Samuel Boadi
INCOME FROM forests and other natural environments makes a significant contribution to the livelihoods of millions of people in developing countries, a six-year global study has revealed.
Documented for the first time on the role that the environment plays in poverty alleviation, the report, carried out by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), indicated that among those surveyed, forest income , on average, constitutes more than one fifth of total household income, while environmental income (forest and non-forest) makes up more than one fourth, according to the preliminary numbers that come out of the study’s global database.
“The results underscore the importance of sustainably managing forests and other natural environments in developing countries because they provide income to many of the world’s poorest people,” said Frances Seymour, Director General of CIFOR.
The size of environmental incomes, i.e. wood, game, plants, and other resources harvested from the wild, has until now been poorly documented, and is not obvious to most policymakers.
Many existing tools for assessing poverty and income – such as poverty reduction strategy plans, poverty surveys, the World Bank’s Living Standard Measurement Survey, and national income accounting systems – fall short of capturing the importance of the income from natural resources, so that its true value in the livelihoods of the world’s rural poor remains largely invisible.
The Poverty and Environment Network (PEN) study consists of data from more than 8,000 households from 60 sites in 24 countries. The results were released recently at the Royal Society in London.
“Earlier studies have emphasised the special importance of forest incomes to the poorest households. One surprising finding of this project is that, overall, forest reliance (defined as the share of forest income in total household income) apparently varies little with income levels. Hence, forest income is not just for the poor but for everyone at these sites,” said Arild Angelsen, PEN coordinator and Senior Associate of CIFOR, and professor at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.
Another surprising finding of the PEN study is that forests do not play a primary role as safety nets among the households in the survey. “Households respond to shocks mostly through other coping strategies, such as reduced consumption, temporary employment, or seeking external assistance. Forests also seem to have a less than expected role in terms of filling seasonal income gaps, e.g. between crop harvests, although they may serve a role as a seasonal gap filler at some of the research sites,” said Sven Wunder, Principal Scientist at CIFOR, who has also been leading the study.
Typically, all members of a household – men, women, and children – participate in the collection and processing of forest products. Contrary to what has been claimed, men bring as much or more forest products to the households as women, although there is a clear pattern of women being more involved in subsistence uses and men in cash-earning activities.
Firewood constitutes the single most important forest product, with about one fifth of forest income on average, followed by timber (10%).
Angelsen also said that more than a quarter of all households surveyed had cleared forest area for crops in the last year.
“We found a strong correlation between income and deforestation. Within each site, on average the top income quintile (richest 20 %) households deforest 30 percent more than the bottom quintile (poorest 20%). There is an even stronger tendency of higher forest clearing in the richer sites. If we look at this deforestation regionally, rates were considerably higher in studies in Latin America, which hold also some of the richer households in the sample. Overall, the results do not lend support to the hypothesis that poverty drives deforestation,” he said.
Each year, more than 13 million hectares (32 million acres) of forests are lost globally, an area roughly the size of England.
The data collection involved a careful recording of all forest and environmental uses, as well as other major income sources. All income data were collected through four quarterly surveys to shorten recall periods and increase accuracy.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Africa Digital Week Launched
By Samuel Boadi
The Africa e-governance Academy (AfegA), in partnership with the African Institute for Development Informatics and Policy (AIDIP), the UNDP and the Ministry of Communications, has launched the Africa Digital Week.
The Africa Digital Week 2011, the first of its kind to be organized on the African continent in Accra from July 26 - 29, 2011, is themed: “My Dream for A Digital Africa”.
Richard Boateng, Executive Director, AIDIP, giving an overview of the Pearl Richards Foundation, a project set up to help bring interestingly unique ideas and concepts together and turn them into sustainable projects or business enterprises for development, emphasized the use of mobile phones globally as a much-used medium to get information about developments in their communities online.
Ama Dadson, Programme Coordinator, Africa e-governance Academy (AfegA), in a presentation, said for an e-governance programme to be sustainable, there was the need to engage or involve all stakeholders concerned. And these include Government, citizens, businesses and policy makers.
“There is the need for a holistic approach to e-governance at the national level and regional fronts and there is also the need for commitment and support at the highest levels of government”.
The concept and practice of innovation, driven by the application of information, knowledge, science and technology, she continued, has led to new ways and opportunities for businesses and governments to connect and interact with consumers and citizens so as to promote good governance and create socio-economic value.
“E-government allows government transparency. Government transparency is important because it allows the public to be informed about what the government is working on as well as the policies they are trying to implement.”
A policy dialogue for policymakers, academia and civic society will take place online from July 1 – 15, 2011 in Accra to explore electronic governance policies in Africa, especially with the advent of social media and mobile technologies.
Fredrick Ampiah, Partnerships Advisor, UNDP Ghana, applauded the initiative shown by AIDIP and AfegA and expressed gratitude to the media for their role in supporting e-governance through information sharing.
AfegA, an independent autonomous organization with no allegiance to any government or institutions, was established to create and transfer knowledge on e-governance.
It is co-funded by the UNDP and OSIWA (Open Society for West Africa) with a primary geographical focus on ECOWAS countries.
In the long-term, AfegA seeks to become the leading African institution in all aspects of e-governance.
AfegA is located in the Ghana Telecom University College (GTUC).
The Africa e-governance Academy (AfegA), in partnership with the African Institute for Development Informatics and Policy (AIDIP), the UNDP and the Ministry of Communications, has launched the Africa Digital Week.
The Africa Digital Week 2011, the first of its kind to be organized on the African continent in Accra from July 26 - 29, 2011, is themed: “My Dream for A Digital Africa”.
Richard Boateng, Executive Director, AIDIP, giving an overview of the Pearl Richards Foundation, a project set up to help bring interestingly unique ideas and concepts together and turn them into sustainable projects or business enterprises for development, emphasized the use of mobile phones globally as a much-used medium to get information about developments in their communities online.
