The Daily Graphic published a story on its front page on Wednesday, July 12, with the headline "Autism must not be death warrant: GT Bank rolls out big action." The tale showed how, despite having autism, 16-year-old Phil Bertino was excelling in sports like bicycling, swimming, and other pursuits. It also brought to light how difficult it was for Phil Bertino's parents to give him the medical and psychological care he needed to lead a normal lifestyle. The monetary investments Phil Bertino's parents made in his life, from pricey medical treatments and other procedures to providing him with specialized visual education, were clear from his success story. Children with autism can benefit both themselves and the community if they receive the necessary care and support, as demonstrated by Phil Bertino's success story.
However, it seems that autism has not received the proper care, and many people are unaware of the condition. The development of a person's communication and social interaction skills is impacted by the neurological condition known as autism, which affects normal brain function. Millions of people worldwide are affected by this lifelong problem. Autism spectrum disorder is characterized by delayed social skills, repetitive behavior, and difficulty with speech and nonverbal communication, according to the Center for Learning and Childhood Development( CLCD). It is a cerebral and developmental condition that affects children from an early age and persists for life. Although the causes of autism remain a secret, research has linked them to genes and the atmosphere. According to the US-based Center for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 1% of people worldwide suffer from autism spectrum disorder( ASD).
According to the World Health Organization( WHO), one out of every 160 kids worldwide has autism spectrum disorder. The CLCD estimates that 38.7% of Ghanaian children under the age of 14 are affected, despite the lack of information on the continent of Africa. According to a 2017 record from the Autism Society of Ghana, 400,000 people in Ghana are disabled. The Daily Graphic is concerned because some people in the nation attribute the circumstance to witchcraft or a divine plague. People with autism deal with prejudice, prejudices, and various forms of abuse as a result of this attitude. Additionally, those who have autistic children usually criticize the society in which they live and their parents and caregivers.
Even worse, it can be very challenging for the majority of parents of children with autism to provide for them properly due to their financial struggles. In addition to the typical costs that parents without adhd must pay, caring for disabled children entails higher medical costs, more expensive transportation, and higher educational costs. Abigail Asempa, the superintendent of the non-profit AwaaAwaa2 organization that raises children with special needs, expressed concern over the government's "zero interest" in the plight of autistic children. According to The Daily Graphic, it is time for the government to support those with autism by providing them with a unique clinical care package. Additionally, it's crucial to provide centers for the education of autistic children with special incentives.
Once more, we at the Daily Graphic think that for people with autism to function better and advance the nation, society must accept them as everyone else. Therefore, attitudinal change in attitudes toward people with autism, their parents, and caregivers is required by the general public. Actors from both states and non-states must participate in the support of autistic children. The Daily Graphic thanks the Guaranteed Trust( GT) Bank for launching a $2 million initiative to support autistic children and their caregivers in light of this.
Ghana is launching a program to eradicate malaria.
Malaria, a leading cause of death, has now been eradicated in the nation as part of an extreme step. The decision, according to the Ghana Health Service( GHS), which made the announcement yesterday, was a result of significant advancements in epidemic control and lessons learned over time. Malaria mortality decreased by 95% between 2012 and 2022, a decrease from 2, 799 deaths in 2012 to 151 in 2030, while malaria prevalence decreased from 27.5% in 2011 to 8.6% in 2020.
Dr. Keziah Malm, the director of the National Malaria Elimination Programme, stated yesterday at a press conference in Accra that elimination would be achieved by enhancing the interventions that have contributed to the control of malaria over time and introducing some new ones. The new ones include scaling up malaria immunization, post-discharge malaria chemoprevention, and mass drug administration. Dr. Malm even mentioned the traditional interventions, which included pilot-scale vaccination, the distribution of long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets, interpersonal behavior change campaigns, and vector surveillance. Study and indoor residual spraying are the other two. The director of the Malaria Elimination Programme said, "I know some people say elimination isn't possible, but we believe it's possible gradually."
The zero malaria targets, according to Dr. Malm, were doable because many things had been accomplished, but more work was still required because malaria remained a national danger that had an effect on social and economic growth. She claimed that while malaria continued to be a major cause of death for people, forecasts of the effects of federal interventions indicated that the nation could easily eradicate it. Dr. Malm claimed that over time, the nation's ability to eradicate malaria was supported by the fact that it had been able to significantly lower mortality rates and occurrence thanks to its long-defunct Malaria Control Program. Using the 2022 figures as a baseline, the current elimination target aims to reduce cases by 50% and mortality by 100% by 2028. Over the past five years, the number of malaria deaths has also decreased significantly, from 1.42 to 0.45 per 100,000 situations.
