The report that about 200,000 cases of diabetes are diagnosed annually, including children who report to health facilities in Ghana is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Tuesday.
The Graphic reports that about 200,000 cases of diabetes are diagnosed annually, including children who report to health facilities in the country.
According to the acting Programmes Manager, Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) of the Ministry of Health, Dr Efua Commeh, the prevalence rate was between 2.6 and nine per cent of the population.
“Averagely, we have almost 800 children in total who are diagnosed with the disease, so we are now running clinics for children with diabetes who are put on insulin. However, there are a lot more people across the country who have not been captured,” she said.
Dr Commeh was speaking at the commemoration of this year’s World Diabetes Day in Accra on November 14, 2022.
The commemoration, on the theme: “Access to diabetes care”, was aimed at raising awareness of the growing burden of the disease and how to strategise to prevent and manage the threat.
Dr Commeh advised people to constantly check their blood sugar levels to prevent surprises of being diagnosed with NCDs, especially diabetes, which she said was preventable when detected early.
According to the acting manager, diabetes was a chronic metabolic disease typically characterised by high sugar in the blood which could lead to blindness, amputation and heart disease, with risk factors, especially for people 45 years and above.
Those susceptible to the disease included people whose parents or siblings had the disease, unhealthy lifestyles, physical inactivity and history of gestational diabetes, she explained.
The newspaper says that Ecobank Ghana has provided skills and financial literacy training to some women in the Micro Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (MSMEs) to boost the growth of their businesses.
The participants received training in bookkeeping, basic accounting, budgeting, savings and investments, as part of activities to mark Ecobank Day, a flagship annual Corporate Social Responsibility to give back to the communities in which the bank operates.
Addressing the gathering at the training centre at UPSA in Accra, the Managing Director of Ecobank Ghana, Dan Sackey, said the focus of this year’s Ecobank Day was increasing financial literacy and financial inclusion, particularly for women and youth in marginalised communities.
“We recognise that financial literacy and financial inclusion are life-changing matters, and that is why we treat them very seriously. We are determined to help raise financial literacy, which in turn will drive financial inclusion in our local communities.”
“Ecobank Ghana is committed to playing an important role in our communities as a meaningful contribution to the development of the African continent, in line with our overall corporate vision,” he said.
Financial literacy, Mr Dan Sackey explained was the ability to use one’s knowledge and skills acquired through education and training to effectively manage financial resources, ideally for a lifetime of financial well-being.
Financial inclusion, he said, meant having access to useful and affordable financial products and services to meet one’s needs- payments, savings, personal and small business loans, and insurance.
He added that financial literacy and financial inclusion a key enablers in reducing poverty and boosting prosperity.
The Ghanaian Times reports that President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has terminated the appointment of the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Mr Charles Adu Boahen, over his alleged involvement in corruption.
The President took the decision when the allegation of Mr Boahen’s involvement was brought to his notice, according to a statement from the Jubilee House.
“After being made aware of the allegations levelled against the Minister in the exposé, ‘Galamsey Economy,’ the President spoke to Mr Boahen, after which he took the decision to terminate his appointment, and also to refer the matter to the Special Prosecutor for further investigations,” the statement said Mr Boahen, son of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) first flag bearer in the 1992 Presidential Election, has served in President Akufo-Addo’s administration since 2017.
According to Tiger Eye, Mr Boahen was allegedly caught on camera revealing that the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, needed a USD200,000 token as an appearance fee and some positions by an investor for the Vice President’s siblings to get his backing and influence in establishing a business in Ghana.
The alleged revelation was made in a meeting with Tiger Eye investigators, who in an undercover investigation, posed as businessmen, in a hotel room in the United Arab Emirates. This was an investigation into top-level corruption that undermines investor confidence in Ghana.
The newspaper says that the Electoral Commission (EC) has terminated the registration certificates of 17 political parties for failing to establish national and regional offices across the country.
It explained that the parties had failed to establish national and regional offices in the country after giving them up to October 20, 2022 to show proof of why their registration should not be cancelled.
The parties include the United Progressive Party (UPP) led by Akwasi Addae, popularly known as Odike, the United Front Party (UFP), the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), the National Reform Party (NRP), and the Reform Patri¬otic Democrats (RPD).
The others are the Democrat¬ic People’s Party (DPP), United Development System Party (UDSP), Every Ghanaian Living Everywhere (EGLE), Yes People’s Party (YPP), United Ghana Movement (UGM), New Vision Party (NVP), Gha¬na Democratic Republican Party (GDRP) and the Ghana National Party (GNP).
The rest are the Power Unity Party (PUP), People’s Action Party (PAP), United Renaissance Party (URP) and the United Love Party (ULP).
In a statement signed and issued by the EC, said its action was in accordance with Section 15 (3) (c) of the Political Parties Act 574, however, it gave them up to October 20, 2022 to show proof of why their registrations should not be cancelled.
It said the constitutionally mandated electoral body undertook a nationwide exercise to inspect the offices of all registered political parties from May 16 to June 9, 2022 and following the nationwide inspection, it came to light that those political parties had no offices at the national and regional levels.
The statement said prior to the termination, the Commission on October 13 and 17 cautioned the political parties and asked them to fulfill the requirements of the Political Parties Act 2000, by submitting to the EC, their national and regional offices across the country.
GIK/APA