Ama Dadson, Programme Coordinator, Africa e-governance Academy (AfegA), in a presentation, said for an e-governance programme to be sustainable, there was the need to engage or involve all stakeholders concerned. And these include Government, citizens, businesses and policy makers.
“There is the need for a holistic approach to e-governance at the national level and regional fronts and there is also the need for commitment and support at the highest levels of government”.
The concept and practice of innovation, driven by the application of information, knowledge, science and technology, she continued, has led to new ways and opportunities for businesses and governments to connect and interact with consumers and citizens so as to promote good governance and create socio-economic value.
“E-government allows government transparency. Government transparency is important because it allows the public to be informed about what the government is working on as well as the policies they are trying to implement.”
A policy dialogue for policymakers, academia and civic society will take place online from July 1 – 15, 2011 in Accra to explore electronic governance policies in Africa, especially with the advent of social media and mobile technologies.
Fredrick Ampiah, Partnerships Advisor, UNDP Ghana, applauded the initiative shown by AIDIP and AfegA and expressed gratitude to the media for their role in supporting e-governance through information sharing.
AfegA, an independent autonomous organization with no allegiance to any government or institutions, was established to create and transfer knowledge on e-governance.
It is co-funded by the UNDP and OSIWA (Open Society for West Africa) with a primary geographical focus on ECOWAS countries.
In the long-term, AfegA seeks to become the leading African institution in all aspects of e-governance.
AfegA is located in the Ghana Telecom University College (GTUC).
Farmers Can’t Access Loans – Best Farmer
By Samuel Boadi
BENJAMIN ADJEI Adjetey, the 2010 National Best Farmer, has called on Government to institute more research into how farmers could be assisted to manage their farms as businesses instead of a mere means of subsistence.
Speaking at the launch of a maiden report by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), the UK’s leading independent think-tank, on Ghana, titled: “Ghana’s Story – Ghana’s sustained agricultural growth,” in Accra, Mr Adjetey said despite the pronounced progress purported to have been registered in Ghana’s agricultural growth by the report, a lot of hardworking farmers still struggle to get loans.
“Loans are expensive. Farmers cannot pay the high interest rates on loans. And this has prevented Ghana from achieving what it is supposed to achieve.”
The report, presented by Henri Leturque, who co-authored it, noted that with agricultural growth averaging more than 5 percent a year in the past 25 years, Ghana ranked among the top five performers in the world.
“This has contributed to major reductions in poverty and malnutrition, and Ghana will achieve the MDG 1 before 2015.”
He continued that economic reforms, since 1983, have played a major role in creating the conditions for private investment, driving growth in the cocoa sector in particular. Also, he noted that political leadership has been key to the growth in agriculture, supported by a working partnership between government and donors.
“Having raised food production per capita by more than 80 percent since the early 1980s, Ghana is largely self-sufficient in staples, owing in part to large increases in cassava and yam production as well as improved varieties.”
Touching on what has been achieved, the report indicated that after 1983, agriculture grew at an average annual rate of 5.1 percent, one of the five fastest growth rates anywhere in the world.
“The sector grew on most fronts. The most striking trajectory, especially since 2000, has been in cocoa, where production now exceeds levels seen before the 1970s recession.
“Staple crop production has also increased – cassava, yam, cocoyam and sweet potato in particular. With rising yields and a more than doubled harvested area since 1983, cassava production has grown by over 7.2 percent a year during the past 25 years,” Mr Leturque continued.
It furthermore stated that although involving fewer farmers, non-traditional exports have also taken off, with pineapple the most prominent of these adding, higher-value produce for the domestic market has risen rapidly as well with tomatoes being a prime example.
“Expansion of cultivated area has been important too, although productivity per hectare has increased more quickly than the size of land under cultivation.”
Poverty, most of it rural, it noted, has declined commensurately, adding farm incomes, albeit lower than the national average, has been rising, especially in the 2000s.
“Food supply has grown faster than the population has, making Ghana largely self-sufficient in terms of staples. At the same time, the real price of food has fallen. More accessible food meant that under-nourishment went down to 8 percent by 2003, from 34 percent in 1991.
“Child malnutrition has also declined, with the proportion of infants underweight falling from 30 percent in 1988 to 17 percent in 2008.”
Dr Emmanuel Tambi, Director, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), in a presentation, said though Ghanaian farmers produce a lot, a larger part go waste due to the lack of appropriate processing facilities and ventures.
“There is the need for increased investment on these.”
Tia Alfred Sugri, Deputy Minister of Food & Agriculture, delivering the keynote address, said in 2010, over 925 billion people all over the world, including 239 million Africans, faced severe hunger.
“In Ghana, our farmers produced over 14.5 million tons of cassava; 5.9 million tons of yams; 3.5 million tons of plantain; 1.9 million tons of maize; 1.4 million tons of coco-yams; 350,000 tons of fish and 295,000 tons of rice among others in 2010. Ghana was able to avoid severe hunger.”
However, some experts have argued that the report greatly dwelt on the cocoa sector, disregarding the actual situations for other important food and cash crops.
In 2010, Ghana’s agricultural growth rate was 5.8 percent with an overall gross domestic product of 7.7 percent. According to the Economist Magazine, Ghana is projected to become the second fastest growing economy in 2011 with a growth rate of 14 percent second only to Qatar with a rate of 20 percent.
BENJAMIN ADJEI Adjetey, the 2010 National Best Farmer, has called on Government to institute more research into how farmers could be assisted to manage their farms as businesses instead of a mere means of subsistence.
Speaking at the launch of a maiden report by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), the UK’s leading independent think-tank, on Ghana, titled: “Ghana’s Story – Ghana’s sustained agricultural growth,” in Accra, Mr Adjetey said despite the pronounced progress purported to have been registered in Ghana’s agricultural growth by the report, a lot of hardworking farmers still struggle to get loans.
“Loans are expensive. Farmers cannot pay the high interest rates on loans. And this has prevented Ghana from achieving what it is supposed to achieve.”
The report, presented by Henri Leturque, who co-authored it, noted that with agricultural growth averaging more than 5 percent a year in the past 25 years, Ghana ranked among the top five performers in the world.
