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Collaborate with Gov’t and NGOs to conduct innovative research…KTU Vice Chancellor tells tertiary institutions
The Vice Chancellor of Koforidua Technical University (KTU), Professor Kofi Essumang has called on tertiary institutions to collaborate with government and non-governmental actors to conduct innovative research and come out with good proposals for discussions and implementation, that would help the country to overcome its economic challenges, especially to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
According to him, the world and the country was in the moment of history, faced with serious challenges that confronted the global economy, “from the historically high unemployment rates particularly for young workers to the problems of exclusion and increasing inequality, persistent poverty in rural areas and an unacceptable conditions of work in the informal sector.”
He stated that overcoming these challenges required fresh thinking to elaborate innovative policy proposals, that could provide practical assistance to help solve real problems people faced and hence called on the tertiary institutions to collaborate to conduct research to solve these problems.
Professor Essumang was speaking at the 12th Annual International Applied Research and Technology Fair organised by KTU on the theme: “Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Post COVID Era: The Role of Research, Innovation, and Technology Transfer.”
The conference, which brought together about 100 participants from academia and industry with shared interest in applied sciences was purposed to provide a platform to discuss research findings, practitioners’ presentation and dialogue on proposals on important developmental and economic issues.
The conference was also purposed to build effective collaboration between academia, industry and other research institutions as well as provide opportunity for businesses to exhibit their products and services and create investment opportunities.
Prof Essumang indicated that the challenges of COVID-19 pandemic lingered on, adding that the pandemic posed considerable challenge to attaining the SDGs.
“Researching into efficient SDG strategies is therefore urgently required to support the recovery process and strengthen comprehensive SDG actions,” he said.
He called on the tertiary institutions to greatly enhance their outreach and join forces with industry and conduct research into the country’s challenges and come out with innovative ideas that could be implemented to help solve the challenges.
For his part, the Acting Director for the Development Coordination Division of the National Development Planning Committee (NPA), Dr Winfred Nelson stated that adequate financing and enough resource mobilization was needed to invest into achieving the SDGs.
According to him, resource mobilization was a bit challenging, as 40 percent of budget needed to finance achieving of the SDGs came from development partners, and revealed that 43 billion was needed annually to implement various policies and programmes to achieving the SDGs.
“2030 is not too far away, seven years from now and hence there is the need to leverage how to get financing for our projects,” he explained and stated that alternative innovative financing, including green financing and encouragement of the private sector to come on board, were being considered to acquire funding to implement programmes and policies to help achieve the SDGs.
The Municipal Chief Executive of New Juaben South Constituency, Mr Isaac Appaw-Gyasi. who was chairman for the conference indicated that even though COVID-19 has had negative effects on achieving the SDGs, the government implemented policies such as digitization drive to move the country into more digitized and cashless economy, among other interventions.
He stated that research, innovation and technology if harnessed would position the country to accelerate its efforts to achieving the SDGs and added that government would continue to explore new measures to meet goals in order to fulfill the needs of the present generation without compromising future ones.
From Ama Tekyiwaa Ampadu Agyeman, Koforidua
Hundreds of street children received a special treat during the Christmas festivities as a result of a collaboration between the management of the La Beach Hotel and the Street Academy in Accra.
It was part of the Hotel’s current arrangement to provide lunch for the children of the Academy every Friday.
Courtesy that partnership, management of the La Beach Hotel feted hundreds of street children housed by the Street Academy, creating a partying moment for the children.
According to officials of the Hotel, the gesture was to let the children feel part of the festivities and not left out.
The children enjoyed delicious meals and snack after which they danced as they enjoyed the moment.
According to the Hotel officials, “the season represents one that every parent gathers their children and shower them with gifts and others to make them happy but sadly, these unfortunate children are left on their own, having no one to care for them.”
“This is an event we intend to make an annual one. Through this, we hope to put some smiles on their faces. It is not proper to leave them on their own.”
The Executive Director of the Academy, Ataa Lartey, expressed gratitude to the management of the hotel, saying that, “this has gone a long way to excite the children and make them feel part of the celebration.”
He said due to the number of children that join around this time of the year, it becomes difficult for the Academy alone to shoulder this responsibility.
“It is not easy to organise such activities alone because it draws a lot of children, that is, those in the Academy and their friends that follow them but with such cooperate supports, we are able to bring them together to share in moments like this,” he told The Spectator.
By Spectator Reporter
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A 30-year-old surrogate mother has delivered a set of quadruplets at The Walking Egg Medical and Fertility Centre at Pokuase in Accra, in a rare surrogacy success that has brought renewed attention to assisted reproductive care in Ghana.
The babies-two boys and two girls- were delivered through a caesarean section in the early hours of Tuesday at 36 weeks and weighed an average 2.5 kilograms each, a weight doctors say was healthy for a multiple pregnancy.
IUI stands for Intrauterine Insemination, a common fertility treatment where healthy sperm are collected, ‘washed’ and concentrated in a lab, and then directly inserted into a woman’s uterus around ovulation using a thin catheter to help sperm reach the egg for fertilisation, often used for unexplained infertility, cervical issues, or mild male factor infertility, and is less invasive than IVF.
Speaking to The Spectator after the surgery, the Medical Director of the Centre, Dr Nana Yaw Osei, said the pregnancy was achieved through Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) and was not planned to result in multiple births.
“With IUI, you introduce prepared sperm into the uterus and have no control over how many eggs fertilized.”
“Unlike IVF, where embryos are formed outside the body and the number transferred can be controlled, this outcome was left entirely to nature,” Dr Osei explained.
He said unlike IVF which could result in multiple babies, this is “possibly the first IUI leading to quadruplets in Ghana.”
He revealed that the surrogacy arrangement was necessary because the intended mother had lost her uterus during surgery to remove fibroids, making it medically impossible for her to carry a pregnancy.
“She had no womb of her own, through no fault of hers,” Dr Osei said, adding that “Surrogacy was the only option available for her to have a biological child.”
When scans later showed that the surrogate was carrying four fetuses, the medical team considered fetal reduction, a procedure sometimes used to reduce risks in multiple pregnancies. However, the option was rejected.
“As a strong Christian, fetal reduction is abortion to me,” Dr Osei said. “After discussions with the intended parents and the surrogate, we all agreed to continue with the pregnancy.”
Despite concerns commonly associated with multiple pregnancies, Dr Osei noted that the surrogate experienced no major complications, and the delivery was smooth. Paediatric assessments conducted after birth confirmed that all four babies are healthy.
Dr Osei again indicated that surrogacy, though still widely misunderstood, is recognised under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 2020 (Act 1027).
He urged the public to engage the subject with greater understanding.
“Surrogacy is not about convenience,” he said. “It is about restoring hope to people who have lost the ability to carry a child.”
Describing the moment of delivery, he added, “I was in tears in the theatre. It reminded me why I chose this profession.”
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
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