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Tag: Kwaku Agyemang Manu

  • Zipline to stop flying ‘basic’ medications like dewormers over cost – Health Minister

    Zipline to stop flying ‘basic’ medications like dewormers over cost – Health Minister

    The minister of health, Kwaku Agyemang Manu, has made suggestions that the government intends to prevent Zipline Ghana from opening more centers due to the high cost of service fees.

    According to the Dormaa West Member of Parliament, health facilities in the country which depend on the facility to fly essential medical drugs on time to their facility for critical management of cases are abusing the service which he said is milking government funds.

    The Health Minister made the disclosure in Kumasi when he addressed stakeholders in the health sector during the First Senior Managers Meeting of the Ghana Health Service.

    Expressing his frustration, the Minister said” every single request you make to fly to you comes with some huge cost so we said we are going to do essential service, very needed medications in a short time just in time.

    You don’t use the drone to drop medicine for you to stock. When they finished Omenako and I went there to commission the facility, I saw dewormers in their stock why will you want to fly dewormer, to be close to you?’’ he questioned.

    He added “I’m engaging my big men to even stop them from setting up some new extra facilities, because we just cannot pay the cost that is coming in with fly me this amount fly me this amount fly me this. Ideally, we were setting up to fly things that if we don’t get in the next 10 minutes somebody will die and that is blood’’ he explained.

    He further explained” we have our own supply chain of vaccines, now thanks to Covid-19 we have stock everywhere with cold rooms that can take every temperature across the country almost every region has got that type of facilities and we have our land Cruisers that can take in Vaccines from the airport to wherever, you are within a short possible time without any challenge so why should we fly vaccines’’ he said.

    He indicated that “You see those running the drone service. I mean the drone scientists they came to install their infrastructures to make money from us we are not under any obligation to procure and make them have so much money when we don’t have anything. The agreement we have with them gives us a certain bench mark when we hit there in a month that is it. But the claims that are coming and we are seeing is a challenge’’ he stressed.

    The minister therefore, charged managers of the various public health facilities to use the health review conference to discuss to control the situation.“I will leave this to you to discuss how we can control this. I spoke to Albert about four days ago on how we can design guidelines and I want to expect that Dr. Kumah Aboagye will have a strategy. Regional directors should ensure that everything that you are flying gets authorization from somewhere above the facility level so that we control cost and expenditures. Other than that we will go nowhere. We need money to do several things. When you get into the health system you will never have adequate resources. What I mean is that things that we need to work with are so numerous. So if we put all our resources into just one small area it means we are neglecting the rest and we cannot work efficiently so let us take a good look at that area and how best we can change them’’ he pleaded.

  • Cost-effective tools essential for averting malaria death trend – GHS

    Cost-effective tools essential for averting malaria death trend – GHS

    The Director General of Ghana Health Services (GHS), Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, has emphasized that cost-effective tools are needed to reverse malaria death trends in the country.

    He said such measures would complement the existing interventions by the GHS in the malaria fight.

    He revealed that 5.7 million malaria cases were confirmed in Ghana in 2021, with 275 deaths. This, he said, includes 1.6 million cases involving children under age five, with 125 deaths.

    Speaking at the National launch of the Expansion of the Malaria Vaccine Implementation Program (MVIP) in Sunyani in the Bono Region, Dr. Kuma-Aboagye said the GHS has targeted a 90% reduction in malaria mortality and a 50% reduction in malaria incidence by 2025.

    Cost-effective tools needed to reverse malaria death trend - GHS
    Some eligible children waiting to be vaccinated

    He emphasized that they are working to achieve the target through prevention and control interventions such as “the Mass distribution of Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets, Indoor Residual Spraying, Larval source management, Intermittent Preventive Treatment for pregnant women, Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention, Case Management, and the latest tool on the block – Malaria Vaccine.”

    Since 2019, the GHS has administered a total of 1,359,199 doses of malaria vaccines as part of the piloted MVIP.

    The phased vaccination in 42 districts in seven regions is said to have recorded substantial progress toward reducing childhood morbidity and mortality.

    The Director General of Ghana Health Services, Dr. Kuma-Aboagye, said: “The Service, together with the Food and Drugs Authority, through its robust pharmacovigilance system, has established that the malaria vaccine is safe, feasible to deliver and reduces deadly or severe malaria”.

