Tuberculosis disease becoming a national threat
Accra (Greater Accra)
25 March 2003- Parliament on Monday approved the budgetary allocations
presented by Committees of a number of Ministries and Commissions but expressed
concern about the inadequate funds needed for them to perform their duties.
The Select Committee
on Health presented a Report on the Annual 2003 Annual Budget Estimates of the
Ministry of Health and recommended the approval of One Trillion, One Hundred
and Fifty-Four Billion, Six Hundred and Eighteen Million Cedis (1,154,618.000
for operational expenditure.
Kwasi Akomea
Kyeremateng, Chairman of the Committee said some aspects of the Ministry's
programme include activities to enhance ability of the poor to gain access to
basic health care, continue to focus on improvement in the management of
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and promotion of safe sex.
Others are the use of
insecticide treated materials for children under five years, eradication of
guinea worm infestation initiate a review of Tuberculosis drug treatment, and
establishment of Health Insurance Scheme.
The Committees
observed that the braindrain of Medical officers and Nurses continued to be a
major problem of the sector and recommended that the Ministry continued with
the process to marshal efforts to forestall the migration of the officers.
It also observed that
reported cases of Guinea Worm infestation increased last year and called on
Government to increase its budgetary allocations to carry nationwide educational
programmes to contain the upsurge and provide potable water to endemic and
non-endemic areas.
The Committee was of
the view that the reporting system on internally generated funds was ineffective
and likely to create room for misappropriation and recommended to the Ministry
of health to devise a good reporting system.
It also commended the
Ministry on steps taken so far at the institutionalisation of the Health
Insurance Scheme and urged the Ministry and all stakeholders to work
conscientiously towards its full realization.
The Report of the
Committee on the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ)
observed that apart from the office of the Commission in Greater Accra, all
other offices in the regions are rented and this has adversely affected their
work.
The Committee also
noted that funds released to cover Administrative and Service cost were
inadequate and as a result CHRAJ could not undertake its planned activities for
2002.
It also observed that
with the current democratic ethics permeating all nooks and crannies people are
becoming more aware of their human rights and this has led to an increase in
the complaints and petitions to the Commission beyond its staff strength.
The Committee
therefore, recommended that subsequent budgets should be improved in order for
it to attain its objectives by recruiting and retaining the required competent
staff.
In its conclusion,
the Committee urged the Ministry of Finance to release funds to the Commission
on time so that it can perform its mandated function of helping to entrench
democracy, good governance and respect for human rights.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
25 March 2003- Tuberculosis is currently affecting 281 out of 100,000 people in
Ghana with the Greater Accra, Eastern, Central and Ashanti Regions as the
hardest hit while it is estimated that one in every 10 patients with AIDS would
die of Tuberculosis in Ghana.
Ghana has been ranked
globally at 32nd and in the 13th position in Africa by established number of
Tuberculosis (TB) cases reported to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Kwakye Addo NDC-
Afram Plains South said this in a Statement in Parliament on Monday to
commemorate this Year's World Tuberculosis Day that falls today. He said the
problem of TB in Ghana was increasing with the emergence of slums in the urban
areas, homelessness and substance abuse coupled with poor environmental
sanitation that is aggravating the situation.
The Member said
"we should therefore, tackle the disease head-on since failure will lay us
open to an uncontrolled epidemic'. Addo said the world is now threatened with
new killer-bacteria, called Multi-Drug resistant TB that was mainly man-made.
He said if TB
patients do not get the needed support to complete their treatment they may end
up with the drug resistance form of TB, and this puts the whole society at risk
because this type of TB is almost incurable.
Addo said
"TB" should be considered a national security threat that deserves
more attention from all stakeholders. Anyone can contract TB whether rich or
poor, young or old, male or female without the option of prevention".
The National
Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTCP) mandated to spearhead the fight against
TB and all public health facilities including quasi-government health
institutions should be resourced adequately to fight the disease before the
country was taken by events, he added.
Addo said the Day is
set aside to create the necessary awareness of various stakeholders on the
symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of TB and the importance of its effective
control.
He said it also has
the potential to significantly increase case detection rate through education,
awareness-building and social mobilisation. The Day also seeks to increase the
impact of activities by extending a focused Stop TB Campaign beyond World TB Day
to the rest of the year, and educate the general public on the symptoms and
treatment of TB and the need for people to get tested at a clinic if they have
symptoms of the disease.