“This has contributed to major reductions in poverty and malnutrition, and Ghana will achieve the MDG 1 before 2015.”
He continued that economic reforms, since 1983, have played a major role in creating the conditions for private investment, driving growth in the cocoa sector in particular. Also, he noted that political leadership has been key to the growth in agriculture, supported by a working partnership between government and donors.
“Having raised food production per capita by more than 80 percent since the early 1980s, Ghana is largely self-sufficient in staples, owing in part to large increases in cassava and yam production as well as improved varieties.”
Touching on what has been achieved, the report indicated that after 1983, agriculture grew at an average annual rate of 5.1 percent, one of the five fastest growth rates anywhere in the world.
“The sector grew on most fronts. The most striking trajectory, especially since 2000, has been in cocoa, where production now exceeds levels seen before the 1970s recession.
“Staple crop production has also increased – cassava, yam, cocoyam and sweet potato in particular. With rising yields and a more than doubled harvested area since 1983, cassava production has grown by over 7.2 percent a year during the past 25 years,” Mr Leturque continued.
It furthermore stated that although involving fewer farmers, non-traditional exports have also taken off, with pineapple the most prominent of these adding, higher-value produce for the domestic market has risen rapidly as well with tomatoes being a prime example.
“Expansion of cultivated area has been important too, although productivity per hectare has increased more quickly than the size of land under cultivation.”
Poverty, most of it rural, it noted, has declined commensurately, adding farm incomes, albeit lower than the national average, has been rising, especially in the 2000s.
“Food supply has grown faster than the population has, making Ghana largely self-sufficient in terms of staples. At the same time, the real price of food has fallen. More accessible food meant that under-nourishment went down to 8 percent by 2003, from 34 percent in 1991.
“Child malnutrition has also declined, with the proportion of infants underweight falling from 30 percent in 1988 to 17 percent in 2008.”
Dr Emmanuel Tambi, Director, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), in a presentation, said though Ghanaian farmers produce a lot, a larger part go waste due to the lack of appropriate processing facilities and ventures.
“There is the need for increased investment on these.”
Tia Alfred Sugri, Deputy Minister of Food & Agriculture, delivering the keynote address, said in 2010, over 925 billion people all over the world, including 239 million Africans, faced severe hunger.
“In Ghana, our farmers produced over 14.5 million tons of cassava; 5.9 million tons of yams; 3.5 million tons of plantain; 1.9 million tons of maize; 1.4 million tons of coco-yams; 350,000 tons of fish and 295,000 tons of rice among others in 2010. Ghana was able to avoid severe hunger.”
However, some experts have argued that the report greatly dwelt on the cocoa sector, disregarding the actual situations for other important food and cash crops.
In 2010, Ghana’s agricultural growth rate was 5.8 percent with an overall gross domestic product of 7.7 percent. According to the Economist Magazine, Ghana is projected to become the second fastest growing economy in 2011 with a growth rate of 14 percent second only to Qatar with a rate of 20 percent.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Cholera Outbreak Takes Alarming Twist
By Samuel Boadi & Esther Awuah
THE MODE of transmission of the recent cholera outbreak in Ghana has taken a new twist. Contrary to the known gestation period of three to five days, the current infection manifests itself within a few hours, after a person comes into contact with the cholera bacteria, killing people within a twinkle of an eye. So far over 70 people are said to have died and the death toll appears to be rising. Kasoa, a sprawling community outside Accra is said to be the hard hit. Clinics and hospitals in the are full to capacity with reports of cholera disease.
Victims suffer from large quantities of watery stools alongside uncontrollable vomiting. The incidence keeps increasing at an alarming rate, according to health officials. Hospitals are choked with cholera patients, a development which has virtually caused fear and panic among the citizenry.
Unlike in previous years when the disease was prevalent in the rainy season, the current epidemic is taking place in the dry season. Medical officers are finding it difficult to determine the cause of the outbreak. A study has been commissioned by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to determine its possible causes, but is yet to be presented to shed light on the origins of the widespread contagion.
Signs and symptoms
Cholera is an acute infection of the small intestine, caused by consuming food and water contaminated with the Vibrio cholerae bacterium (cholera bacteria). The period between being exposed to the bacterium and the presence of symptoms is very short.
Patients infected with cholera suffer excessive painless and watery diarrhea. Most persons also experience intense vomiting. This leads to severe and rapid dehydration and even death if treatment is not quickly administered. Symptoms of dehydration include a rapid pulse, sunken eyes, low blood pressure and wrinkled hands.
Most persons infected with the disease do not become ill and suffer from these symptoms, despite having the bacterium in their faeces for 7 to 14 days. In cases where illness occurs, most episodes are mild and difficult to differentiate from other types of diarrhea. Less than 20percent of cholera patients develop symptoms of severe dehydration.
Fortunately, cholera is easy to treat. According to the WHO, 80percent of people can be treated effectively using Oral Re-hydration Salts, while severely dehydrated patients require intravenous fluid administration, a common sight in our hospitals today.
Victims’ stories
Daily Guide visited the Korle-Bu Polyclinic and conducted interviews with some of the victims.
Twenty-eight-year-old Kwasi Agyei, a resident of Lapaz, Nii Boi Town, said he would have been dead by now were it not for the timely efforts of his co-tenants.
Recounting his ordeal, Kwesi said when his elder and younger sisters observed him dehydrating from passing excessive stools and vomiting, they rushed him to a prayer camp instead of a hospital.
Kwesi contracted the disease when he went to join his workmates at Suhum on Wednesday to connect a drilled borehole. When he felt thirsty, he could not immediately find water to drink so he tasted the water from the borehole.
“In fact” he said “it tasted so nice that I gulped down a lot and felt very full.”
On his way to Accra, he felt hungry so he bought some fried ‘turkey tail’ popularly called ‘tsofi’ and fried yams at Nsawam.