    He said on the evidence of the progress and the recommendations by the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) and their partners, including WHO, the MVIP has been expanded from the current 42 districts to 93 districts in Ahafo, Bono, Bono East, Central, Oti, Upper East, and Volta regions.

    Cost-effective tools needed to reverse malaria death trend - GHS
    Health Minister, Kwaku Agyemang Manu observing the vaccination

    According to the GHS, the expansion would further help in the reduction of the number of children hospitalized due to malaria and an overall decrease in children under-five deaths.

    The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang Manu, who performed the launch, said eligible children would receive the malaria vaccine at 6 months, 7 months, 9 months, and 18 months.

    He emphasized the need for children to receive all four doses of the malaria vaccine for the best protection while sustaining all other existing malaria interventions, such as sleeping under insecticide-treated nets.

    Mr. Agyemang Manu urged all parents, relatives, caregivers, community leaders, religious leaders, and civil society organizations to ensure that all eligible children are vaccinated against the deadly childhood disease.

    Cost-effective tools needed to reverse malaria death trend - GHS
    The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang Manu

    Dr. Kuma-Aboagye further called for the support of the media and other stakeholders for a successful exercise.

    He said, “It is, therefore, necessary to provide accurate information from credible sources, including the GHS and other health partners. In addition, the country relies on using your media platforms to assist in generating demand for all doses, including the 4th dose given when a child turns 18 months.”

    The national launch of the expansion of the MVIP had in attendance religious leaders, students, and some health partners, including the WHO, PATH, and Gavi, among other stakeholders from the national, regional, and district levels.

    The Health Minister and the Director General of the GHS also observed the vaccination of some eligible children at the launch.

    Source: myjoyonline

  • GRNMA reports that 500 nurses depart Ghana each month

    According to David Tenkorang, general secretary of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), 500 nurses leave Ghana on average each month.

    He claims that these nurses relocate to the most prestigious nations to continue their professions since there they are given better working circumstances.

    Shedding light on the number of nurses to have left the country during and after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the shores of Ghana, David Tenkorang told Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show, “We have the data of nurses who have migrated out of Ghana and we have about 5,000 nurses who left Ghana in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Averagely, we have between 400 to 500 nurses leaving the country every month. They migrate to the UK, Ireland, Wales, Canada, USA and Australia. These are the areas they are migrating to.”

    He shared that a few of these nurses migrate to the Middle East, but described that part of the world as not a so good destination for them (nurses).

    David Tenkorang admitted the migration of nurses pose a considerable risk to Ghana’s healthcare delivery. “If we don’t put in place measures to keep them in Ghana, then we can lose all of them and that’s a problem for us,” he lamented.

    Health Minister, Kwaku Agyemang Manu, has revealed an imminent bilateral agreement between the Government of Ghana and the British Government to send Ghanaian trained Nurses to the United Kingdom (UK) in exchange for financial considerations.

    According to Mr Agyemang Manu, this will be similar to an already existing arrangement with Barbados, where he said Ghanaian nurses are excelling.

    The MP for Dormaa Central made this known on Monday, December 5, on the Floor of Parliament during the 2023 Budget debate.

  • Ghanaian nurses to work in UK under new deal – Agyemang Manu

    The Health Minister, Kwaku Agyemang Manu, has revealed that engagements are underway to send trained Ghanaian nurses to the United Kingdom (UK) to work.

    According to him, there is an ongoing bilateral contract with the British government in exchange for financial consideration.

    During the 2023 Budget debate in Parliament on Monday, the Dormaa Central legislator said the agreement will be similar to an already existing arrangement with Barbados, under which he said Ghanaian nurses are excelling.

    “We are engaging with the government of the United Kingdom, and we are just about to sign a memorandum of agreement after cabinet approval to begin to send nurses for training and work there and come back home after three years.

    “Ghana is going to benefit from the little money that the UK government will pass on. For every single nurse that goes away, when we finish the agreement, it is likely we will get over 1000 pounds to come and support the health system in Ghana,” he said on Monday.

    In March this year, Barbados received 200 more Ghanaian nurses to complement the staffing needs of the island country.

    The Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Motley, in an address expressed her appreciation to the government for extending help to her country’s health sector.

    Ghana and Barbados in 2019 signed an agreement for the recruitment of nurses from Ghana.

    The agreement, signed at the Jubilee House, when Mia Mottley paid a courtesy call on President Akufo-Addo, as part of her official visit to Ghana, led to the initial recruitment of over 100 Ghanaian nurses.

