The UN Day in Ghana commenced as the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Accra representative was interviewed on the Ghana Television Breakfast show programme in the Akan language on the theme “Ghana and the UN: Addressing the Challenges of the Millenium Development Goals, Climate Change and the Global Economic Crisis", a part of the national activities to mark 2009 UN Day put together by the Ad Hoc planning committee convened by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Regional Integration.

UNIC Accra coordinated the organisation of a photo exhibition on its contribution to the Ghana Government to attain the targets set for the Millenium Development Goals. The National Information Officer, Mr. Abraham K. Nunoo, conducted Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni and the UN Resident Coordinator, Mr. Daouda Toure, Members of the Council of State, Ministers, Members of Parliament and members of the diplomatic corps round the exhibits.

Other visitors to the exhibition included traditional rulers, students, members of the security services, members of NGOs and a cross section of the Ghanaian population. The photo exhibition received a large patronage and media coverage.

The United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Accra marked his year’s International Youth Day by organizing several events held at Wa Township in the Upper West Region about 900 km away from Accra. In the keynote address, the Minister for Youth and Sports, Rashid Pelpuo mentioned that “International Youth Day was a time for reflection of the role of the youth in society and the time for fashioning the character of the youth for the future”. He highlighted that Ghana had demonstrated political maturity and respect for democratic values during the last elections. Young people played a crucial role in this resisting violence. Further, he mentioned that the government planned to engage 100,000 youth under various modules of the National Youth Employment Programme by the end of next year. He emphasized that Youth in Agriculture, Trade and Vocation programmes, youth in afforestation modules as well as the Youth in ICT who faced difficulties in the first phase of its implementation will be given prominence. He assured the audience that the National Youth Policy would be considered alongside other new ideas and would be published to serve as a guide in the implementation of youth programmes and projects in the country.
 In addition, three public lectures were held in Wa Deaf district followed by an open forum for discussion, questions and answers. The Regional Youth Cultural Festival took place at the Jubilee Park.
About 500 people participated in all the activities including Government representatives, youth groups, students, and the media. There were similar activities in most of the regions.

The Ghana Narcotics Control Board recently launched a year-long campaign to raise public awareness of the harmful effects of illicit drugs on the economic, social, political and cultural aspects of the country and its security.

The theme of the campaign is “Do Drugs Control Your Life?” The campaign’s activities include film screenings, painting and essay competitions among educational institutions, exhibitions, radio and TV discussions in the country’s major languages, and free distribution of literature on illicit drugs. The campaign is largely targeted toward high school juniors and seniors.

The programme was launched on 26 June 2009 with an opening address by the former Executive Secretary of the Ghana Narcotics Control Board, who urged youth to abstain from drugs, as it would destroy them and whatever ambitions they had in life. Rather, they should stay focused on their studies as that would enable them to realize their dreams.

The Mayor of Accra chaired the function and asked the Narcotics Control Board to visit all schools in the Accra metropolitan area with a message about the harmful effects of illicit drugs, hoping that in the not too distant future, Accra could be described as drug free. He suggested that the Board involve all youth organizations, social groups and churches in the country to spread the message on illicit drugs.

The Executive Secretary of the Ghana Narcotics Control Board and Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) noted that worldwide, it had been established that narcotic drugs were related to criminal activities which undermined the economic, political and social progress of a country. Prevalent illicit drug use in a country may, therefore, hamper a country’s development.

The Commissioner called on all stakeholders to pool their resources in an effort to fight the drug menace and to keep the country’s youth from being misled and lured into becoming drug traffickers, peddlers, or couriers.

He also called on the government to review the country’s Narcotics Law in an effort to make the Board more efficient and effective in depriving drug traffickers of their money and property, an act which would deter many from dealing drugs. Tribute was paid by the Commissioner to donors, international collaborators and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for working together to tackle the problem of illicit drugs.

The Chief Psychiatrist at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital pointed to some of the health and social problems associated with the use of narcotic drugs, including cancer, mental disorders, HIV/AIDS, reduced life spans, confusion, disharmony and the eventual break-up of homes, the high incidence of violent crimes associated with drug use, money laundering and the infiltration of drugs into the political structure and national security.

He said these did not bode well for the country’s development and commended the role the Ghana Narcotic Control Board was playing to minimize drug cases. At the same time, he suggested that the Board be made an independent commission not under any Ministry. This would enable it to raise the needed resources to perform its functions properly.

Also, the Chief Psychiatrist called for a comprehensive national drug policy that would determine who could possess, purchase and use narcotic drugs and under what circumstances, while prescribing sanctions for those who violated the policy. He also recommended the establishment of a national drug rehabilitation centre where drug addicts could go for treatment. He said that even though this was currently being done at the nation’s psychiatric hospitals, it was not the best solution, as addicts interpreted this to mean they were mentally ill and consequently often refused to go in for treatment. 

