News
Govtto decide on hydroxychloroquinefor COVID-19 case management
Ghana’s COVID-19 case management team is deliberating on whether to continue or stop using hydroxychloroquine as one of the drugs for the management of the disease in the country.
This comes on the heels of a decision by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to halt the testing of the malaria drug as a possible treatment for coronavirus over safety fears discovered in some recent studies.
The Director–General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) DrPatrick Aboagye who disclosed this at yesterday’s COVID-19 briefing in Accra said the decision would be announced in due course.
“As I speak now, of course, we will wait for the formal communication but the case management team is meeting to take a decision on what to do. When they do we will adequately communicate to you”, he said.
He, however, explained that the drug in question was currentlyadministered to only persons under criticalconditions, adding that those being managed at their respective houses do not take hydroxychloroquine.
“We only use it [hydroxychloroquine] for critical cases. We do not use it for routine cases. Those who are being managed at home do not take hydroxychloroquine”, he explained.
Hydroxychloroquine was an approved drug for the treatment of malaria as well as conditions like lupus or arthritis. In the absence of a cure for COVID-19 it has been helping in case management. The ongoing testing was to confirm its efficacy.
However, WHO director-general TedrosAdhanomGhebreyesuson Monday said the drug would be dropped temporarily from its global study into experimental coronavirus treatments after safety concerns.
The concerns were discovered by a paper published last week in the Lancet that showed people taking the drug were at higher risk of death and heart problems than those who were not.
“The executive group has implemented a temporary pause of the hydroxychloroquine arm within the solidarity trial while the safety data is reviewed by the data safety monitoring board,” MrGhebreyesussaid.
He said the concern related only to the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine for COVID-19, adding that the drugs were acknowledged treatments for people with malaria and auto-immune diseases.
Other treatments in the WHO’s solidarity trial, including the experimental drug remdesivir and an HIV combination therapy, he said were still being pursued by scientists.
BY JONATHAN DONKOR
News
GES opens promotion applications for teaching staff
The Ghana Education Service (GES) has invited applications from qualified teachers and officers for promotion to higher ranks within the service.
In a notice signed by the Acting Deputy Director-General for Management Services, Prof. Smile Dzisi, the GES said the ranks available are Deputy Director, Assistant Director I, Assistant Director II and Principal Superintendent.
According to the statement, applicants must meet the minimum years of service required for each position.
Teachers seeking promotion to Deputy Director must have been promoted to Assistant Director I in or before 2021.
Similarly, those applying for Assistant Director I should have held the rank of Assistant Director II since 2021 or earlier.
Applicants for Assistant Director II must have been Principal Superintendents from 2021 or earlier, while those applying for Principal Superintendent must have been Senior Superintendent I since 2021 or before.
The GES stated that teachers with approved Master’s or PhD degrees may use their certificates to apply for promotion out of turn if the qualifications meet set conditions.
These include completing an approved course of study and obtaining the certificate after their previous promotion but not later than 2023.
Applicants are to complete the online application form and upload all required documents in PDF format, except for the passport-size photograph.
The application window runs from Thursday, September 11, to Thursday, October 2, 2025. The GES urged all applicants who had applied earlier to re-apply.
By: Jacob Aggrey
News
Steps underway to repeal L.I 2462 – Prez assures
President John Dramani Mahama has assured Ghanaians that steps are underway to repeal Legislative Instrument 2462 as part of efforts to protect the country’s forests and water bodies.
During his media encounter at the Jubilee House, the president explained that the repeal will formalise the ban on mining in forest reserves and strengthen enforcement against illegal mining.
He stressed that his administration is committed to safeguarding the environment, reclaiming degraded reserves, and deploying more personnel to protect river bodies across the country.
By: Jacob Aggrey
