TEN million compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs have been released by the Ministry of Energy for free distribution nation-wide to replace the high energy consuming onion bulbs or incandescent lights.
The adoption of the new bulbs is expected to enable the country to save about 200 megawatts of energy under the second phase of the Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation project.
The first phase of the programme, which was undertaken in 2006 and witnessed the distribution of six million CFL bulbs, saved the country 200 megawatts of electricity and helped to cushion the country against the 2007 power crisis.
Ms Enam Akoetey, the Director of reNew, a non-governmental organisation charged with registering communities countrywide for the free distribution of the bulbs, said they had an expected life span of over 10 years.
She explained that the CFL bulbs provided an energy efficient alternative to the incandescent lamp, using one fifth of the electricity incandescent lamps used to provide the same level of illumination.
She said the distribution of energy efficient bulbs would reduce peak load electricity consumption from residential units and help reduce demand on crude oil used in generating power from thermal sources.
She said stakeholders, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), would be consulted on this life- transforming project and how to dispose of the energy efficient bulbs after their life span had expired because they were manufactured with mercury.
She said the Phillips Company, which manufactured the bulbs, had agreed to collect the disused bulbs back to the US after the project expired to prevent mercury from sipping into underground water.
She said waste disposal points would be created purposely for the CFL bulbs to coincide with the expiry date of the bulbs to ensure prompt collection and shipment to the US for final disposal.
Ms Akoetey warned consumers about the presence of fake CFL bulbs on the local market which could not last the 10-year life span of the original CFL bulbs.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
MINISTRY TO ENSURE COMMUNITY-BASED MENTAL HEALTH CARE (SPREAD, APRIL 22, 2010)
THE Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare is shifting emphasis from centralised mental health care to community-based mental health care to expand services to more than 16,875 registered mental patients in the country.
Currently, the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, which has the capacity for 600 patients, is accommodating 1,200 mental patients in what can be described as a “concentration camp”.
The Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, Mr Enoch Teye Mensah, announced the policy decision at an international conference on Mental Health in Accra last Monday.
He said the centralised mental health delivery system had failed to mainstream cured mental patients into society.
Rather, he said, the current policy had increased stigmatisation.
Mr Mensah said when the Mental Health Law was reviewed, it would expand services to the socially excluded and ensure the reinstatement of mental patients who lost their jobs following their illness after they had fully been cured.
He hinted that the government was restructuring the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme to offer assistance to the very poor in society, including mental patients.
Dr Akwasi Osei, the Chief Psychiatrist of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, said mental health had experienced three revolutions in recent times. These included the acceptance that mental sickness was not a spiritual disease and the discovery of drugs to deal with the health condition.
He said the third revolution was the shifting of emphasis from centralised psychiatric hospitals to community-based care and treatment.
Dr Osei said the Ministry of Health had accepted to foot the bills of sending over 600 mental patients who had recovered to their various homes to decongest the Accra Psychiatrist Hospital.
Currently, the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, which has the capacity for 600 patients, is accommodating 1,200 mental patients in what can be described as a “concentration camp”.
The Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, Mr Enoch Teye Mensah, announced the policy decision at an international conference on Mental Health in Accra last Monday.
He said the centralised mental health delivery system had failed to mainstream cured mental patients into society.
Rather, he said, the current policy had increased stigmatisation.
Mr Mensah said when the Mental Health Law was reviewed, it would expand services to the socially excluded and ensure the reinstatement of mental patients who lost their jobs following their illness after they had fully been cured.
He hinted that the government was restructuring the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme to offer assistance to the very poor in society, including mental patients.
Dr Akwasi Osei, the Chief Psychiatrist of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, said mental health had experienced three revolutions in recent times. These included the acceptance that mental sickness was not a spiritual disease and the discovery of drugs to deal with the health condition.
He said the third revolution was the shifting of emphasis from centralised psychiatric hospitals to community-based care and treatment.
Dr Osei said the Ministry of Health had accepted to foot the bills of sending over 600 mental patients who had recovered to their various homes to decongest the Accra Psychiatrist Hospital.
