Ghanaian Children turned into Guinea Pigs?
Ghana Music Awards 2002 - The countdown begins
People’s Assembly ideas is cosmetic - Mumuni
More men dying than women
President unveils plan of action
Metro TV sues TV Africa for $320,000 damages
Ghanaian Children turned into Guinea Pigs?
Is the President and his Health Minister allowing Ghanaian infants to be used as Guinea Pigs? On Saturday December 15th 2001, a reported 3000 Ghanaian infants were vaccinated at the Accra Sports Stadium amid fanfare and ceremony, with international sports stars, like Marion Jones, the Women’s World Sprint Champion in attendance.
Ghana was said to be the first beneficiary of a 5-in-1 combination vaccine developed to protect children against 5 diseases - Diphtheria, Tetanus Influenzae b (Hib) and Hepatitus B. Some believe that the vaccination also covered yellow fever and measles.
That Ghana is the first country to receive this pentavalent vaccine should not be a matter necessarily for celebration but rather a matter that raises serious questions for which equally serious answers are required. Combination Vaccines, an increasing number of vaccines, to prevent childhood diseases, are being introduced across the globe and are seen as representing one solution to the problem of increased numbers of injections during single clinic visits, improving vaccination time coverage, reducing the cost of stocking, transporting and administering separate vaccines, and reducing extra health care visits or vaccination programmes.
The problem however, is that combination vaccines of the kind in question are relatively new treatment and have certainly not received widespread approval from all medical quarters or parents internationally. The 3-in-1 vaccine MMR – for protection against Mumps, Measles and Rubella, for example, has been linked to Autism – a condition which leads to delayed speech, communication and intellectual impairment; Asthma; Guillain-Barre Syndrome - a condition of the nervous system which causes acute paralysis; Crohn’s Disease- a chronic inflammatory disease of the bowels; and Sub-acute Sclerosing Panencephalties - a condition which causes degeneration of the nervous system leading to brain damage and death.
MMR is believed to be safe and is being administered in many countries. However, nearly 50 per cent of family doctors, health visitors and practice nurses in the United Kingdom, to give but one example, have reservations about giving children the second dose of MMR. Some Doctors have called combination vaccines “combination chaos,” and a sizeable section of the medical profession still believe in “non-combination” approaches.
A number of symposia have been held internationally seeking to address safety concerns about combination vaccines. The outcome of these deliberations can hardly be said to represent a ringing affirmation of the safety and clinical efficacy of the multiple jab approach. Further concerns some component vaccines forming part of the 5-in-1 combination have not been licensed in the USA or indeed several other countries, because of concerns about reduced Hib immunogenicity. We believe that there are sufficient concerns internationally about some 3-in-1 vaccines, about combination vaccines (4-in-1s; 5-in-1s) in general, to warrant caution.
We need therefore from the President, the Minister and Health officials answers about these concerns. Protecting the children of Ghana, the health of Ghana’s children should not be dependent on “Big Name” cash but upon proper examination by our health officials of the results of clinical and safety trials of drugs and vaccines allowed for use on Ghanaian children particularly, where vaccines have not been widely used internationally.
We ask that the Health Minister shares with the Ghanaian public the questions put to Mr Jacques-Francois Martin of Vaccine Fund, and what results of clinical/safety trials were presented to him before 3000 Ghanaian children were vaccinated in Accra. Is Ghana first to benefit or are Ghanaian children being used as Guinea pigs to test a new brand of combination vaccine? (CPP UK Secretariat)
GRi…/
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Government intends to carry through with its decision to abrogate the six-year-old agreement between the government of Ghana and Telecom Malaysia. The contract, which ends on March 2 this year, will not be extended, President John Kufuor has affirmed.
Addressing a two-day residential conference for top government officials including ministers of state on Wednesday, President Kufuor described the decision as irrevocable. He dropped hints however to open the sector up for private participation along the lines of the Nigerian example. According to the President, liberalising the telecommunication sector fits into his government’s version, which is to capacity build and project the telecommunication sector to play its role in national development.
The former National Democratic Congress (NDC) government in 1996 divested Ghana Telecom. Under the contract, Telecom Malaysia was given the mandate to manage the company.
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Mr Charles Kofi Wayo, regarded as the gadfly of contemporary Ghanaian politics, has emerged from months of hibernation to openly challenge the Minister of Finance to a debate on the state of the economy in light of his recent pronouncements.
