the contractor and the work supervisor that the infrastructure, estimated at USD 63 million, will be inaugurated this year.

In his speech, the Head of Executive Power underlined the role of the undertaking for the province of Cuanza Norte and for any casualties on National Road 230.

National Road 230 connects the province of Luanda to the east of the country, passing through Cuanza Norte and Malanje.

The Cuanza Norte General Hospital, whose works began in August 2021, will have 200 beds and 15 clinical services.

The new health unit will also have a hemodialysis centre, pathological anatomy, neonatology, intensive care, dentistry, psychiatry, operating room and ophthalmology services.

The hospital will also train staff in various specialties in the areas of medicine, nursing and biomedical.

The unit is being built in an area of 15,000 square meters, in Kirima locality, more than 11 kilometers from Ndalatando, the capital of Cuanza Norte province.

João Lourenço traveled through Ndalatando, the provincial capital of Cuanza Norte, on his way to the municipality of Cambambe, where he learned about the construction work for the Caculo-Cabaça Dam.

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

Angola has 264 family doctors only for around 30 million inhabitants, according to data from the College of General and Family Medicine.

Nasser Calumbuana, a family medicine doctor, on Friday told ANGOP that this number includes nationals and expatriates and it is still far from satisfying the needs of the country.

Nasser Calimbuana said that a family doctor is a professional who serves people of all ages and genders, providing comprehensive and continuous assistance to communities.

In this regard, “there is a need for the country to train more specialists in this medical field which is extremely important for disease prevention”, he said while talking about the Family Doctor Day celebrated on May 19 worldwide.

Nasser Calimbuana explained that the family doctor builds a lasting relationship with his patients, marked by trust and proximity, and by focusing more on the prevention than in treatment.

“We are still dealing with a curative method instead of betting on preventing the diseases”, he stressed, having advised the reinforcement for health education in order to prevent diseases that can be avoided with routine medical visits.

Family and Community Medicine (FCM) is a clinical specialty that develops health promotion, protection and recovery practices aimed at people, families and communities.

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

The 13th Regional Conference of Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in the Commonwealth of Africa held in Seychelles enabled its participants to discuss problems specific to each country, allowing the identification of common points of concern.

At the conference, which ended on Friday, May de Silva, the commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission of Seychelles, was confirmed as the new chairperson of the Association of the Commonwealth Africa Anti-Corruption Agencies in Africa.

De Silva said in her statement at the closing ceremony, that “a problem Seychelles faces is the fact that we are isolated at times from mainland Africa and the Commonwealth Africa.”

She said that “However, our problem is similar when it comes to our fight against corruption. There is the same problem with funding, and getting financial forensic specialists We have seen that there are some differences as well when it comes to political will.”

The three-day conference, which kicked off on Monday at the Savoy Resort, was attended by representatives from Botswana, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia.

A series of priority areas were identified to be worked on.

“In our communique, we guarantee that we will face these challenges and we will reinforce the services that we offer. We will also bring this fight to another level. We will ensure that we share with each other the programmes that we see are innovative and have worked in other African Commonwealth countries and that we will also be able to use these models that they have and support each other,” said de Silva.

Anti-corruption agencies of Commonwealth Africa are seeking to increase youth education and public awareness of the impact, harm and cost of corruption as well as promote integrity and accountability in public office in the Seychelles Communique.

The communique also seeks to promote leadership, honesty, selflessness, and innovation, and to prove the quality of outgoing mutual legal assistance (MLA).

Member governments are also being asked to enact and implement effective legislation, open and transparent procedures on the declaration of assets of senior public officials supported by honest wealth provisions and civil assessment recovery for future measures.

The members agreed to engage international communities to strengthen collaboration in the fight against corruption, develop information-sharing and further engage citizens on corruption issues at local national, regional, and international levels.

The next regional conference of heads of anti-corruption agencies in Commonwealth Africa, in 2024, will take place in Ghana in partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Source: Seychelles News Agency