Monday, April 19, 2010
'POISON' ON SALE...As traders defy FDB ban (LEAD STORY, APRIL 19, 2010)
Despite the ban on the importation and sale of turkey tails because of their health hazards, there is still brisk business of the meat product in the open market.
Personnel of some security services allegedly provide security cover for the product to be conveyed in containers by agents to the market and sale points, particularly Nsawam near Accra where the business is booming.
Since February this year about 4,095 cartons of turkey tail have been seized and destroyed but the importation of the meat product goes on unabated.
The Food and Drugs Board (FDB) believes that some influential people are behind the illegal trade and are thwarting its efforts to check the trade.
A visit by the Daily Graphic to Nsawam revealed that the trade in the turkey tail was still visible and the patronage was still high despite the hike in prices of the product.
A turkey tail hawker at the Nsawam Lorry Park, Mrs Martha Adwoa Akyewaa, told the Daily Graphic that they used to pay GH¢20 for a carton of turkey tails, but with the ban the same carton was now sold for GH¢42.
She said despite the hike in prices, people still patronised the banned products, especially on weekends when people travel for picnics, weddings and naming ceremonies.
Miss Akosua Manuah, a trader who had been in the turkey tail trade for 10 years, said they used to travel to Accra to take their allocations but because of the ban and police harassment, they had stopped. Rather, she said, they relied on agents who brought the meat in containers to Nsawam.
She alleged that the police usually accompanied the containers to Nsawam where they collected between GH¢500 and GH¢600 from the agents in the illegal turkey tail business.
Miss Comfort Mawusi said even though many people including her had heard about the educational programmes on radio that turkey tails were full of fat and not good for consumption, because they was relatively cheaper than beef, goat and chicken people tended to patronise them.
The Food and Drugs Board has adopted a multi-prong approach to deal with the menace and nip the trade in the bud.
In an interview in Accra on illegal trade in turkey tail, Dr M. Mohammed-Alfa, the Head of Animal Products and Biosafety Department of the FDB, said the new strategy had been necessitated by the proliferation of the banned products on the market in recent times despite efforts to completely stop the importation of turkey tails into the country.
He said the multi-prong approach involved frequent search of major storage facilities to mop up the products still being kept in storage facilities to prevent them from being distributed to the various markets.
He said the public had been co-operating in that respect by providing tip-offs about the loading sites.
He said a network of importers of animal products was being established to ensure that the FDB worked closely with the importers to stop the trade.
Dr Mohammed-Alfa said the network of importers could also act as informants by reporting members and kingpins of the illegal turkey tail business to the FDB.
He said just last Thursday, a consignment of 300 cartons was seized on the premises of Alferdos Cold Stores at Kaneshie and that the war on turkey tails was being fought on all fronts.
He said as part of the multi-prong approach the FDB would visit Nsawam to hold series of meetings with the Akuapem South Assembly to educate members of the Assembly on the need to educate the people on the health hazards for them to move from the trade to other alternative means of making a livelihood.
Dr Mohammed-Alfa said similar meetings and educational tours had been planned for other parts of the country such at Dome and Aflao.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry in 1999 issued a communiqué to all importers to the effect that poultry and poultry products with total fat content exceeding 15 per cent were banned and not to be imported into the country.
Consequently, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture also stopped issuing permits for the importation of turkey tails into Ghana.
The Food and Drugs Board (FDB), therefore, asked the public to give information on any person known to be involved in the illegal importation of turkey tails.
The FDB noted that fat from turkey tails, being of animal source, was likely to have a good proportion of saturated fats which were associated with high cholesterol level and as such were implicated in the occurrence of many diseases, including heart diseases.
On February 8, 2010 the FDB, in conjunction with National Security and CEPS, detained a container of frozen chicken at Kaneshie because it contained 1,970 cartons of turkey tails as part of its contents.
Again, on February 9, 2010, the three institutions impounded a container in which 2,095 cartons of turkey tails had been concealed among 692 cartons of chicken backs.
Personnel of some security services allegedly provide security cover for the product to be conveyed in containers by agents to the market and sale points, particularly Nsawam near Accra where the business is booming.
