THE THOUGHTS ROOM

THE term Biomedical Science refers to investigations carried out by Biomedical Laboratory Scientists (BLS) on samples of tissue and body fluids to diagnose diseases and monitor the treatment of patients. These category of scientists work in health care facilities to help doctors diagnose disease and evaluate the effectiveness of treatment through the analysis of fluids and tissue samples from patients. They provide the "engine room" of modern medicine with 70 per cent of diagnoses based on the pathology results provided by laboratory services. The work of the BLS in disease management, which include cancer screening, diagnosing HIV, blood transfusion for surgery, food poisoning and infection control, makes them the foundation of modern health care. It is, therefore, prudent to enhance the value of the BLS by providing professional career development to enable them produce accurate and reliable test results. Therefore, the role of the BLS in the diagnoses and management...

THE Chairman of the Ghana Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC), Mr Bright Appiah, has demanded of government to demonstrate its commitment to promote functional adult literacy in the country. He said this could be done by increasing the budgetary allocation for functional adult literacy to the international accepted benchmark of three per cent of the education sector budget. Currently, he noted that, about one percent of the education sector budget allocated to functional adult literacy was not acceptable. Mr Appiah was speaking at a durbar organised by GNECC to climax activities marking this year’s Global Action Week, an initiative of the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) to network with other organisations world-wide and advocate for quality education. Present at the durbar were students from O’Reilley Senior High School, Garrison Basic School, Madina 2 Junior High School, members from the Kpobiman Women's Association and other Civil Society Organisations. The theme for this ye...

Ghana has been chosen as the headquarters for the West Africa Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Journalists Network at the first General Assembly (GA) held in Accra. The decision is a follow up of a meeting held in Bamako, Mali in 2010, where journalists discussed the modalities and need for a regional network of journalists who report on water, sanitation and hygiene. The occasion was also used to induct a seven-member Co-ordinating committee to oversee the affairs of the network for the next two years. The co-ordinating committee members are from Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Niger, Mali, Benin and Togo. The GA which was organised by the Ghana Watsan Journalist Network (GWJN) with support from WaterAid West Africa (WAWA) and Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) attracted 29 journalists from Nigeria, Niger, Togo, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Mali, Benin and Mauritania. Objectives of the GA was to amplify the voice of the vu...

THE Coalition of Non-governmental organisations in the Water and Sanitation Sector (CONIWAS) has made a proposition to the government to decentralise the operations of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL). In line with the decentralisation concept, CONIWAS is of the view that the supply of water to urban areas be managed at the municipal and metropolitan level, which will involve communities and traditional authorities, with each system being autonomous and owned by the respective agencies. These were shared at a press conference organised by CONIWAS to address the state of the Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL) management contract as it rolls to an end in May this year. The Executive Secretary of CONIWAS, Mr Benjamin Arthur, explained that with that, the GWCL would serve as the regulatory body enforcing operational standards, water quality, monitoring, among other related issues. He said the GWCL would also be responsible for providing technical assistance for municipalities for planni...

Forty five prisoners yesterday joined 372,781 candidates to write the 2011 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). The inmates, who are serving various sentences at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison, the Kumasi Central Prison and the Senior Correctional Centre in Accra, are aged between 25 and 64. This is the second time that prison inmates have taken part in the BECE, following collaborative efforts between the Prisons Service and the Centre for National Distance Learning and Open Schooling (CENDLOS) to provide pre-tertiary education to the inmates. At the Methodist Basic School in Nsawam where 10 male inmates of the Nsawam Medium Prison wrote the English Paper 1, the environment was peaceful, with security personnel guarding the inmates. The officer in charge of inmates’ education, Superintendent Peter Afari Mintah, noted that it was not compulsory for inmates to write the BECE, adding that the decision was left to inmates who were willing and ready to write it. Supt Afari Mi...

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has launched a survey that will enable ordinary citizens within the ECOWAS member countries to contribute to the decision-making process of the regional body. The survey on non-state actors (NSAs) would enable citizens within ECOWAS to make a meaningful impact on the lives of citizens of member states through a participatory and all-inclusive process. In a statement read on his behalf, the Commissioner of Macro-Economic Policy of the ECOWAS Commission, Professor Lmbert N. Bamba, noted that without the proper involvement of the NSAs, it would be impossible to visualise the Vision 2020 concept which aimed at transforming the current ECOWAS of States into an ECOWAS of People. He, therefore, called on the commission and member states to take ownership of the new vision by having a good knowledge and understanding of how the NSAs had evolved over time. Professor Bamba further mentioned that with the changing trend in development, it w...

THE Minister of Education, Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, has urged accountants to assist the government to expose corruption and white-collar crime in the country. She said with the advancement in technology, which is now synonymous with white collar crime, accountants should keep themselves abreast of changing trends to be able to identify loopholes and provide solutions to plugging them. Mrs Mould-Iddrisu made the call at the 18th graduation of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG), during which 297 students graduated. The occasion was also used to admit 282 new members who have satisfied the specific qualification criteria of the institute. Mrs Mould-Iddrisu charged accountants to assume the attitudes of transparency, accountability and a high sense of integrity in the discharge of their duties. She said by exhibiting a high level of responsibility, skill and competency akin to the quality of training they had received, "the resultant effect will be that your workpla...