“As soon as I got home, I retired to bed because I was very tired he said. “But on Thursday morning, I sensed some discomfort in my stomach which was followed by frequent visits to the toilet. After the third time, I became very weak so I called my sisters to take me to the hospital.”
He recounted that instead, he was taken to a prayer camp where the pastor told him he was a witch, hence the reason for the infection.
“So there I lay unable to defend myself and receiving prayers in tongues upon tongues and almost dying. As if by divine intervention, my colleagues visited me in my house and sensing danger, took me to Korle-Bu from where I have received treatment since.”
Afrifa Rita, another victim who had fully recovered from the infection and was waiting to be discharged, is a resident of Mamprobi and sells rice by the roadside.
The 26-year old woman said she bought some beans and fried plantains on Saturday in the area where she sells rice.
“The environment where I bought the food was not neat at all” she admitted, “but the food tastes so nice that I am tempted to buy it anytime I go hungry.”
Then on Sunday morning, she sensed some weird sounds in her stomach. “I went to toilet and it was all watery. After about the sixteenth stool, I started vomiting so my housemates rushed me to Korle-Bu where I was put on fluids. I’m fine now but I have pledged not to buy from an unkempt environment again. I have learnt my lesson,” she said.
Kobina Tachie, a 33-year-old resident of Odorkor Official Town, sells pumping machines. Narrating his story, he described how he bought some boiled rice and stew at a junction near his shop where a refuse dump was situated on Sunday.
“At dawn on Tuesday, I started feeling cramps in my abdomen” he began. “Then the diarrhea began so I went to a drug store to buy some medication.” Still, the cramps worsened and did not cease.
Mr. Tachie went to a clinic, Rock Hospital, but the personnel there were unable to assist with his situation. He was made to wait for a doctor until 4pm. By that time, his situation had gotten worse so he was rushed to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
“I thank God I am doing fine” he expressed, “I want to take this opportunity to tell other members of the public to be careful with what, how and where they eat.”
However, the victims at Korle-Bu Polyclinic have complained about the payment of bills after their treatment. They claim they cannot understand why Government has announced a free treatment for victims but yet they are being asked by the Polyclinic to pay amounts ranging from GH¢24 to GH¢30.
But Mr Aryee, Disease Control Officer at the Polyclinic told Daily Guide that the payment is meant for giving sets, canolas and other required items which are not covered under the Government’s package.
Prevention
According to Dr. Salamatu Attah Nantongma, a medical officer at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, who also works at the Family Medicine Department of the Korle-Bu Polyclinic, the mode of transmission is through the faeco-oral route, meaning from hands contaminated with the bacterium and passed on into the mouth.
“One can get cholera if one eats fruits and vegetables that are not washed or boiled, eats cooked foods that have gotten cold and have been handled with people’s hands, or drinks un-boiled and untreated water in places where there is an outbreak of cholera,” she said.
To prevent it therefore, she stated that people must practice washing of hands before meals, washing of hands when you come in from outside where you have greeted people and touched a lot of things, washing of hands after using the washroom, and avoiding communal drinking of water.
She said that the people must boil their drinking water and keep it in clean covered containers and eat cleanly prepared hot food. In addition, that people should be selective about where they purchase their food
“You have been told how to protect yourself, but you still have the choice to go and eat from anywhere, so exercise caution” she stressed.
The number of patients seems to rise during the weekends, when people are busier and purchase food and drinks outside the home. “People should be careful especially when they attend funerals and other functions” she said, “They are rushed in here in numbers and the situation is very appalling.”
Although Dr. Nantongma was unable to confirm to what extent sachet water consumption contributed to the current outbreak, she emphasized that the public should exercise extreme discretion when purchasing from unknown or unpopular sachet water producers.
“There are some brands where we are not really sure whether they have been approved by the standard board or the Food and Drugs board” she said, “So as much as possible we advise that you stick to the popular brands”
The Current State
Cholera has spread widely throughout the world since 1961. In Ghana, it was first reported in 1970. Major epidemics were recorded in 1971, 1977, 1983, 1989, 1991, 1995, 1998 and 2005 in all ten regions while localized outbreaks have cropped up in coastal regions.
The unprecedented amounts of rainfall experienced in 2010 necessitated the opening of the spill ways in both the Bagri Dam in Burkina Faso and the Akosombo Dam in Eastern Region. These led to floods in most low-lying areas. All these, together with other high risk factors such as poor sanitation, lack of potable water, poor personal and food hygiene, have provided favourable environment for the transmission of diarrhoeal diseases including cholera.
Current statistics on the epidemic
Though the most recent study on the epidemic is expected to be made public next week, statistics available from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) for 29th September 2010 to 27th March, 2011 indicate that from the 10 districts in Greater Accra, cases reported stand at 4,499 infected with 36 deaths. This is followed by 573 cases from 12 districts in Eastern with 9 deaths; 554 cases from 7 districts in Central with 24 deaths; 8 cases from one district in Upper West with no deaths and 32 cases from a West Gonja, district in the Northern region, with no deaths.
According to Dr. Joseph Amankwah, Public Health Director of GHS, in an interview with Daily Guide, between 800 and 900 cases are reported each week. He describes the recent outbreak as a mysterious one.
He said another factor that could be contributing to the situation was that most landlords in Accra have rented out rooms without toilet facilities. This has contributed to a lot of people defecating in bushes nearby, packaging faeces in black polythene bags and throwing these into gutters among other unhygienic acts. The faeces are washed into water bodies which serve as source of drinking water to homes whenever it rains.
“This is weird because yet the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) doesn’t seem to care! This shows how Ghanaians are dirty” stated Dr. Amankwah.
The Way Forward
The GHS has warned that the prevention and control of cholera require an integrated multi-sectoral approach since the control of most of the risk factors are beyond the health sector.
“The outbreak is not under control and is still spreading rapidly. The possibility of it spreading to other regions and districts is very high,” it noted in a memorandum.