Wayo, who is a ranking member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), said claims of an appreciable improvement in the economy and a resultant increase in the purchasing power of the Ghanaian made by Mr Yaw Osafo Maafo are not grounded on facts. Wayo said after one year of a positive change government, people are not feeling the impact of this “improvement” in their pockets in spite of rooftop proclamations made to that effect, and stated his readiness to debate the minister any day and time.
“Living standards of people in deprived communities like Nima have not changed. Market women are still struggling to survive and the ordinary street person cannot feel the impact of this improvement in his or her pocket,” he said. He threw down the gauntlet in a sterling interview with the Chronicle on Monday. Wayo insists that it is within the right of Ghanaians to demand response from government on campaign promises since according to him a year is a long time in the political life of a nation.
“We don’t have to wait until the end of the four-year term of a government before we ask questions,” he said. He however proffered some advice to the Kufuor administration: “reduce the number of foreign trips and explore or adopt a home-grown approach to addressing the problems of the economy.”
Asked to comment on the first anniversary of the Kufuor administration and the ninth anniversary of the 4th Republic, Wayo who stood and lost the parliamentary elections in the Ayawaso East constituency in the 2000 elections on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), replied: “There is nothing to celebrate. The only thing we can celebrate is a smooth transition and the absence of soldiers who whipped and cracked the heads of street hawkers.”
Wading into further controversy, Wayo rubbished the proposed national reconciliation exercise, arguing that it flies in the face of common sense and the rule of law.
He said the exercise seeks to justify the atrocities of the past and therefore defeats the essence of the exercise, which attempts to bring us to terms with the past.
“Why should we jail armed robbers and other criminals and yet want to grant amnesty to people who killed and maimed innocent Ghanaians?” he asked, adding that crime must be accompanied by justifiable punishment.
He also shrugged off enquiries about his specific thoughts on nine years of democratic governance in Ghana, only to draw parallels between democratic rule in Ghana and the United States. However, he gave high marks to the United States.
GRi…/
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Ghana Music Awards 2002 - The countdown begins
The countdown to the Ghana Music Awards 2002, easily the most authentic recognition awards in Ghana’s music industry today has kicked off with the distribution of nomination forms to radio stations, newspaper houses, cassette sellers and some key individuals in the arts and music industry.
According to Mrs Theresa Ayaode, Chief Executive of Charter House Productions Limited, which has been organising the awards for three years running, a shortlist of six songs in each category will initially be drawn from the nomination forms received. The selected songs will then be published for public voting. The public will be responsible for the selection of the best four songs in each category after which a selection committee made up of industry experts from around the country will meet and decide on which of the songs would win awards.
The number of categories for this year’s awards have been reduced to 20 from 29. This, the event organisers explain, is because some of the old award categories were not sustainable since they do not produce materials works that can be used as basis for judgement.
These categories include the Band of the Year and Choral Group of the Year, which have not had any significant recorded works to their credit for the past few years. Other awards such as the Music Label of the Year would be judged according to the number of award winning songs that the label produced in the year while the relevance for awarding Music Distributors of the Year has faded.
The songs that qualify for this year’s awards are those that were released between November 2000 and October 2001. The rationale behind this, according to Mrs Ayaode is to ensure that the songs in contention should have been enjoyed for at least three months prior to the end of the year and also to ensure that new releases do not interfere with the reckoning.
The Ghana Music Awards, which many call Ghana’s version of the Grammy Awards has, in the short time of its existence, become the high point of the Ghanaian musician and all those in the music industry as it recognise their contributions to the development of music in the country.
The awards have encountered problems in the past but the organisers say they are busily trying to find solutions to those that are in their control to ensure that this year’s event is as well-organised as its predecessors. According to Charter House, in order that patrons of the event can be assured of seats at the awards event, all potential patrons or tickets would not be allowed into the auditorium. Again the programme will be carried live on national television, so everyone can watch it.
The problem of absentee award winners that almost marred last year’s even was a situation that the organisers say, was beyond their control.
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The Ministry for Women and Children’s Affairs would embark on a mammoth protest march on February 3 this year to protest against the use of women as sex symbols by the media. According to the Minister, Mrs Gladys Asmah, over 1,000 women from various women’s groups are expected to participate in the march.