Since February this year about 4,095 cartons of turkey tail have been seized and destroyed but the importation of the meat product goes on unabated.
The Food and Drugs Board (FDB) believes that some influential people are behind the illegal trade and are thwarting its efforts to check the trade.
A visit by the Daily Graphic to Nsawam revealed that the trade in the turkey tail was still visible and the patronage was still high despite the hike in prices of the product.
A turkey tail hawker at the Nsawam Lorry Park, Mrs Martha Adwoa Akyewaa, told the Daily Graphic that they used to pay GH¢20 for a carton of turkey tails, but with the ban the same carton was now sold for GH¢42.
She said despite the hike in prices, people still patronised the banned products, especially on weekends when people travel for picnics, weddings and naming ceremonies.
Miss Akosua Manuah, a trader who had been in the turkey tail trade for 10 years, said they used to travel to Accra to take their allocations but because of the ban and police harassment, they had stopped. Rather, she said, they relied on agents who brought the meat in containers to Nsawam.
She alleged that the police usually accompanied the containers to Nsawam where they collected between GH¢500 and GH¢600 from the agents in the illegal turkey tail business.
Miss Comfort Mawusi said even though many people including her had heard about the educational programmes on radio that turkey tails were full of fat and not good for consumption, because they was relatively cheaper than beef, goat and chicken people tended to patronise them.
The Food and Drugs Board has adopted a multi-prong approach to deal with the menace and nip the trade in the bud.
In an interview in Accra on illegal trade in turkey tail, Dr M. Mohammed-Alfa, the Head of Animal Products and Biosafety Department of the FDB, said the new strategy had been necessitated by the proliferation of the banned products on the market in recent times despite efforts to completely stop the importation of turkey tails into the country.
He said the multi-prong approach involved frequent search of major storage facilities to mop up the products still being kept in storage facilities to prevent them from being distributed to the various markets.
He said the public had been co-operating in that respect by providing tip-offs about the loading sites.
He said a network of importers of animal products was being established to ensure that the FDB worked closely with the importers to stop the trade.
Dr Mohammed-Alfa said the network of importers could also act as informants by reporting members and kingpins of the illegal turkey tail business to the FDB.
He said just last Thursday, a consignment of 300 cartons was seized on the premises of Alferdos Cold Stores at Kaneshie and that the war on turkey tails was being fought on all fronts.
He said as part of the multi-prong approach the FDB would visit Nsawam to hold series of meetings with the Akuapem South Assembly to educate members of the Assembly on the need to educate the people on the health hazards for them to move from the trade to other alternative means of making a livelihood.
Dr Mohammed-Alfa said similar meetings and educational tours had been planned for other parts of the country such at Dome and Aflao.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry in 1999 issued a communiqué to all importers to the effect that poultry and poultry products with total fat content exceeding 15 per cent were banned and not to be imported into the country.
Consequently, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture also stopped issuing permits for the importation of turkey tails into Ghana.
The Food and Drugs Board (FDB), therefore, asked the public to give information on any person known to be involved in the illegal importation of turkey tails.
The FDB noted that fat from turkey tails, being of animal source, was likely to have a good proportion of saturated fats which were associated with high cholesterol level and as such were implicated in the occurrence of many diseases, including heart diseases.
On February 8, 2010 the FDB, in conjunction with National Security and CEPS, detained a container of frozen chicken at Kaneshie because it contained 1,970 cartons of turkey tails as part of its contents.
Again, on February 9, 2010, the three institutions impounded a container in which 2,095 cartons of turkey tails had been concealed among 692 cartons of chicken backs.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
GHANA EXCELS MDG TARGET FOR CELLPHONES (SPREAD, APRIL 7, 2010)
Ghana has exceeded the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of mobile phone penetration level, five years ahead of the 2015 deadline set by the United Nations.
So far, 15,318,225 cellular phone subscribers have been registered in the country, making it one of the highest growing communication sectors in Africa.