GHS notes that the control of the infection depended largely on the collaboration of various ministries, namely the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Ministry of Water Resources, Works & Housing, Ministry of Information and the Ministry for the Interior. GHS has stated that sustainable improved water management, as well as general environmental sanitation were crucial and critical.
“It is about time that the needed resources (financial and material) are timely made available for the implementation of key activities outlined in the National Short Term Action Plan.”
Dr. Nantongma of Korle Bu warns that the situation might yet get worse, unless government, health agencies, civil society groups and the public take proactive measures towards preparedness and response
“The rainy season is around June and July” she states with concern. “There is a potential that the outbreak could get worse. We usually don’t have cases during this time. We are all just hoping that people are listening. We are hoping that people are changing their practices,” she said.
THE MODE of transmission of the recent cholera outbreak in Ghana has taken a new twist. Contrary to the known gestation period of three to five days, the current infection manifests itself within a few hours, after a person comes into contact with the cholera bacteria, killing people within a twinkle of an eye. So far over 70 people are said to have died and the death toll appears to be rising. Kasoa, a sprawling community outside Accra is said to be the hard hit. Clinics and hospitals in the are full to capacity with reports of cholera disease.
Victims suffer from large quantities of watery stools alongside uncontrollable vomiting. The incidence keeps increasing at an alarming rate, according to health officials. Hospitals are choked with cholera patients, a development which has virtually caused fear and panic among the citizenry.
Unlike in previous years when the disease was prevalent in the rainy season, the current epidemic is taking place in the dry season. Medical officers are finding it difficult to determine the cause of the outbreak. A study has been commissioned by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to determine its possible causes, but is yet to be presented to shed light on the origins of the widespread contagion.
Signs and symptoms
Cholera is an acute infection of the small intestine, caused by consuming food and water contaminated with the Vibrio cholerae bacterium (cholera bacteria). The period between being exposed to the bacterium and the presence of symptoms is very short.
Patients infected with cholera suffer excessive painless and watery diarrhea. Most persons also experience intense vomiting. This leads to severe and rapid dehydration and even death if treatment is not quickly administered. Symptoms of dehydration include a rapid pulse, sunken eyes, low blood pressure and wrinkled hands.
Most persons infected with the disease do not become ill and suffer from these symptoms, despite having the bacterium in their faeces for 7 to 14 days. In cases where illness occurs, most episodes are mild and difficult to differentiate from other types of diarrhea. Less than 20percent of cholera patients develop symptoms of severe dehydration.
Fortunately, cholera is easy to treat. According to the WHO, 80percent of people can be treated effectively using Oral Re-hydration Salts, while severely dehydrated patients require intravenous fluid administration, a common sight in our hospitals today.
Victims’ stories
Daily Guide visited the Korle-Bu Polyclinic and conducted interviews with some of the victims.
Twenty-eight-year-old Kwasi Agyei, a resident of Lapaz, Nii Boi Town, said he would have been dead by now were it not for the timely efforts of his co-tenants.
Recounting his ordeal, Kwesi said when his elder and younger sisters observed him dehydrating from passing excessive stools and vomiting, they rushed him to a prayer camp instead of a hospital.
Kwesi contracted the disease when he went to join his workmates at Suhum on Wednesday to connect a drilled borehole. When he felt thirsty, he could not immediately find water to drink so he tasted the water from the borehole.
“In fact” he said “it tasted so nice that I gulped down a lot and felt very full.”
On his way to Accra, he felt hungry so he bought some fried ‘turkey tail’ popularly called ‘tsofi’ and fried yams at Nsawam.
“As soon as I got home, I retired to bed because I was very tired he said. “But on Thursday morning, I sensed some discomfort in my stomach which was followed by frequent visits to the toilet. After the third time, I became very weak so I called my sisters to take me to the hospital.”
He recounted that instead, he was taken to a prayer camp where the pastor told him he was a witch, hence the reason for the infection.
“So there I lay unable to defend myself and receiving prayers in tongues upon tongues and almost dying. As if by divine intervention, my colleagues visited me in my house and sensing danger, took me to Korle-Bu from where I have received treatment since.”
Afrifa Rita, another victim who had fully recovered from the infection and was waiting to be discharged, is a resident of Mamprobi and sells rice by the roadside.
The 26-year old woman said she bought some beans and fried plantains on Saturday in the area where she sells rice.
“The environment where I bought the food was not neat at all” she admitted, “but the food tastes so nice that I am tempted to buy it anytime I go hungry.”
Then on Sunday morning, she sensed some weird sounds in her stomach. “I went to toilet and it was all watery. After about the sixteenth stool, I started vomiting so my housemates rushed me to Korle-Bu where I was put on fluids. I’m fine now but I have pledged not to buy from an unkempt environment again. I have learnt my lesson,” she said.
Kobina Tachie, a 33-year-old resident of Odorkor Official Town, sells pumping machines. Narrating his story, he described how he bought some boiled rice and stew at a junction near his shop where a refuse dump was situated on Sunday.
“At dawn on Tuesday, I started feeling cramps in my abdomen” he began. “Then the diarrhea began so I went to a drug store to buy some medication.” Still, the cramps worsened and did not cease.
Mr. Tachie went to a clinic, Rock Hospital, but the personnel there were unable to assist with his situation. He was made to wait for a doctor until 4pm. By that time, his situation had gotten worse so he was rushed to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
“I thank God I am doing fine” he expressed, “I want to take this opportunity to tell other members of the public to be careful with what, how and where they eat.”
However, the victims at Korle-Bu Polyclinic have complained about the payment of bills after their treatment. They claim they cannot understand why Government has announced a free treatment for victims but yet they are being asked by the Polyclinic to pay amounts ranging from GH¢24 to GH¢30.
But Mr Aryee, Disease Control Officer at the Polyclinic told Daily Guide that the payment is meant for giving sets, canolas and other required items which are not covered under the Government’s package.
Prevention
According to Dr. Salamatu Attah Nantongma, a medical officer at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, who also works at the Family Medicine Department of the Korle-Bu Polyclinic, the mode of transmission is through the faeco-oral route, meaning from hands contaminated with the bacterium and passed on into the mouth.
