The report of the five-year national strategic plan to help scale up malaria control and prevention in Ghana and the launch of $25-million Presidential Film Pitch Series by President Akufo-Addo are some of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Thursday.
The Graphic reports that the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) has laid out a five-year national strategic plan to help scale up malaria control and prevention in the country.
Strategies for the plan, which begins this year, comprise larvae source management, distribution of insecticide treated nets (ITN), mass campaign, as well as case management in all districts in the country.
That is to help reduce malaria mortality by 90 percent, reduce malaria case incidence by 50 percent, and achieve malaria per-elimination in at least six districts in the country by 2025.
This was disclosed by the Programme Manager of the NMCP, Dr. Keziah Malm, in Accra yesterday at a press briefing on the 2021 World Malaria Day.
The briefing was to highlight the status of the malaria control programme implementation.
Dr. Malm said the plan was expected to reduce prevalence to a maximum 10 percent in at least 100 districts.
She said with a high coverage, the strategic plan was predicted to lead to 175 districts with prevalence below 10 percent.
The newspaper says that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has launched the $25-million Presidential Film Pitch Series, with a call on local film producers to show more creativity and innovation in their productions.
That, he said, would make Ghanaian films popular not only within the country but also capable of satisfying international audiences.
The Presidential Pitch seeks to create the platform for Ghanaians filmmakers to undertake projects within the Ghanaian ecosystem.
It will engage investors, broadcasters, distributors, sponsors and platforms around the world for potential collaborations, sponsorship, investment, sales and advertising opportunities.
One hundred projects in the form of documentaries, feature films, short films, series, games and film infrastructure were received by the National Film Authority (NFA) from Ghanaian film entrepreneurs, out of which 25 projects will be shortlisted by tomorrow.
The goal is for each shortlisted project to close deals that will bring the project to fruition by benefiting from sponsorship from entities, including Amazon, Netflix and DSTV.
President Akufo-Addo said the Ghanaian film industry was replete with talented players along the value chain, saying the government would continue to initiate policies and programmes to help make the sector competitive and viable.
He announced that the government, through the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and the NFA, had brought together Ghanaians, including producers, investors, distributors and marketers, to strike deals to the tune of $25 million.
The Graphic also reports that President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was decorated with the highest national award of Sierra Leone — the Grand Commander of the Republic of Sierra Leone — at an event in Freetown, the capital, last Tuesday.
The event formed part of the 60th Independence Day celebration of Sierra Leone. It was on the theme: “Building a new Sierra Leone together”.
President Akufo-Addo attended the ceremony in his capacity as the President of Ghana and also Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The President of Guinea, Professor Alpha Conde; the President of Liberia, George Manneh Weah, and the President of The Gambia, Adama Barrow, were also decorated with similar honours for the various roles they played in helping Sierra Leone in its times of distress.
Apart from the four West African Presidents who attended the event and received their honours in person, the Prime Minister of Guinea Bissau, Nuno Gomes Nabiam, and the Vice-President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, were also in attendance.
It was a colourful celebration, with performances by Sierra Leone’s security agencies, interspersed with cultural displays.
The Times says that about 560 Micro, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (MSMEs) in the local sector are being supported to formalise their businesses to enable them to compete in formal markets, including the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Under an intervention called Progressive Licensing Scheme, the beneficiaries are being aided to have one of their products certified by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) at a reduced or no cost at all as well as receive training on branding and packaging.
The scheme is being implemented by the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) and the Mastercard Foundation under their Young Africa Works Business Formalisation Project, which is aimed at helping MSMEs get certification from regulatory organisations.
The Executive Director of the NBSSI, Mrs. Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, told the Ghanaian Times in an interview that the MSMEs were selected from sectors such as agric and agro-processing, food and beverages, manufacturing (cosmetics and household chemicals) and pharmaceuticals.
She said under a Memorandum of Understanding signed with the FDA, last year, the MSMEs, including 465 women-owned businesses, were being assisted financially to have one of their products per business certified at a reduced or no cost at all.
Another aspect of the scheme, she said, was to provide similar support to the MSMES to acquire certification from regulatory organisations, including the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) and the Registrar General’s Department.
“The need to improve the activities or products of MSMEs has come to the front burner. Partly deriving from the presence of AfCFTA, we want to position MSMEs and their products to be able to compete with products from other African countries,” she said.
GIK/APA