What Is Hepatitis B?

FRIENDS OF HEALTH ASSOCIATION ( FOHA) last Tuesday 21st April, 2020 donated Hand Sanitizers, Carbolic soaps, Tissue papers, face masks, malt and water to the Kobedi Health Centre in the Sunyani West District of the Bono Region of Ghana. The Donation was a result of a fundraising project launched by FOHA in it's bid to support central government's intervention in the fight against the COVID-19. Nurse Liticia, the facility in charge on behalf of the District Director of health services and the entire staff expressed her profound gratitude to FOHA for such a timely support and help. She sought the opportunity to appeal to all especially those within the Bono region to come to their aid to support them either in kind or in cash in order to strength their emergency preparedness towards the fight of the COVID-19. The presentation was made by Rev.Jefferson Agbotro Kwasi ( Founder & CEO, FOHA) and Dennis Ansu Gyeabour( FOHA Administrator ) on behalf of the FOHA Board, Management and the entire membership globally. 

Rev.Jefferson is calling on all Ghanaians to support the fight of the COVID-19 in their own small way from cash to kind donation either at the community level or at health facility to augment government's effort. This is the time to show your generosity towarda the weak and vulnerable in society, before you complain, do something at your level, together we shall all sail through with he grace of God. 

FOHA is a member of the Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Health and FOHA is in 6 countries with over 300 medical volunteers across the globe. God bless all those who donated and support this fight, your names are on records in the FOHA archives, your deeds shall forever be remembered. It is not yet over, we are still doing advocacy and health educational campaign, anyone who wants to donate can still do so.

Appreciation:

#Mr. Abban Bonsu: TIDD Area Manager, Sunyani

# Mama Phyllis, City Enterprise

# Dorothy Boachie : Emergency Nurse, Obuasi Hospital

# Yaa Kotoka: Midwife

# Pharm. Asare- Duah

# Evangeline: USA

# Emmanuelle Kyere : UK

www.fohaghana.org

www.founder.fohaghana.org

+233 249727900: whatsapp

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A lot of talks and noise has been made across the 16 regions of Ghana regarding the COVID-19 pandemic as to measures and strategies to put in place to contain the disease in case the number of infected people escalates. A lot of reassurances and good speeches has being made in our attempt as a nation to fight this pandemic. The politicians, religious leaders, the media, and varied union groups have added their voice in our bid to prevent the spread of the disease as a nation. The COVID-19 has indeed brought a shock to the entire world from Wuhan (China) where it began claiming 3000+ lives, 5000+ lives in Italy, Germany, the United States of America could also not escape the blow of the COVID-19, South Korea, Germany, UK, Togo, Rwanda and Ghana has also confirmed 24 cases which has tested positive for COVID-19. The above statistics are worrying and calls for global concern as to the best strategies and policies that governments and institutions must put in place to address the pandemic. This calls for strategic leadership and thinking.
In a pandemic case scenario such as the COVID-19, there are two main entry points into a nation:
• Vertical Transmission Route – Imported cases
• Horizontal Transmission Route – Community Transmission
For the vertical transmission, the client and all possible contacts can be traced by the Emergency Response Team and quarantine for 14 days. If within this period, these contacts starts exhibiting signs of COVID-19, their blood samples are taken for testing and if the results proves positive, they are managed at an isolation centre. However, if the transmission moves from the vertical to the horizontal, that is, Community Transmission, then Ghana must prepare itself for the worst case scenario like other nations. This is because the transmission pattern gets expanded and we can only expect exponential infection rate except for Divine intervention. When we start getting over two hundred cases a day, our fragile and weak health system will collapse. Mortality and fatalities will increase especially for clients with underlining medical conditions such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, coronary heart diseases and worst among all, people living with HIV (PLHIV). Hospital Acquired Infections (Nosocomial Infections) also take a toll on the infected person, accounting for the death rate. This is what happen in most of the European countries, on the 13th of February, Wuhan in China recorded 14, 000 new infection but now the infection rate is 39. People who get infected can recover if managed by competent and motivated health staff. What we can do is to break the chain and line of transmission by adhering to the safety guidelines being offered by the Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service and World Health Organization (WHO) so that we do not spread the infection. This reason underpins why Government of Ghana gave the executive order on the ban on social gathering such as churches, mosques, schools, universities, the social distancing is of importance in breaking the horizontal transmission route.
There is an undeniable fact that pressure on our health staff is going to be very high, to say the least. The provision of adequate information from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention shows more than 3000 healthcare workers infected with the COVID-19. Howard Catton, the CEO of the International Council of Nurses in Geneva remarked that it is crucial to gather information on the group of health workers affected, to further identify modes of transmission, and when and how they are being diagnosed, in order to manage and protect them, thereby preventing further infection of the virus. Mr. Catton said: “This is a serious and ongoing situation and we know that the Chinese Government is pouring massive resources into treating people who have the virus and aimed at containing it. Working on COVID-19 patients takes an immense physical and emotional toll on the healthcare staff, and sadly, as has happened before, health care staff working in the frontline with patients who have the virus are at risk of contracting it themselves”. According to the International Council of Nurses in Italy, Italy’s health workers are sacrificing their health in the battle to combat COVID-19 but lack sufficient protective equipment to keep them safe. The International Nursing Council and the Italian Nurse Association are warning us of the dire consequences of not supplying adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) for health workers working with COVID-19 patients. Latest statistics shows that healthcare workers make up 9% of Italy’s COVID-19 infected patients. The high rate of infection among healthcare workers is a serious concern because health workers who are infected must stay away from work for at least 14 days, depleting the already exhausted workforce. Simple arithmetic calculation of the 9% out of the number infected in Italy can give us an idea of the larger number of people infected in Italy alone, we can use this as a baseline to make our analysis of the number of health staff infected across the globe.
The current Ghana situation from our research conducted through phone calls, personal interviews with health staff, our own visit to most of the health facilities in Ghana from Regional Hospital facilities across the regions, Christian Health Association of Ghana across the regions and private health facilities reveals and gives credence to the unprepared nature of our health system in Ghana. We were looking at the psychological preparation of the health workers in Ghana whether or not they are adequately prepared for the COVID19? The answer from the Doctors, Nurses, Pharmacists, Midwives, Medical Laboratory scientists, Anesthetists, and the paramedical community will shock you! They answered with an emphatic NO, that how can they be ready when they do not have enough personal protective equipment like face masks, gloves, to say the least. According to our research, most Doctors and Nurses are forced to wear mask which are far past their effective use (using one face mask for over a week), some facilities do not have mask at all and gloves for staff protection. We found out that some health staff in some government selected facilities as a holding point for COVID -19 took to their heels leaving helpless suspected COVID-19 patients at the mercy of God to die, some we witnessed ourselves. These are the realities in Ghana now and we cannot pretend we are not aware of it. The staff are taking cover in Act 651 of the labour law which says if your employer do not provide a safe environment for your work, then you can flee. The environment is indeed not safe for the health workers in Ghana and the earlier we admit and look for remedy, the better it is for us all. Health workers are not angels and superheroes, they are stepping up and answering the call to duty to serve humanity. Health workers are men and women who have families and friends and responsibilities, and they must be protected from the risk that caring for patients with COVID-19 poses. There must be adequate test kits to test all health workers for the virus, health workers must have adequate PPEs they need so that they can carry out their duties without fear for their own safety and that of their families. It is highly unacceptable for health workers across the country to work without sufficient protection and Government must put a robust supply chain in place now. The whole world is watching the commitment of central government, duty bearers to demonstrate leadership and commitment towards the protection of the health care workers in Ghana. It is also a moral and a legal obligation of government, duty bearers and managers of various health facilities across the country to ensure that health care workers do not work in an environment that is injurious to their own health.

FOHA is appealing to Government of Ghana to rise to the occasion to make sure that health workers in Ghana are supplied with adequate PPEs as soon as possible in order to fight and contain the COVID-19. Not having the PPEs will be like going to war with paper shields and toy guns, these supplies are needed now, not tomorrow. FOHA is also calling on all the clergy, the house of chiefs, the media, civil society organizations in Ghana, citizens of Ghana abroad and all citizens of Ghana to join the discussion in order to make sure we have a robust, efficient and effective health system in Ghana. Ghana is still in the window period of the COVID-19 and from our facts on the ground, our systems and health workers are ill prepared for this battle in the event that the figures of the new infections escalates, which is highly probable because we have moved from the vertical route of transmission (imported) to the horizontal route of transmission (community).

RECOMMENDATION
1. Government’s $100 million allocated for the fight of COVID-19 should be distributed to all facilities as soon as possible. There should be an update about the status of all monies released to various regions in the COVID-19 battle, this is an emergency and if we do not respond promptly and proactively, we shall pay dearly for it as a nation.
2. Make PPEs available for health workers as soon as possible.
3. Ban on social gatherings should be enforced.
4. Making testing of COVID-19 a protocol for all health institution, mass testing for all.
5. The Minister of Health, Director General of Health, Minister of Information, the media and all stakeholders on board the fight against COVID-19 should be in face mask during press briefing and they must observe the social distancing as well.
6. Wearing of face mask is not negotiable for all.
7. The China success story.
8. Lockdown.
We hope the government, duty bearers, all stakeholders and all citizens will give a hearing to this petition.