“One can get cholera if one eats fruits and vegetables that are not washed or boiled, eats cooked foods that have gotten cold and have been handled with people’s hands, or drinks un-boiled and untreated water in places where there is an outbreak of cholera,” she said.
To prevent it therefore, she stated that people must practice washing of hands before meals, washing of hands when you come in from outside where you have greeted people and touched a lot of things, washing of hands after using the washroom, and avoiding communal drinking of water.
She said that the people must boil their drinking water and keep it in clean covered containers and eat cleanly prepared hot food. In addition, that people should be selective about where they purchase their food
“You have been told how to protect yourself, but you still have the choice to go and eat from anywhere, so exercise caution” she stressed.
The number of patients seems to rise during the weekends, when people are busier and purchase food and drinks outside the home. “People should be careful especially when they attend funerals and other functions” she said, “They are rushed in here in numbers and the situation is very appalling.”
Although Dr. Nantongma was unable to confirm to what extent sachet water consumption contributed to the current outbreak, she emphasized that the public should exercise extreme discretion when purchasing from unknown or unpopular sachet water producers.
“There are some brands where we are not really sure whether they have been approved by the standard board or the Food and Drugs board” she said, “So as much as possible we advise that you stick to the popular brands”
The Current State
Cholera has spread widely throughout the world since 1961. In Ghana, it was first reported in 1970. Major epidemics were recorded in 1971, 1977, 1983, 1989, 1991, 1995, 1998 and 2005 in all ten regions while localized outbreaks have cropped up in coastal regions.
The unprecedented amounts of rainfall experienced in 2010 necessitated the opening of the spill ways in both the Bagri Dam in Burkina Faso and the Akosombo Dam in Eastern Region. These led to floods in most low-lying areas. All these, together with other high risk factors such as poor sanitation, lack of potable water, poor personal and food hygiene, have provided favourable environment for the transmission of diarrhoeal diseases including cholera.
Current statistics on the epidemic
Though the most recent study on the epidemic is expected to be made public next week, statistics available from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) for 29th September 2010 to 27th March, 2011 indicate that from the 10 districts in Greater Accra, cases reported stand at 4,499 infected with 36 deaths. This is followed by 573 cases from 12 districts in Eastern with 9 deaths; 554 cases from 7 districts in Central with 24 deaths; 8 cases from one district in Upper West with no deaths and 32 cases from a West Gonja, district in the Northern region, with no deaths.
According to Dr. Joseph Amankwah, Public Health Director of GHS, in an interview with Daily Guide, between 800 and 900 cases are reported each week. He describes the recent outbreak as a mysterious one.
He said another factor that could be contributing to the situation was that most landlords in Accra have rented out rooms without toilet facilities. This has contributed to a lot of people defecating in bushes nearby, packaging faeces in black polythene bags and throwing these into gutters among other unhygienic acts. The faeces are washed into water bodies which serve as source of drinking water to homes whenever it rains.
“This is weird because yet the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) doesn’t seem to care! This shows how Ghanaians are dirty” stated Dr. Amankwah.
The Way Forward
The GHS has warned that the prevention and control of cholera require an integrated multi-sectoral approach since the control of most of the risk factors are beyond the health sector.
“The outbreak is not under control and is still spreading rapidly. The possibility of it spreading to other regions and districts is very high,” it noted in a memorandum.
GHS notes that the control of the infection depended largely on the collaboration of various ministries, namely the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Ministry of Water Resources, Works & Housing, Ministry of Information and the Ministry for the Interior. GHS has stated that sustainable improved water management, as well as general environmental sanitation were crucial and critical.
“It is about time that the needed resources (financial and material) are timely made available for the implementation of key activities outlined in the National Short Term Action Plan.”
Dr. Nantongma of Korle Bu warns that the situation might yet get worse, unless government, health agencies, civil society groups and the public take proactive measures towards preparedness and response
“The rainy season is around June and July” she states with concern. “There is a potential that the outbreak could get worse. We usually don’t have cases during this time. We are all just hoping that people are listening. We are hoping that people are changing their practices,” she said.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Promote Consumer Financial Protection .Gov’ts Told
By Samuel Boadi
Consumers International (CI) has urged governments all over the world to ensure fair consumer financial protection for their citizenry.
The recommendations, which form part of this year’s World Consumer Rights Day on March 15, are in response to the G20 commitment to address consumer protection in financial services at the Seoul Summit in November 2010, where CI and consumer organisations from G20 and non-G20 countries fervently campaigned.
CI, in a recent press release, said the launch of the recommendations will take place on May 21, this year.
Joost Martens, Director General of Consumers International, said: “There are as many bank accounts in the world as there are adults and 150 million new consumers join the market for financial services every year. Yet consumers around the world – in both rich and poor countries – are continuing to get a raw deal from banks and other financial service providers.
“These ground-breaking recommendations are the product of a shared sense of anger within the consumer movement that the rights of financial consumers have been neglected for too long. They provide a clear and comprehensive set of demands to significantly improve financial protection for consumers everywhere.”
The report, ‘Safe, fair and competitive markets for financial services: recommendations for the G20 on the enhancement of consumer protection in financial services,” calls for a new international organisation to support work on financial consumer protection.
It called for a permanent international organisation to enable national financial consumer protection bodies to share good practice, issue public alerts and develop minimum standards and guidelines.
It appealed to national regulators with full authority to investigate, halt and remedy violations of consumer protection law, including the right to define specific practices or products as unfair, deceptive or otherwise illegal.
Calling for clearer contracts, charges and practices, it said regulators should introduce a requirement of comprehensibility to remove from the market products that do not meet minimum standards. Again, it said financial advice to consumers should be separated from sales-based remuneration.
On effective redress and dispute resolution, the report said consumers should have access to adequate individual and collective redress systems.
