HEALTH PROFESSIONALS MUST BE MOTIVATED... SAYS FIRST LADY

For health professionals to effectively contribute their part to help government to fulfil the obligation of protecting the health of the people, they must be motivated. This is according to the first lady, Lordina Mahama.

She said there was the need to work towards enhancing the work of health professionals in order to improve the safety and quality of healthcare for all.

The First Lady therefore called on the community as a stakeholder has a major role in achieving quality healthcare for all.

“I therefore urge you all to support the health personnel in any way you can to ensure quality care in the country,” she said.

The first lady made the call in Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo region during a working visit to the region.

Mrs. Mahama stressed government’s commitment to upgrade health facilities to improve status and access to healthcare across the country, adding that government  has embarked on a massive extension and expansion of infrastructure in the health sector.

She commended staff of the hospital for their role in uplifting the health status of the people in sunyani and its environs.

“with the hospitals vision to be a world class healthcare facility, achieve best practice in health and training high calibre of health personnel, the hospital has continued to provide quality car for the people of Sunyani,” she said.

Mrs. Mahama applauded all hardworking health professionals especially those working in the rural areas for their selfless dedication in saving  lives.

The Lordina Foundation later presented medical supplies and equipment to the Sunyani Municipal  Hospital to facilitate work at the hospital.

The items included incubators, radiant warmers, phototherapy equipment, delivery beds and sets, oxygen concentrator machine,ultra scan, examination tables and  couches, among others.

Dr Lordina Mahama said Lordina foundation would continue  to provide the necessary logistics to support  government's programs to achieve healthcare for the people

Receiving the items, the Municipal Director of health, Dr. Paulina Appiah expressed joy and thanked the First Lady for her kind gesture for providing the items which would go a long way to improve healthcare in the municipal.

“These eguipment would help us take care of the people especially mothers and their babies,” she said.

At the same event, Mrs. Mahama unveiled an administration block for the Sunyani Municipal health directorate.

The edifice would provide conducive working environment for the directorate and also ensure acceptable healthcare delivery standards.

Mrs. Mahama advised them to make good use of the facility to prolong its lifespan.

The Municipal  Chief Executive, Mr. Kwasi  OPpong Ababio said the construction of the building  affirmed the commitment  of the municipal and government’s  mandate  to providing quality healthcare delivery to the people.

FIRST LADY CALLS ON RELIGIOUS AND TRADITIONAL LEADERS TO CHAMPION CRUSADE AGAINST CHILD MARRIAGE

The First Lady Dr Lordina Mahama has reiterated the need for Traditional and religious been to champion the crusade against child marriages in the country. 

Delivering the keynote address to climax this year’s Apoo Festival in Techiman, the First lady, Dr. Lordina Mahama noted that girls have been compelled to abandon their dreams of sound education, and also future profession as doctors, lawyers, teachers among others and are now wives and mothers. 

Data released by UNICEF revealed that 41,000 girls get married each day.  The first lady finds this trend worrying and unacceptable and therefore called on traditional leaders to join hands with relevant stakeholders to end child marriage.

 "As a mother, the practice breaks my heart but more importantly it negatively affects the future of thousands of young girls across Ghana and beyond," she said.

According to the first lady, record indicates that due to population growth, the devastating results of child marriage were likely to affect larger number of girls in Africa in the coming years. 

She said the prevalence of child marriage in Ghana was fuelled by poverty, deeply rooted cultural norms and traditions that condone the practice. 

The situation could also be could be caused by the restricted access and inadequate space in existing secondary schools. "This is why government's effort at building new community day senior high schools must be encouraged," she stated.

The  Apoo festival which is a major festival in the Brong Ahafo region  provides the inhabitants the opportunity to get "things off their chests”. It’s attracted a wide patronage both indigenes and foreigners to reflect on issues of development and also plan for the future.

Dr Lordina Mahama used the opportunity to call on the people to be agent of development and use the occasion to create the socio-economic partnership needed to promote investment for development.

She urged the people to be conscious about their health by regular visit to the hospital for check-ups to prevent severe sickness.

Being the founder of the the Lordina Foundation, the First Lady organised a free breast cancer screening and other medical screening exercise for the people of Apoo and its environs. 

 She expressed the  commitment of the the foundation to continue to raise awareness and provide education for the prevention of new HIV infections, breast and cervical cancer.

The Chief of Techiman traditional area, Oseadeyo Akumfi Ameyaw, IV commended government for his commitment in the area and appealed to government to help complete the various roads in the area.

He also commended the First Lady for supporting to create awareness on HIV, breast and cervical cancer in the country and pledged to mobilise chiefs and queens to support the initiative.

EgyptAir hijack: Man surrenders at Larnaca airport

The hijack of a domestic Egyptian flight that caused it to be diverted to Cyprus has ended with all hostages released and the hijacker surrendering.

EgyptAir Flight MS181 was taken over by a passenger claiming to be wearing a suicide explosive belt.

Airline officials later said they had been told by Cypriot authorities that the belt was fake.

The hijacker's motives remain unclear but the Cypriot president said the incident was not terrorism-related.

No-one was injured in the hijacking, Cypriot government spokesman Nikos Christodulides tweeted

.

After a morning of tension, the hijacker was seen walking down aircraft steps at Larnaca airport with his hands raised. Some reports said the Egyptian man - named by Cypriot officials as Seif Eldin Mustafa - wanted to talk to his estranged Cypriot wife who lives on the Mediterranean island, while others said he was seeking the release of female prisoners in Egypt.

In a tweet the Cypriot foreign ministry confirmed the end of the crisis: "It's over. The hijacker arrested."

Throughout the morning, people had been seen leaving the aircraft after appearing to have been released.