News
Bleaching dangerous to lactating mothers — Queen mother
The use of bleaching creams containing hydroquinone by a section of women particularly lactating mothers in the Wa Municipality of the Upper West Region, have become a source of worry to stakeholders who are bent on promoting nutritional wellbeing of children in the area.
The Queen of Duori in the Waala Traditional Area, Pognaa Amamata Mumuni who tabled the issue for discussion at the launch of infant nutritional wellbeing project at Wa, expressed concern of the use of such creams by lactating mothers in their quest to lighten their skins in preparation for the naming ceremony of their babies.
She said the women used the creams to lighten their skins in order to get rid of the change in body colour which mostly happened during pregnancy instead of allowing nature to gradually restore their colour in due time.
“According to Islamic tradition, a new born baby is named seven days after birth in a modest Islamic naming ceremony.
However, the event has recently been magnified by the youth with pomp and pageantry accompanied by expensive photoshoots by mother and baby in heavy cosmetic make-up”, she said.
The queen stated that in order to look good in front of the camera, the women resorted to using those harsh body creams immediately after birth to lighten their colour without the slightest knowledge of the effect it could have on their breastfeeding babies.
“Women who use these pomades often sweat a lot but when they are breastfeeding the babies, they do not clean the sweat off the breast and so feed the baby with those chemicals”, she stressed.
Pognaa Amamata Mumuni who is the Girl-Officer of Ghana Education Service (GES) in Wa Municipality called on the Ghana Health Service to introduce such topics in their nutrition sensitization programmes in order to minimise the practice but encouraged women to stop bleaching as it could have negative health implications on them.
The Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Damien Punguyire also said there was the need for mothers to protect their infants’ health by avoiding products that were inimical to the wellbeing of their babies,
“Aside the babies we are trying to protect, bleaching can also cause skin cancers and other health complications for the mother especially given the volume of sunshine we enjoy in this region, hence we encourage women to maintain their natural colour”, he added.
Taking the discussion a notch higher, the Regional Director at the Department of Gender, Mrs Charity Banye advised lactating mothers whose children were in school to spare some time and visit the schools in order to breastfeed them.
“It is disheartening to see that the lunch you packed for your toddlers is intact after picking them up from school with the excuse that they were not hungry when they actually were but there was no time for that one teacher who is attending to about 30 or more other children to concentrate on spending over 30 minutes feeding one child”, she said, painfully.
From Lydia Darlington Fordjour, Wa
Troubled and anxious citizens in Damongo of the Savannah Region have expressed concerns about the number of young people, believed to be under the age of 18, involved in ‘shisha’ smoking in pubs and drinking spots within the township.
Eyewitnesses say the minors were seen patronising nightlife venues, where Shisha smoking happen in the open.
The situation has sparked renewed public concern over the enforcement of child protection laws and regulations governing the operations of entertainment centres in the municipality and country as a whole.
An eyewitness, who spoke to The Spectator on conditions of anonymity for security reasons, noted that the situation was becoming increasingly common.
“This is not a one-off incident. It is becoming very common, but residents like us cannot openly report or speak about it because our lives will be at risk,” he said.
Under Ghanaian law, minors were prohibited from patronising Shisha.
Public health experts have consistently warned that shisha use exposes users to harmful substances that can negatively affect brain development, respiratory health, and overall well-being, particularly among young people.
The residents believe the alleged incidents point to broader challenges relating to youth supervision, substance abuse, and weak enforcement of existing regulations and have called on municipal authorities, security agencies, and regulatory bodies to intensify monitoring of pubs and entertainment centres to ensure compliance with the law.
In an effort to address the menace, Mr Salisu Be-Awurbi, the Savannah Regional Minister, has led public education campaigns, engaged security agencies, and supported enforcement actions to address the rising use of illicit substances in the region.
Wura Kelly Seidu Boresah I, the Chief of Damongo, has also called on all stakeholders including parents, community leaders, institutions, and young people to actively support efforts to curb drug abuse, warning that the rising consumption of hard drugs poses a serious health threat to the future of the youth in the Savannah Region.
He also cautioned individuals involved in the sale and distribution of illicit drugs to immediately desist from the practice, stressing that offenders will face arrest and prosecution in accordance with the law.
From Geoffrey Buta, Damongo, Savannah Region
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Dr Theresa Baffour, an advocate for ending violence and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SAHM SAHW Foundation, has said that society plays a critical and pivotal role in breaking the cycle of domestic violence.
According to her, domestic violence is a major contributor of making women, who are mostly the victims, mentally derailed and unable to engage in economic activities.
She said this when the foundation called on the Ga Mantse, Nii Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, to solicit support for the initiative by the “Strong and Healthy Minds, Strong and Healthy Women” (SAHM SAHW) to combat domestic violence within the Ga State.
The visit was occasioned by the fact that domestic violence cases have become quite prevalent in the Ga communities and is retarding growth.
According to her, the canker was an impediment to national development because the victims were usually tortured and would have to go through series of therapies to return to the right state of mind.
Dr Baffour mentioned that Gender-Based Violence (GBV) places a mental toll on women, and was, therefore, important to break the cycle through comprehensive mental health support, crisis intervention and empowerment programmes in communities with high rates of GBV.
This intervention, she underscored, would help in empowering the denigrated victim of domestic violence to soundly heal, build and thrive.
Dr Baffour added that the initiative would provide holistic, trauma-informed mental health care and advocacy for young women affected by domestic violence.
According to her, the above statement would create safe spaces for healing and equipping them with entrepreneurial skills for renewed hope and empowered life.
The Ga Mantse pledged his support for the laudable initiative to combat domestic violence and also acknowledged the need to address it in the Ga State.
Further endorsement came from Justice Julia Naa-Yarley Adjei Amoah, Chief of Staff at the Office of the Ga Mantse, as she commended the team of SAHM SAHW Foundation for taking a bold step to end the canker in the Greater Accra.
She added that it was a step in the right direction to save vulnerable women from torture, stress and emotional abuse.
By Alfred Nii Arday Ankrah
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