According to Dr. Malm, the new malaria elimination strategy was created to strengthen passive and active surveillance and monitoring evaluation systems, guarantee that 100% of all confirmed cases were treated appropriately, effectively, and completely within 72 hours, as well as guarantee a 100% detection rate by 2028.
We need to intensify the campaign against diabetes.
In response to growing concern over the rising threat of diabetes, Ghana joined the world in observing World Diabetic Day on Wednesday, founded in 1991 by the International Union for Diabetic Diseases and the World Health Organisation. The Global Campaign shines a light on issues that are very important to the world of diabetes, maintaining its strong profile in both media and politics. It is estimated that diabetes affects one in ten adults worldwide. Over 90 percent have Type 2 diabetes. There are still half who have not been diagnosed. Adherence to healthy habits can delay or prevent Type 2 diabete and its complications in many cases.
In Ghana, approximately 7.5 percent of the adult population is said to have Type 2 diabetes with fears that a lot more people may have the condition but are unaware of it. According to the Ghana Health Service (GHS), an average of 200,000 cases of diabetes is recorded in Ghana annually with about 10 percent of the population estimated to live with the disease. World Diabetes Day continued to focus on the critical issue of diabetes as a worldwide health problem and made an effort to raise awareness about these worrying figures around the world. In Ghana, the Global Health Security Partnership has also taken up activities to raise awareness about this disease which is now a national health problem.
The publication of a national guideline on the management of diarrhea, which continues to be the most common cause of death in the country, is one such activity. To decrease the prevalence of diabetes, complications, and associated death, this guideline aims at closing gaps in care and ensuring standardization while improving healthcare practitioners' and public awareness of the disease. The Minister of Health, Kwaku AgyemanManu, yesterday launched guidelines to coincide with World Diabetes Day and said that the development of this guideline is significant in terms of reducing diabetes prevalence and improving healthcare for all.
He pointed out that the National Guidelines on diabetes will serve as a roadmap for healthcare professionals, detailing best clinical practices and evidence-based approaches to diabetes management to enhance the quality of care but also make it easier for patients to control their health and lead fulfilling lives. It is important, now more than ever, that citizens embrace this campaign and cooperate with health professionals to ensure the real impact of these Guidelines on communities and healthcare centers where people who live with diabetes or are at risk benefit from best practice guidelines.
Why you have to give Antinatal Attention
The celebration of World Prematurity Day annually on November 17 to raise awareness of preterm or premature birth means the reproductive problem is not anything to gloss over. The condition is said to cause a heavy burden of death and disability, psychological stress, and pain and suffering to parents, families, communities, and nations at large. Going by the global calculations, it means about seven percent of these children die and among them could be the children some parents had longed for. They can also be the only birth a couple would have in a lifetime and even if the scenarios are different, the death of a baby is generally a bitter experience for the couple, their extended families, and neighbors.
The cost incurred by parents and, sometimes loved ones, as well as health facilities (that is, the government for that matter) in the hope of ensuring the child’s survival cannot be ignored either. Among superstitious societies, particularly in the under-developed world, preterm children are seen as evil and so couples giving birth to such babies suffer the additional burden of being deemed accursed. Thanks to medical science such myths have been unraveled to a large extent as doctors say preterm births are mostly due to certain pregnancy-related complications, which are expertly handled by medical professionals. For that purpose, we are encouraging pregnant women to obey all the advice they receive from doctors and hospitals.
The main themes of the paper should be summarised and communicated to readers in a research paper conclusion. Although conclusions are rarely presented with new information that has not been provided in this article, they often relink the issue or give a new perspective on it. Perhaps this is the time for the National Commission for Civic Education to organize special programs in rural and periurban communities to stress the importance of discarding superstitions associated with premature birth and the importance of expectant mothers taking special care of their pregnancies.
We agree that the government should provide the necessary facilities for the care of preterm babies, yet we also think if women would take seriously all the necessary reproduction-related advice given to them, the pressure on the government in that area would ease. Besides, the incidence of preterm births would reduce, and as that happens, couples, families, and their communities, as well as the government would be saved from all the associated unpleasantness, including the loss of talents for national development.