The penetration level accomplished this year is nearly 67 per cent and represents a further improvement on 2008 statistics which recorded a mobile phone penetration level of 11,570,430 subscribers
Taking his turn at the meet-the-press series in Accra yesterday, the Minister of Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, said in respect of the MDG which established a minimum penetration level of 25 per cent by 2015, the country had over-achieved its target.
He said the resolve of the government, however, was to strive to secure the availability of telecommunication services that would enable rural areas to actively participate in the digital economy.
On Internet connectivity, the minister said by the end of 2008 the uptake of broadband in Ghana stood at one per cent, which he described as extremely low and inadequate.
He said to improve the ICT outlook required concerted efforts at promoting competitive broadband development and increase bandwidth for accessing ICT and skills acquisition.
He said the National Communications Authority (NCA) had granted licences to land submarine cables to supply additional bandwidth in competition with the existing SAT-3 cable owned by Vodafone.
Mr Iddrisu said the ministry had commenced the implementation of the e-government infrastructure project that would provide a national network for connectivity among ministries, departments, metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies.
He said the ministry was also working with the Ministry of Education to implement the e-education project to make laptops available to schoolchildren at the lower levels of education.
The minister said given the recent spate of fire outbreaks and loss of vital information, the Ministry of Communications had proceeded with the construction of primary and secondary national data centres to store national information in case of fire outbreaks.
He said the ministry was aggressively proceeding with the development of technology parks in the country, in conjunction with the private sector, to support ICT research and development, as well as stimulate the production of ICT products and generate employment
Mr Iddrisu said the ministries of Communications and Trade and Industries were collaborating to develop a technology park in Tema, under the medium, small and micro enterprises project.
On guidelines for the deployment of masts, he said the NCA had finalised the guidelines for commissioning cell sites, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.
The Minister of Information, Mr John Akologo Tia, who chaired the event, said he was particularly happy and pleased with the work of the Ministry of Communications, since it could impact directly on the dissemination of information by his ministry to the general public, especially to those in rural areas of the country.
So far, 15,318,225 cellular phone subscribers have been registered in the country, making it one of the highest growing communication sectors in Africa.
The penetration level accomplished this year is nearly 67 per cent and represents a further improvement on 2008 statistics which recorded a mobile phone penetration level of 11,570,430 subscribers
Taking his turn at the meet-the-press series in Accra yesterday, the Minister of Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, said in respect of the MDG which established a minimum penetration level of 25 per cent by 2015, the country had over-achieved its target.
He said the resolve of the government, however, was to strive to secure the availability of telecommunication services that would enable rural areas to actively participate in the digital economy.
On Internet connectivity, the minister said by the end of 2008 the uptake of broadband in Ghana stood at one per cent, which he described as extremely low and inadequate.
He said to improve the ICT outlook required concerted efforts at promoting competitive broadband development and increase bandwidth for accessing ICT and skills acquisition.
He said the National Communications Authority (NCA) had granted licences to land submarine cables to supply additional bandwidth in competition with the existing SAT-3 cable owned by Vodafone.
Mr Iddrisu said the ministry had commenced the implementation of the e-government infrastructure project that would provide a national network for connectivity among ministries, departments, metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies.
He said the ministry was also working with the Ministry of Education to implement the e-education project to make laptops available to schoolchildren at the lower levels of education.
The minister said given the recent spate of fire outbreaks and loss of vital information, the Ministry of Communications had proceeded with the construction of primary and secondary national data centres to store national information in case of fire outbreaks.
He said the ministry was aggressively proceeding with the development of technology parks in the country, in conjunction with the private sector, to support ICT research and development, as well as stimulate the production of ICT products and generate employment
Mr Iddrisu said the ministries of Communications and Trade and Industries were collaborating to develop a technology park in Tema, under the medium, small and micro enterprises project.
On guidelines for the deployment of masts, he said the NCA had finalised the guidelines for commissioning cell sites, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.
The Minister of Information, Mr John Akologo Tia, who chaired the event, said he was particularly happy and pleased with the work of the Ministry of Communications, since it could impact directly on the dissemination of information by his ministry to the general public, especially to those in rural areas of the country.
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