Mrs Asmah who was speaking to Showbiz after addressing a People’s Assembly at Swedru last week said the march would particularly storm the offices of ‘Funtime’, a newsmagazine which has been identified to use pictures of naked women on its front-pages. She said the march is to also create awareness in women on the need to uphold themselves as women.
Mrs Asmah noted that it is time women took positive actions concerning the way they are portrayed in the media and said several appeals to get the National Media Commission to check the activities of these newspapers have proved futile and urged publishers to stop such acts. She also appealed to religious bodies to assist in the fight against actions that dehumanise womanhood.
In a separate interview with the Executive Secretary of the National Media Commission, Mr Yaw Boadu Ayeboafo, he told Showbiz that their attention was drawn to such publications sometime last November after which the Commission wrote to the publishers pleading with them to put an end to or tone down such publications.
He said that it is not within the power of the Commission to interfere with the work of publishers and therefore the Commission cannot unilaterally take the law into it’s own hands. Mr Ayeboafo quoted Article 173 of the Constitution that says “The National Media Commission shall not exercise any control or direction over the professional functions of a person engaged in the production of newspapers or other means of communications.”
He said that while it is a function of the Commission to take appropriate measures to ensure the establishment and maintenance of the highest journalistic standards, the Commission is also to ensure that editors and publishers of newspapers and magazines shall not be subject of control by Government on account of publication or editorial opinion. “The need, therefore, to amend the Constitution to grant authority where it is due has once again been asserted,” he said.
GRi…/
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People’s Assembly ideas is cosmetic - Mumuni
The People’s Assembly idea that swept the capital and regions of the country bringing Government closer to the People has been described as a cosmetic public relations gimmick.
Speaking to the Crusading Guide after the opening of the
Second session of the Third Parliament of Ghana’s 4th Republic last
Tuesday, Alhaji Mohammad Mumuni MP for Kumbugu Constituency, said that the
exclusion of the Minority from the National People’s Parliament undermined the
credibility of the exercise.
According to him, “it was quite clear from my perspective
that they (People’s Assembly) were staged-managed and some of the questions
were actually prepared questions that were planted among the audience”. “I say
this because I do not believe that everybody had the opportunity to be there”,
Mumuni said particularly referring to the National People’s Assembly, which was
chaired by President J.A. Kufuor.
He said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Government
deliberately sent invitations to the Minority MPs via their pigeon holes in
Parliament when Parliament was on recess and most of the MPs were in their
constituencies. “Even those of us who were in Accra, we didn’t make it a point
to come to our pigeon holes everyday to pick our mails-a lot of us did not get
the invitation”, said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP.
He said if the NPP Government had a good intention of
including the Minority in the exercise, it would have a better way of inviting
them to the event. “I got my invitation a day after the People’s Assembly”,
said Mumuni.
He said the NPP deliberately avoided them so they (NPP)
would not be put on the carpet by embarrassing questions from the NDC Minority.
“The questions that were asked that day were very comfortable questions”,
Mumuni said, stressing that, “they were manageable questions deliberately
planted”.
Mumuni indicated that the People’s Assembly concept was one
of the ploys of the NPP to Government to lend credence to their (NPP) claim of
“Positive Change”.
He conceded however that there had been some changes except
their effects had not been far- reaching and that the events lined up for the
celebration of one year of “positive change” “were basically cosmetic, really
some kind of a window-dressing just to indicate that there had been a change”.
However, Squadron Leader Clend Sowu, an ex-MP and an
aspiring Chairman of the NDC said the National People’s Assembly chaired by
President Kufuor was an example of “Leadership by example”. He said the concept
was not a novelty as is being tossed around, pointing out that the First and
the Second Parliaments of the Forth Republic held People’s Assemblies.
Sowu said for the concept to have a more positive effect, it
should be taken to the grassroots level where unit committees question government
authorities at the urban and area council level on government policies, and
people at the urban and area council levels also question authorities at the
district assembly level.
He said the process should be done in an ascending order
till it got to the international level. Sowu said much had been realised in
terms of “Positive Change” and that economically Ghanaians still had a long way
to go.
The speaker of Parliament, Mr Peter Ala Adjetey opened the
Second Session of the Third Parliament of the Forth Republic. He said the past year
had been promising and hoped that the new year would follow in the same order.
