News
Tarkwa Municipal Hospital improves neonatal health
Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, (left) presenting the award to Ms Arthur at the ceremony. Mr Duker (second left) applauding
A Senior Nursing Officer (SNO) at the Tarkwa Municipal Government Hospital in the Western Region, Ms Selina Arthur, says complications have reduced and survival rate of new born babies improved at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Hospital.
The success, she attributed to the adoption of what she called a ‘family meeting’ with other critical units like the maternity and doctors, to discuss the reduction of complications to improve the survival rate of neo-natal babies.
Ms Arthur gave the encouraging news in an interview with The Spectator after she received the MPs Special Award at the third Duker Teachers and Health Workers awards held at Tarkwa, last Friday.
She received a plaque, a chest freezer, GH¢10,000 and a motorcyle.
The event is an initiative of the Member of Parliament for Tarkwa- Nsuaem, Mr George Mireku Duker, and held on the theme: ‘Championing learning and wellness in our communities.’
36 other persons including health workers, also received various awards.
Sharing her thoughts with The Spectator, Ms Arthur, a paediatric nurse at NICU of the Tarkwa Municipal Hospital said, working at the unit comes with passion and self- motivation, saying, “the neonatal babies required special attention.”
“Every NICU nurse needs to ensure that new babies (day old babies) were spared of any complications, and survived, to transfer to the nursery.”
Ms Arthur, with about 30 years’ experience, told The Spectator that other units like the Maternity and Labour wards also need to ensure that neo-natal babies were safe and survived operations along the delivery chain.
Moreover, she underlined that working within the NICU environment came with challenges, but, the unit was encouraged to ensure survival of patients, hoping that, “if we have the equipment, most of them will survive.”
Ms Arthur further encouraged health professionals, especially nurses, to be self- motivated, dedicated and show passion to save lives of new born babies.
These professional attributes, she said, would help improve health delivery in the communities they practiced.
Mr Alex Otoo, a tutor at the NMTC, also an awardee, also told The Spectator that nurses needed to be imbued with passion and care for patients even if it’s time for closing.
Mr Duker elaborated that last year, he promised to honour health professionals who worked hard and tirelessly to provide effective healthcare services to save lives.
From Clement Adzei Boye, Tarkwa
The family of Ambassador James Victor Gbeho, a distinguished statesman and diplomat, has paid a courtesy call on President John Dramani Mahama. They officially informed him of his passing.
The delegation, representing the Gbeho family, noted that it was culturally and diplomatically important to formally notify the President of the loss before making a public announcement of his death.
Ambassador Gbeho was a towering figure in Ghanaian and international politics. He served in many diplomatic missions, including New York. He was Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, a Member of Parliament for the Anlo constituency, and President (formerly Executive Secretary) of the ECOWAS Commission.
He was widely respected for his role in regional integration and his contributions to global diplomacy at the United Nations.
President Mahama expressed his condolences and shared reflections on Ambassador Gbeho’s contributions to the country, West Africa and the world.
Funeral details will be announced later.
The Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, has revoked all firearm permits in Ghana with immediate effect and announced a new registration process for all gun owners.
The minister made the announcement on Tuesday, June 23, at the information service department saying all individuals who currently hold licences to own firearms or sidearms must undergo a fresh registration process.
“From this afternoon, all permits that have been granted to any individual that you are holding a sidearm or firearm is hereby revoked,” Mr Muntaka said.
He explained that the government had identified gaps in the country’s firearm registration system and needed to introduce stricter measures to improve public safety.
“We are opening the window where everyone will have to come forward again to register or re-register the gun because we’ve changed the procedure,” he stated.
According to him, the government decided not to wait until the end of the year to make the changes because lives could still be saved within the next six months.
The Interior Minister said one of the new requirements would be mandatory mental health screening for applicants seeking firearm licences.
“We’ve seen that people with mental health have already gone through and have the sidearm. Now we are introducing mental health. Before we give you the sidearm, we have to be sure that you have the mental stability to hold the firearms,” he said.
Mr Muntaka also announced that applicants would be required to undergo drug tests before being granted licences.
“We’ve also realised that people who are on drugs are also holding their arms and they are legitimate because it’s been registered. Now you have to go through drug tests to be sure that you are not on drugs before you can hold sidearms,” he added.
The minister said the new measures form part of efforts by the government to tighten firearm control and prevent legally registered weapons from falling into the wrong hands.
He urged all firearm owners to cooperate with the new registration process once details of the exercise are announced.
By: Jacob Aggrey