The Chief Psychiatrist also asked for the establishment of a National Drug Abuse Centre where all information on drugs in the country, including medical and legal aspects and research findings could be readily available for citizens.

Furthermore, the doctor described tobacco and alcohol as ”gateway drugs” for narcotics, noting that without control of their consumption, the chances of winning the war against narcotic drugs were slim.

Another aspect of the programme’s launch included the reading of the United Nations Secretary-General’s message on the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking by the Acting UN Resident Coordinator, who also serves as the Country Director for the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization Cluster Office in Ghana.

Prizes were given by the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidency in Ghana to the top students in the painting and essay competitions. The Board also mounted a photo exhibition displaying some of the narcotic drugs, drug traffickers who have been arrested and bodies of drug traffickers from which drugs had been extracted after surgery.

Also on display were various domestic items drug traffickers used to conceal narcotic drugs in their efforts to outwit security agencies. These included shoes, wigs, cooking utensils, woven baskets, drums, furniture, and draught-boards. 

Ghana’s Vice President, Mr. John Mahama urged African Health Ministers to work out an “African position on the way and manner information and communication technology must be deployed on the continent to avoid the situation where solutions were not based on our problems and challenges.”

Opening the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Africa Regional Ministerial Meeting on E-health in Accra on 10 June 2009, the Vice President charged the Health Ministers with defining an E-health framework for Africa that would seriously consider needs and resources and review polices and strategies for achieving the continent’s major health goals beyond the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

He admitted that E-health would not work like a magic wand to resolve all the health problems Africa faced, but if systematically implemented, it would address problems such as underdeveloped infrastructure.

Hosted by the Government of Ghana, the Accra meeting was the last in a series of meetings organized as part of the 2009 Annual Ministerial Review (AMR), to be held during the High-level Segment of the Economic and Social Council in Geneva this July.

The Vice President mentioned some of the health challenges in Africa such as infrastructure, equipment, personnel, resources, the inequality in health facilities and the brain drain of health personnel. He was however hopeful that with advances in technology where even surgeries were done with on line assistance from specialists, “E-health holds a significant potential for solving some of our protracted challenges in the health sector.”

Mr. John Mahama hoped that the use of E-health would support rapid response systems to enhance performance, empower people to seek quality care and make the right demands on the health care system, improve quality by supporting the transfer of skills and expertise to health workers and improve management and technical efficiency.

He said African leaders were committed to improving the health of their people through cost effective and proven means and this must be done with the conviction that “these will lead to improvements in the health status of our people.” 

The Assistant Secretary-General of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), Mr. Thomas Stelzer said Africa as a whole was off track on meeting the MDG targets for reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and combating infectious diseases. However, there was ample evidence the goals could be achieved across Africa.

He encouraged governments, donors, foundations, businesses, international organizations and civil society to unite and work together to formulate coherent and concerted health policies using emerging technology, traditional practices and models of public health to tackle the shortcomings of the health sector.

According to Mr. Stelzer, the three major health challenges were focus on acute care and late-stage disease, expensive and difficult to obtain healthcare in most developing economies and the world’s aging population which was an economic strain on governments, insurers, taxpayers and caregivers. These problems have been compounded in Africa by lack of infrastructure, heavy disease burden and the emigration of health workers.

Mr. Stelzer said E-health was one of the ways to overcome the challenges in the health sector as it could improve healthcare appropriate to each economy and enable a transformation from disease management to proactive wellness. He described E-health as a tool “for enabling people to access health services and  at the same time raising awareness.”

He announced the collaboration between DESA and the World Health Organization (WHO) to demonstrate the potential of E-health with two pilot “Texting 4Health” campaigns in Uganda and Ghana. While the campaign in Uganda starts on 17 June 2009, the campaign in Ghana would take place in the near future.

The President of ECOSOC, Ms. Sylvie Lucas mentioned that the proper use of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) in health could help to reach all the MDGs improving quality and efficiency in primary care and making it possible for those in remote areas to access services and expertise.

She said that the Accra meeting was an opportunity for African Health Ministers to map out E-health approaches to meet the needs and circumstances of countries and communities in the region. It was also an occasion to examine the E-health position in Africa and address the challenges.

Ms. Lucas hoped that the Ministers would at the end of the meeting come out with how they would use the opportunities offered by ICT to promote E-health in Africa. 

Welcoming the delegates, Ghana’s Minister of Health, Dr. George Yankey said Ghana offered to host the meeting to serve as a turning point in the drive to modernize health services in Africa and present a framework for action that would help decision making on E-health solutions. Dr. Yankey hoped that pretty soon ICT would become an integral part of healthcare delivery in Africa.

The opening session was chaired by the Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Ms. Sherry Ayitey who called for the use of ICT to improve the health of women and children, standardization in its application and affordable technology to enable countries to adopt it.

Over 100 participants, among them, government ministers, health experts, policy makers, representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and business representatives attended the two-day meeting.