Mr Alban Bagbin, the Minority Leader in his address,
promised that the Minority would lessen, this year, its walkouts, and urged the
Majority not to provide the cause for such walkouts. Papa Owusu Ankomah, the
Majority leader, promised to assist the Speaker in his effort to ensure that
Parliament played its role well and effectively in Ghana’s democratic experiment.
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The Leader of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Dr
Edward Mahama, has noted that the decline in inflation from 40.9 per cent to
28.3 per cent by the government last year was an artificial one, which nobody
should be boasting of.
He submitted that since the government was not spending much
at the moment, there would be continuous decline in inflation, hence his
description of the decline in inflation as “artificial”.
Edward Mahama stressed that although the government was
making a considerable headway, inflation would surely go up when government
began spending. The PNC leader implored government to put in place pragmatic
measures that would ensure continued low inflation when it starts spending
rather than singing its own praises for reducing inflation.
He expressed these views in an interview with the Crusading
Guide at the Party’s Office in Accra recently. On the cash and carry system, he
noted that the government had no intention to abolish it because it (government)
had no ideas as to how to go about it. He continued that since what to do to
the cash and carry system was embodied in the ruling party’s manifesto, it has
no excuse to inform Ghanaians now that there is no timeframe to abolish it.
According to him, the government needed to examine its
position on the issue because most developed countries had been able to abolish
it and replace it with a Health Insurance Scheme. He added that a government
could succeed only if its people were beneficiary of a good health policy. He
maintained that, “Positive Change” could become a realistic option if Ghanaians
could access good medicare.
GRi…/
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More men dying than women
More males are dying in the country than females, a report
by the Department of Births and Deaths reveals. According to the report, out of
a total of 49, 913 deaths recorded last two years, males accounted for 28,065
and females 21,848. The high mortality rate among men is attributed to
strenuous economic activities and reckless social lifestyles such as
over-indulgence in alcohol, smoking and sex.
The half-year report, released by the Department last
Friday, indicated that 25,808 people died between January and June last year,
with males accounting for 51 percent. The record said 6,552 of the deaths last
year occurred among people aged 70 and above, while infant and child mortality
accounted for 2,839.
The Greater Accra Region recorded the highest mortality rate
of 25 percent, while the least of 0.8 percent went to the Upper Region. A total
of 246,173 births were also recorded during the first six months of last year,
with infant births accounting for 122,755. Delayed registration by people
processing birth certificates, especially for passports, accounted for 123,958.
A total of 427,215 births were recorded during the last two
years. Women between 25 and 29 years, topped the birth rate by 32 per cent
during the half year, followed by 20 and 24 years, 27 per cent, 30 and 34
years, 30 per cent, 35-39 years, 11 percent, teenagers (15-19) seven percent,
and 40-45 years, three percent.
Greater Accra again topped the birth rate with 75,565, while
Upper West Region recorded the least of 4,594. The disparity in coverage in the
regions was due to the high population distribution, especially in the big
towns and cities. Apart from Greater Accra and Ashanti regions, most of the
remaining regions lack good health and other facilities to enhance record
gathering.
Mr Samuel Pedro Ankrah, Registrar of Births and Deaths, said
that the Department also lacked adequate manpower and logistics to ensure
efficient service.
“Remuneration of field staff is poor,” he said, and appealed
to the government and the District Assemblies to come to their aid.
GRi…/
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President unveils plan of action
President John Kufuor on Thursday unveiled a strategic plan of action designed to ensure a progressive growth of the economy within the next three years.
The focus for development, according to him, will be based
on the strengthening of five priority sectors. Speaking at a seminar for
ministers of state at GIMPA, Greenhill, Accra, the President named the sectors
as infrastructure, agriculture, social service, energy and rural development,
hinted that Ghana’s development partners are waiting anxiously to assist in the
implementation of the programme.
The President, therefore, charged all minister to come up
with firm action proposals indicating clear and distinctive priorities, which
will be incorporated in this year’s budget and the mid-year review. He said the
Accra-Kumasi, Accra-Aflao and Accra-Cape Coast highways will be given top
priority to facilitate economic growth. Additionally, each of the regions will
be required to target at least one road of strategic importance for
rehabilitation.
President Kufuor said the strategic plan will also
accelerate the development of the ports of Tema and Takoradi, adding that, “the
government has already been approached by some investors who are interested in
keen competition for the containerisation of the Tema Port”.