It also touched on measures to promote stability and safety of consumers’ deposits and investments, including separation of investment and retail banking divisions, bank ‘living wills’ with guarantees for protecting consumer deposits, and reform of insolvency procedures to change the rank of creditors to put depositors at the top.
The report called for competition in financial services to help reverse the market concentration, which has contributed to the creation of institutions that are 'too big to fail' and also remove barriers that discourage consumers from switching accounts.
It said financial service providers should be asked to take more responsibility of ensuring consumers receive clear, sufficient, reliable, comparable and timely information about financial service products.
According to James Guest, CI’s Vice President and CEO of Consumers Union of the United States, “The 2008 collapse of the US sub-prime mortgage market was the starting point for what became the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. This crisis started with a failure of financial consumer protection and implementing CI’s recommendations will be a major step towards preventing such a catastrophe from ever happening again.
“Weak consumer protection in financial services is an unnecessary risk with disastrous consequences we cannot afford to repeat. We call on governments to pay urgent attention to the consumer movement’s demands.”
World Consumer Rights Day is an international day of action and awareness, observed by consumer organisations and civil rights groups around the world.
President John F. Kennedy on 15 March, told the US Congress: “Consumers by definition, include us all. They are the largest economic group, affecting and affected by almost every public and private economic decision, yet they are the only important group, whose views are often not heard.”
Consumers International (CI) has urged governments all over the world to ensure fair consumer financial protection for their citizenry.
The recommendations, which form part of this year’s World Consumer Rights Day on March 15, are in response to the G20 commitment to address consumer protection in financial services at the Seoul Summit in November 2010, where CI and consumer organisations from G20 and non-G20 countries fervently campaigned.
CI, in a recent press release, said the launch of the recommendations will take place on May 21, this year.
Joost Martens, Director General of Consumers International, said: “There are as many bank accounts in the world as there are adults and 150 million new consumers join the market for financial services every year. Yet consumers around the world – in both rich and poor countries – are continuing to get a raw deal from banks and other financial service providers.
“These ground-breaking recommendations are the product of a shared sense of anger within the consumer movement that the rights of financial consumers have been neglected for too long. They provide a clear and comprehensive set of demands to significantly improve financial protection for consumers everywhere.”
The report, ‘Safe, fair and competitive markets for financial services: recommendations for the G20 on the enhancement of consumer protection in financial services,” calls for a new international organisation to support work on financial consumer protection.
It called for a permanent international organisation to enable national financial consumer protection bodies to share good practice, issue public alerts and develop minimum standards and guidelines.
It appealed to national regulators with full authority to investigate, halt and remedy violations of consumer protection law, including the right to define specific practices or products as unfair, deceptive or otherwise illegal.
Calling for clearer contracts, charges and practices, it said regulators should introduce a requirement of comprehensibility to remove from the market products that do not meet minimum standards. Again, it said financial advice to consumers should be separated from sales-based remuneration.
On effective redress and dispute resolution, the report said consumers should have access to adequate individual and collective redress systems.
It also touched on measures to promote stability and safety of consumers’ deposits and investments, including separation of investment and retail banking divisions, bank ‘living wills’ with guarantees for protecting consumer deposits, and reform of insolvency procedures to change the rank of creditors to put depositors at the top.
The report called for competition in financial services to help reverse the market concentration, which has contributed to the creation of institutions that are 'too big to fail' and also remove barriers that discourage consumers from switching accounts.
It said financial service providers should be asked to take more responsibility of ensuring consumers receive clear, sufficient, reliable, comparable and timely information about financial service products.
According to James Guest, CI’s Vice President and CEO of Consumers Union of the United States, “The 2008 collapse of the US sub-prime mortgage market was the starting point for what became the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. This crisis started with a failure of financial consumer protection and implementing CI’s recommendations will be a major step towards preventing such a catastrophe from ever happening again.
“Weak consumer protection in financial services is an unnecessary risk with disastrous consequences we cannot afford to repeat. We call on governments to pay urgent attention to the consumer movement’s demands.”
World Consumer Rights Day is an international day of action and awareness, observed by consumer organisations and civil rights groups around the world.
President John F. Kennedy on 15 March, told the US Congress: “Consumers by definition, include us all. They are the largest economic group, affecting and affected by almost every public and private economic decision, yet they are the only important group, whose views are often not heard.”
Where Are The Rights Of Ghanaian Consumers?
Not many Ghanaian consumers can tell of a time when they successfully sought redress from the courts of law on a product (both local and foreign), which they bought from the market that later proved to be substandard or fake.
There is currently no Consumer Rights Law to protect consumers, hence the exploitation of a lot of consumers in Ghana by some manufacturers. SAMUEL BOADI looks into this matter.
Asana Awudu lives at Abuja, a shanty settlement behind the Cocoa Marketing Board (CMB) offices at Accra Central.
The 30-year-old mother of two migrated from her hometown at Nyankpala in the Northern Region to look for greener pastures in Accra two years ago.
She cannot see anymore because an oil ointment she bought from a drug hawker to treat an eye infection has left her totally blind.
All efforts to help her regain her sight have proved futile and she cannot trace the one she bought the eye ointment from.
She used to sell fritters every morning in a glass container, which she carried on her head, and she was able to remit her two children in the village every month since her children’s dads had totally abandoned them.
Now she is a roving beggar on the streets of Accra perpetually impoverished because she cannot see.
As part of efforts to forestall such situations and educate consumers on what to look out for in products that the Ghana Standards Board (GSB), with support from a few corporate organizations, marked the International Day of the Consumer yesterday, March 15, 2011 in Accra.
Speaking to CITY & BUSINESS GUIDE in a telephone interview, Amponsah-Bediako, Public Relations Manager of GSB, said a lot of consumers in Ghana stand the risk of purchasing substandard products if they shop recklessly.
According to him, this was necessary because a lot of products in Ghana were manufactured in obscure places.
Noting that a good number of products also meet GSB’s required standards, he appealed to consumers to look out for the name and address of the manufacturer of any product they buy on the market, as well as the country of origin so that the manufacturers could easily be traced.