Modestus Ahiable,
NDC-Ketu North said there was the need for better nutrition and housing to curb
the incidence of TB adding that people who are vulnerable are those who share
rooms with TB patients and not protected.
He said animals
slaughtered should be thoroughly inspected because some of them could be
sources of TB. Stephen Balado Manu, NPP- Ahafo Ano South said the recent surge
of the disease could be attributable to poverty while the living conditions of the
people was appalling thus making the people vulnerable to the disease.
Joe Gidisu, NDC-South
Tongu said TB has become one of the dominant diseases that is taken for granted
and said effort should be made to resource the Primary Health Care Programme.
Kwabena Adusa
Okerchiri, NPP- Nkawkaw said one area of focus on checking the spread of TB
should be at the churches especially the Spiritual Churches where they profess
to treat all manner of diseases.
He said prayers and
medical attention are needed to cure all ailments so that the impact of the TB
disease could be reduced. Dr Kwaku Afriyie, Minister of Health said the
symptoms that include fever, cough and cold among others must be observed
adding that the treatment of TB was absolutely free and the disease was curable.
He said the
prevalence of the disease is on the increase with the advent of the AIDS but
regretted that people have not availed themselves with the free health
facilities for the treatment of TB.
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44,000
registration assistants to be employed
Accra (Greater Accra)
25 March 2003- The Electoral Commission (EC) has drawn up a special budget for
Investment and Service outside this year's estimates in view of next year's
Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
It is also to employ
about forty-four thousand registration assistants for next year's general
elections. This was contained in the Report of the Special Budget Committee on
the 2003 budget estimates of the EC and presented to Parliament on Monday in a Motion
for approval of the Commission's budget estimates for the year.
Abraham Ossei Aidoo,
Member of the Committee in presenting the Report recommended to the House to
adopt and approve the amount of 32, 816.2 million cedis (Thirty-two Billion,
eight-hundred and sixteen million and two-hundred cedis).
The Report said the
technical team from the EC informed the Committee that the Commission was not
well resourced enough to carry out its constitutional responsibilities, it
faces problems of inadequate and very old vehicles and lack of qualified
personnel among others.
The Committee was
informed that the constitution enjoins the Commission to replace voter register
every ten years but due to financial constraints, this may not be possible and
against this background, the Committee drew the attention of the Ministry of
Finance to the important nature of the programs and ask that adequate funds
should be made available to the Commission.
Aidoo said the
Committee also noted that out of 100 billion cedis requested by the Commission
for its operations for the year and preparations for the coming general
elections, only 32 billion cedis was approved by the Ministry of finance.
Papa Owusu Ankomah,
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs in moving for the Motion for approval of the
estimates said the budget allocation do not include replacement of voter'
register, demarcation and the forthcoming general elections and explained that
a special appropriation bill would be made for the elections.
Contributing to the
Motion, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, NDC- Kumbungu said the Report has not captured
the preparations for the constituency and boundary demarcations as well as the
issue of national identity cards.
In another
development, the Select Committee on the 2003 Budget estimates of the National
Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) recommended that the House approve the
sum of 26,269.0 (Twenty-six billion, two-hundred and sixty-nine million cedis)
for the organisation during the 2003 financial year.
The Committee
observed that the amount approved for last year for the Commission was
inadequate and due to this, the intended targets were not achieved it,
therefore, said for the NCCE to perform its constitutional functions
effectively, adequate funds should be provided to it.
The Committee further
observed that this year, the estimates for investments was not adequate and
pleaded with the Ministry of Finance that subsequent estimates should make
adequate provision for it.
The Committee was of
the view that to increase and sustain the interest and participation of all
Ghanaians in the new democratic and constitutional dispensation for the
achievement of good governance, social and political stability, the Commission
must be adequately resourced.
Alhaji Issah Seidu
Abah, NDC-Chereponi said there was no actual work done by staff of the NCCE in
the districts and most at times they are made to propagate only party issues
and not national issues since they depend so much on the goodwill of the
District Chief Executives (DCEs).
Jose Gidisu,
NDC-North Tongu said there was the need for the District assemblies to give
institutional support to the staff of the NCCE to enable them to undertake
their functions of public education in a non-partisan way.
Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, NDC- Kumbungu said
there was the need for the country to be well focused and to avoid duplication
to achieve value for money instead of paying lip service to programmes. He said
the Vice President's Initiative on Indiscipline could have been properly
handled if it had been channelled through the NCCE, which have the legal
authority to lead the crusade on indiscipline.
GRi.../
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