He said the government would, therefore, have to take a
quick decision on the proposals of the strategic investors. The President also
announced that the telecommunication would be opened up to engender competition
to ensure efficiency and cost effectiveness.
“Many international companies which are keen to invest in
the telecommunication industry in Ghana have already made contacts with the
government”, he said. Touching on the energy resource of the country, the
President noted that with all the effort and sacrifices made so far, “the
energy output in the country is too small. We, therefore, have to focus on
enlarging and diversifying the energy base so that development is not unduly
truncated”.
President Kufuor said agricultural practices are already moving
towards the production of cereals with emphasis on maize and rice and “from all
indications, we should be able to reduce agricultural import bill in the few
years ahead”.
He declared: “In a matter of years, we should be able to
enhance the development of cereals and the Ministry of Food and Agricultural
should be poised to achieve that target”. He said the President Special
Initiative (PSI) on cassava is yielding positive results as more and more
communities are embarking on cassava plantation for the ultimate production
industrial starch for export.
“I am happy to say that as I am speaking to you, an
industrialist from South Africa is in the country for talks on various aspects
of the PSI and the prospects are very bright for the economy,” he said. He said
the government will also facilitate and encourage the production of cashew as
an industrial crop and “we will be out there in partnership with investors to
into the processing of cashew for export”.
President Kufuor, however, assured cocoa farmers, that they
would not be neglected, adding: “We will not forget the cocoa farmers who have
continued to be the backbone of the economy for centuries.”
The President reminded the ministers that “if we are able to
do all these effectively, the majority of the people will see that the NPP has
the competence to deliver”, the President said. He also reminded the ministers
that the country’s resources are very limited and so “we have to move
strategically since this is the way to bring growth progressively to the community
at large”.
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Metro TV sues TV Africa for $320,000 damages
Metropolitan Entertainment Television (Metro TV) has filed a suit at the Fast Track Court, seeking an order of perpetual injunction to restrain TV Africa from going ahead to re-allocate the rebroadcast of the African Cup of Nations (CAN 2002) to Ghana Television (GTV).
Metro TV is praying the court for an order for the defendant
to pay special and general damages amounting to $320,000 or its equivalent in
cedis, being monies spent by the plaintiff in expanding its facilities to three
regions in anticipation of its obligation under a “sport Affiliate Agreement”
signed in August 1999.
In addition, the plaintiff is seeking an order that TV
Africa should pay $70,000 being losses that will be incurred as a result of a
fall in ratings due to most viewers switching their television sets to GTV
during the two tournaments.
Joined in the action are Global Media Alliance, local
representatives of TV Africa and Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC). The
plaintiff is also seeking a declaration that the affiliate agreement between it
and the TV Africa is still valid and in force and its termination was wrongful
in law.
It is seeking a further declaration that by the execution of
the agreement, the first defendant represented to the whole world that the
plaintiff shall rebroadcast programmes covering CAN 2002 and World Cup 2002.
The Plaintiff is further praying the court to order that it
should be allowed to rebroadcast the two tournaments in accordance with the
agreement between it and TV Africa. In its statement, the plaintiff said it
signed an affiliate agreement with TV Africa sometime in 1998, which permitted
it to receive and broadcast the defendant’s programmes on terms and conditions
contained in the agreement.
The statement said further to the signing of the affiliation
agreement, TV Africa signed another agreement called “Sport Affiliation
Agreement” with the plaintiff dated August 4, 1999, in which the defendant
granted Metro TV the exclusive right to broadcast all live sport programmes via
its downlink facilities provided the plaintiff acquired nation-wide coverage.
It said based on these agreements, the plaintiff embarked on
a nation-wide programme expanding its services to the Ashanti, Western, Eastern
and Central regions at great cost quite apart from its operations in the
Greater Accra Region. According to the statement, implicit in these agreements
was the tacit understanding that the plaintiff will have the exclusive right to
broadcast the two tournaments in Ghana.
It said in view of this anticipation, the plaintiff has
taken steps to procure television transmission equipment for a nation-wide
expansion to be able to take advantage of the two tournaments. It said while
the plaintiff was frantically preparing to rebroadcast the live sports
tournaments, TV Africa on October 19, 2001 wrote a letter terminating the
affiliate agreement by December 31, 2001.
GRi…/
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