“The inscription should be in English including the manufacturing and expiry dates other than that users would find it difficult to understand how to use a particular product.
Consumers should also check the net content, volume and weight of products, the list of ingredients, especially for food and drugs and additionally pay attention to the energy efficiency ratings (capacity) of electrical appliances they buy.”
Calling on the national regulatory bodies such as the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Food & Drugs Board (FDB), Energy Commision, among others to collaborate with GSB to educate consumers on their rights, Mr Amponsah Bediako said no headway would be made if consumers fail to pay particular attention to attributes of products.
Odame Darkwa, Deputy CEO, Food Division of the FDB, asked consumers to critically examine both local and foreign products they buy from the market.
“In the case of canned foods for example, consumers should always look out for the nature of packaging as to whether the cans have rusted, bloated or with defaced labels.”
He further tasked consumers to look out for substances they are allergic to so that they are not exposed to any health hazards.
“Consumers should therefore be careful, especially people who buy from vendors carrying food on their heads by the roadside. Most of these vendors do not have any means of refrigeration and thus exposes foods to a lot of infections.
Of special concern is sachet water. Most of the sellers look very unkempt and sell by gutters.”
Kofi Kapito, Executive Secretary of Consumer Protection Agency, also complained about the rate at which some embassies in Accra exploit Ghanaian visa applicants.
“The American and British Embassies have taken undue advantage of applicants in that when people apply for visas, they are denied the visas on flimsy excuses and their monies are not refunded to them. How can the mere processing of documents cost about $100? There is no place in the United States that the processing of visa costs this much.”
He said government needs to put measures in place to prevent telecommunications companies from exploiting consumers.
“These telecoms operators deceive consumers with a lot of messages and ask phone users to text messages to certain codes for prizes. It is the NCA that should do these things but appear to be in bed with these companies, hence the massive exploitation.”
Mr Kapito therefore called on government to speed up work on the preparation of the Consumer Rights Law to help fight manufacturers of products and services, who unduly take advantage of the Ghanaian consumer and walk away scot-free.
“Most Ghanaian consumers have had nowhere to take their concerns to particularly when their rights are being abused. When the Consumer Rights Law comes into force, there would be some sanity in the system,” Mr Kapito stressed.
There is currently no Consumer Rights Law to protect consumers, hence the exploitation of a lot of consumers in Ghana by some manufacturers. SAMUEL BOADI looks into this matter.
Asana Awudu lives at Abuja, a shanty settlement behind the Cocoa Marketing Board (CMB) offices at Accra Central.
The 30-year-old mother of two migrated from her hometown at Nyankpala in the Northern Region to look for greener pastures in Accra two years ago.
She cannot see anymore because an oil ointment she bought from a drug hawker to treat an eye infection has left her totally blind.
All efforts to help her regain her sight have proved futile and she cannot trace the one she bought the eye ointment from.
She used to sell fritters every morning in a glass container, which she carried on her head, and she was able to remit her two children in the village every month since her children’s dads had totally abandoned them.
Now she is a roving beggar on the streets of Accra perpetually impoverished because she cannot see.
As part of efforts to forestall such situations and educate consumers on what to look out for in products that the Ghana Standards Board (GSB), with support from a few corporate organizations, marked the International Day of the Consumer yesterday, March 15, 2011 in Accra.
Speaking to CITY & BUSINESS GUIDE in a telephone interview, Amponsah-Bediako, Public Relations Manager of GSB, said a lot of consumers in Ghana stand the risk of purchasing substandard products if they shop recklessly.
According to him, this was necessary because a lot of products in Ghana were manufactured in obscure places.
Noting that a good number of products also meet GSB’s required standards, he appealed to consumers to look out for the name and address of the manufacturer of any product they buy on the market, as well as the country of origin so that the manufacturers could easily be traced.
“The inscription should be in English including the manufacturing and expiry dates other than that users would find it difficult to understand how to use a particular product.
Consumers should also check the net content, volume and weight of products, the list of ingredients, especially for food and drugs and additionally pay attention to the energy efficiency ratings (capacity) of electrical appliances they buy.”
Calling on the national regulatory bodies such as the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Food & Drugs Board (FDB), Energy Commision, among others to collaborate with GSB to educate consumers on their rights, Mr Amponsah Bediako said no headway would be made if consumers fail to pay particular attention to attributes of products.
Odame Darkwa, Deputy CEO, Food Division of the FDB, asked consumers to critically examine both local and foreign products they buy from the market.
“In the case of canned foods for example, consumers should always look out for the nature of packaging as to whether the cans have rusted, bloated or with defaced labels.”
He further tasked consumers to look out for substances they are allergic to so that they are not exposed to any health hazards.
“Consumers should therefore be careful, especially people who buy from vendors carrying food on their heads by the roadside. Most of these vendors do not have any means of refrigeration and thus exposes foods to a lot of infections.
Of special concern is sachet water. Most of the sellers look very unkempt and sell by gutters.”
Kofi Kapito, Executive Secretary of Consumer Protection Agency, also complained about the rate at which some embassies in Accra exploit Ghanaian visa applicants.
“The American and British Embassies have taken undue advantage of applicants in that when people apply for visas, they are denied the visas on flimsy excuses and their monies are not refunded to them. How can the mere processing of documents cost about $100? There is no place in the United States that the processing of visa costs this much.”
He said government needs to put measures in place to prevent telecommunications companies from exploiting consumers.
“These telecoms operators deceive consumers with a lot of messages and ask phone users to text messages to certain codes for prizes. It is the NCA that should do these things but appear to be in bed with these companies, hence the massive exploitation.”
Mr Kapito therefore called on government to speed up work on the preparation of the Consumer Rights Law to help fight manufacturers of products and services, who unduly take advantage of the Ghanaian consumer and walk away scot-free.
“Most Ghanaian consumers have had nowhere to take their concerns to particularly when their rights are being abused. When the Consumer Rights Law comes into force, there would be some sanity in the system,” Mr Kapito stressed.
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