Thank You
Yours Faithfully,

Rev. Jefferson Agbotro Kwasi
Founder & CEO, FOHA

FRIENDS OF HEALTH ASSOCIATION (FOHA)

• FOA is a progressive , non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO), 100% not for profit charity in Ghana that has being on the forefront of health care for 12 years now in the area of :
• Public Health
• Clinical Health
• Nutrition
• HIV/AIDS
• Research, policy and advocacy
• Community Development & capacity Development.
• FOHA has head office in Ghana, Sunyani, UK, USA, Netherlands, Germany, China
• Over 300 medical volunteers across the globe
• Sponsors of the 2018 Bono & Ahafo Regional World Aids Day through UNAIDS
• Member of the Ghana Coalition of Health NGOs
• www.fohaghana.org/ www.founder.fohaghana.org

    The posture and the behaviour of the National Identification Authority ( NIA) is shameful, disrespectful and indiscipline to say the least, amidst president's ban on social gathering and all related activities that puts the lives and the health of citizens at risk. Last week Sunday 15th March, 2020 at 10 pm when the president of the republic of Ghana gave an executive order on social gathering, it was expected that all state institutions will comply in our bid to fight the COVID-19 and in solidarity and in support of the president's order. It was least expected that respected institution like the NIA would flout and violate the orders of the president. NIA boss should be call to order by the president and all should condemn the disregard for this simple instruction by the NIA . What would be the use of the NIA card if all those registered die? Those of us who have registered know that it is not possible to avoid contact during the registration. Our health system is fragile and we can not take things for granted, we are fearless but not careless.  All other institutions disregarding and undermining this preventive measures of containing the COVID-19 should face the full regors of the law under no uncertain terms.

Rev.Jefferson Agbotro 

CEO, FOHA

PREECLAMPSIA

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure and signs of damage to another organ system, most often the liver and kidneys.

Preeclampsia usually begins after 20 weeks of pregnancy in women whose blood pressure had been normal. Even a slight rise in blood pressure may be a sign of preeclampsia.
Left untreated, preeclampsia can lead to serious — even fatal — complications for both you and your baby. If you have preeclampsia, the only cure is delivery of your baby.

If you’re diagnosed with preeclampsia too early in your pregnancy to deliver your baby, you and your doctor face a challenging task. Your baby needs more time to mature, but you need to avoid putting yourself or your baby at risk of serious complications.

Symptoms
Preeclampsia sometimes develops without any symptoms. High blood pressure may develop slowly, or it may have a sudden onset. Monitoring your blood pressure is an important part of prenatal care because the first sign of preeclampsia is commonly a rise in blood pressure. Blood pressure that exceeds 140/90 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or greater — documented on two occasions, at least four hours apart — is abnormal.

Other signs and symptoms of preeclampsia may include:

*Excess protein in your urine (proteinuria) or additional signs of kidney problems
Severe headaches
Changes in vision, including temporary loss of vision, blurred vision or light sensitivity
Upper abdominal pain, usually under your ribs on the right side
Nausea or vomiting
Decreased urine output
Decreased levels of platelets in your blood (thrombocytopenia)
Impaired liver function
Shortness of breath, caused by fluid in your lungs
Sudden weight gain and swelling (edema) — particularly in your face and hands — may occur with preeclampsia. But these also occur in many normal pregnancies, so they’re not considered reliable signs of preeclampsia.

When to see a doctor

Make sure you attend your prenatal visits so that your care provider can monitor your blood pressure. Contact your doctor immediately or go to an emergency room if you have severe headaches, blurred vision or other visual disturbance, severe pain in your abdomen, or severe shortness of breath.

Because headaches, nausea, and aches and pains are common pregnancy complaints, it’s difficult to know when new symptoms are simply part of being pregnant and when they may indicate a serious problem — especially if it’s your first pregnancy. If you’re concerned about your symptoms, contact your doctor.

Prevention
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Researchers continue to study ways to prevent preeclampsia, but so far, no clear strategies have emerged. Eating less salt, changing your activities, restricting calories, or consuming garlic or fish oil doesn’t reduce your risk. Increasing your intake of vitamins C and E hasn’t been shown to have a benefit.

Some studies have reported an association between vitamin D deficiency and an increased risk of preeclampsia. But while some studies have shown an association between taking vitamin D supplements and a lower risk of preeclampsia, others have failed to make the connection.

Check your blood pressure and sugar today and always remember your health first.

By : Dennis Ansu Gyeabour