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‘Negative attitude of hospital staff affecting Adolescent Reproductive Healthcare’
The attitude of some health staff at adolescent corners at some health centres in the Upper West Region has been identified as one of the barriers preventing adolescent girls from seeking information on reproductive health at the health centres.
The adolescents have said that they would rather speak to their peers than patronise adolescent corners to avoid jeering, insults and name calling from health workers.
This was revealed in a study by Necessary Aid Alliance, a non-governmental organisation in the Upper West Region with support from Plan International Ghana on “Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Information and Services (SRHIS)” by adolescents.
Explaining the research findings to participants at a dissemination meeting at Wa, the Executive Director of the NGO, Mr Mulumba Songsore said the issue was a source of worry as 36 per cent of a total of 541 respondents attested to seeking for information from their peers as against 20 per cent who preferred to use the health centres and adolescent corners.
“According to our respondents, some of the nurses are impolite, especially to young clients. Apparently when they go there with issues on reproductive health, they are yelled at, insulted and called names like nasty and ‘spoilt’ and are discouraged from going there”, he said.
Mr Songsore indicated that even without the impolite attitude of health staff, it was difficult for a young person to visit a facility to seek SRHIS so if the environment was not conducive, they would choose to rather rely on friends who were as ignorant as them and were likely to provide them with unwholesome information.
“We were curious as researchers to know what exactly they discussed with their friends by way of information seeking and we identified that most of the discussion (36 per cent) centred on sex life and relationship” he said adding that it was worrying because most of their peers would share information about their mistakes.
He said the lack of professional sources of information for the adolescents had led to unprotected sex, unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions.
“Allow me to quote this response from a respondent: in this community, adolescents who inquire about sexual and reproductive matters are viewed as troublemakers so we are scared to go to the clinic for SRHIS”, he said.
He added that the lack of privacy and confidentiality at the health centres also discouraged the youth from seeking information at the centres such that once the adolescent visited the health facility, it became common knowledge in the community.
“Imagine a girl going to the hospital for medical abortion and the next moment everyone in the community is aware of the incident and people begin to call her names, in order to avoid a similar incident, other girls would prefer to speak to their friends for unorthodox methods instead of going to the health centre”, he said
The NGO wants civil society organsiations to support the Ghana Health Service to provide regular training for health staff at the various adolescent corners to ensure their professional conduct.
From Lydia Darlington Fordjour, Wa
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Ghana to locally refine its gold starting October 2025 – Sammy Gyamfi
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board, Sammy Gyamfi, has announced that plans are far advanced for the establishment of a state-owned gold refinery in the country.
Speaking at the 2025 Minerals and Mining Convention, Mr Gyamfi said the refinery will process locally mined gold into bullion instead of exporting it in its raw state.
According to him, it is unacceptable that Ghana, despite being a leading gold producer in Africa, continues to export raw gold known as dore.
He explained that the Gold Board, working with the Bank of Ghana and local refineries, will from October 2025 begin refining gold locally.
He also disclosed that an ultramodern assay laboratory will be built to ensure international standards in testing gold quality.
Mr Gyamfi noted that the refinery will be wholly state-owned and will help Ghana move away from raw mineral exports to value addition.
This, he said, will boost foreign exchange earnings, create jobs, and position Ghana as a hub for gold refining and jewellery production in Africa.
The CEO stressed that the project forms part of government’s strategy to ensure the country benefits fully from its natural resources and to transform the mining sector into a driver of economic growth.
By: Jacob Aggrey
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There is strength in diversity; let’s live in peace – Zanetor Rawlings urges Ghanaians
Member of Parliament for Korle Klottey, Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, has urged Ghanaians, especially the youth, to value the peace the country enjoys and to see diversity as a source of strength.
Speaking at the National Youth Conference held at the Pentecost Convention Centre under the theme “Igniting Potential; Inspiring Change”, she warned against being lured into conflicts and divisions fueled by reckless statements from politicians, traditional leaders, religious figures, or academics.
According to her, many young people have no idea what it means to live in a country torn apart by war, and therefore must not take Ghana’s peace for granted.
She stressed that the harmony among different ethnic and regional groups should be protected at all costs, since it is peace that allows citizens to gather freely and safely.
Dr. Zanetor said Ghana’s development depends on embracing diversity and working together.
She urged the youth to tap into this strength so that Ghana would continue to shine as the “Black Star” of Africa and serve as an example for other nations.
She expressed appreciation to the participants for attending the conference and asked for God’s blessings on the country.
By: Jacob Aggrey