    Meanwhile, there are concerns over the initiative, as some have suggested that the nurses should be absorbed into Ghana’s Health Service.

    Source: – MyJoyOnline.com

  • Sputnik V report: Initiate criminal probe against Agyeman-Manu ASEPA to AG

    The Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) has given the Attorney General a 48-hour ultimatum to initiate criminal investigations and prosecution against the Minister of Health, Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, and all other persons involved in the procurement of Sputnik V vaccines.

    This comes after the Ad-hoc Committee of Parliament set up to investigate the unsuccessful procurement of the vaccine by the Health Ministry, released a report of its findings and recommendations.

    In portions of the report, the Committee said it discharged its mandate by “diligently” examining the two agreements as well as “written and oral evidence on the subject within the parameters of the seven terms of reference and the timelines given by the house”.

    The Committee said it found that the Ministry of Health did not comply with the requirements of Article 181(5) of the Constitution in respect of its agreement with Messrs Al Maktoum.

    “The minister said that he did that because of the exigencies of the time when COVID-19 posed public health crisis with highest fatalities and there was urgent global search for vaccines and at that material time the agreements were signed, all government-to-government sources had failed as the bilateral sources had communicated to the Ministry that they would only be able to deliver in August 2021”, portions of the report said.

    It added: “Suffice to say that the bilateral sources did not include Russia since Ghana had no such arrangement with Russia”.

    “The agreements ensuing from the negotiations have been submitted to the PPA for ratification, the Committee determined that the agreements were entered into without prior approval by the PPA under Sections 40 and 41 of Act 663. Indeed, at the time of completing its work, PPA was yet to do the ratification”.

    A statement signed by the Executive Director of ASEPA, Mensah Thompson on 9 August 2021 indicated that “Even though we commend the committee for the work done, we believe the work of the Committee and its resultant report wasn’t particularly thorough.

    “The adverse findings made by the Committee are already issues civil society, experts and well-meaning Ghanaian have already raised in the public domain”.

    “Our limitation was that we lacked the powers to recommend appropriate sanctions against the Minister in respect of the glaring violations of our laws and that’s why a committee was set up to investigate the matter and make appropriate recommendations.

    “Retrieval of monies paid to Sheikh for the failed procurement is an un-compromising formality and that cannot be the end to this matter,” it added.

    ASEPA, therefore, stated that “In respect of the violations of our laws there are clear sanctions that must be activated in accordance with the law, in respect of this we are giving the Attorney General a 48-hour ultimatum, to initiate Criminal Investigations and Prosecution against the Minister for Health and all other persons involved in this shady procurement or ASEPA will take the matter up and file an official complaint with the CID”, adding that: “A petition has been already prepared together with all relevant documents including the report of the ad-hoc committee of Parliament awaiting to be filed within the next 48 hours at the CID if the Attorney General fails to initiate the relevant legal processes against the health minister”.

    Source: classfmonline.com

  • Coronavirus: Health Minister reportedly discharged from UGMC

    The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang Manu, has been discharged from the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC), 3news.com can confirm.

    Mr Agyemang Manu, who was admitted on Tuesday, June 9, contracted the deadly Covid-19 in the line of duty.

    Hospital officials, who would not speak on record, indicated that the Health Minister is in stable condition and responding to treatment but not currently at UGMC.

    The sector minister, who has not been seen in public since the last media briefing on May 28, is reported to have taken some days off and was yet to resume to work.

    Source: 3 News

  • Social media reactions after Akufo-Addo wished ‘resting’ health minister a speedy recovery

    President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has wished the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu a speedy recovery.

    This has come as a shock to many as the Health Minister is said to have denied reports that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and was receiving treatment at the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC).

    The minister was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday (June 9, 2020) and is “in a stable condition”.

    Sources indicate that the Minister contracted the virus after his wife and son were both admitted at the Intensive Care Unit of UGMC.

    But his wife has denied reports that she has contracted the virus.

    The Ministry of Health corroborated the information as checks suggest that Mr Kwaku Agyemang Manu has taken a few days off.

    In his 11th update to the country on COVID-19, President Akufo-Addo said “we wish our hardworking minister for health a speedy recovery. He contracted the virus in the line of his work and he is stable condition.”

    Ghanaians on social media have been reacting to this development, see some of the tweets below:

    Source:pulse.com.gh