AM News with Benjamin Akakpo on Joy News (31-7-23)
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Welcome on the News Belt on the AM show and in our first story, Chairman of Ghana's Hajj
00:06 Board Ben Abdalabanda says the board has commenced preparations towards improving the 2024 Hajj
00:13 exercise.
00:14 He is optimistic the early arrangement will deal with a number of hiccups encountered
00:20 in this year's Hajj organization.
00:22 His comments follow the safe return of the final batch of Ghanaian pilgrims who traveled
00:26 to Saudi Arabia to partake in this year's Hajj.
00:30 Anas Abed has more.
00:32 Hajj pilgrims filled with both tears and smiles left Makkah for their respective homes after
00:38 completing the final ritual of the Hajj pilgrimage leaving behind cherished memories and strengthened
00:44 faith.
00:45 Here in Ghana at the Hajj village, these people eager to see the return of their families
00:51 who were on board the last batch of the over 4,000 pilgrims who traveled to Saudi Arabia
00:56 for Hajj, waited patiently for their arrival.
00:59 It's 11pm and at last, these pilgrims touched down at the Kutuka International Airport.
01:06 The visibly exhausted pilgrims were welcomed by members of the Hajj Board and some cheerful
01:12 family and friends back to the Hajj village where they wait to finalize their travel plans
01:17 back to their respective homes.
01:20 Chairman of the Ghana Hajj Board Ben Abdalabanda thanked the government and stakeholders for
01:24 their unflinching support in making this year's Hajj a success.
01:29 Today the final flight that airlifted the final batch of our pilgrims has just landed.
01:40 Myself and Aziz Futra and our third national vice chairperson Alaji Masawud who are members
01:50 of the Ghana Hajj Board and some other members here present were here to receive our pilgrims.
01:57 I mean it's a land cave for all of us.
02:02 So let me seize this opportunity to thank the president, his excellency Nana Adudanko
02:07 Yakubadu for first of all reposing this confidence in us and of course the vice president has
02:13 also been very instrumental in this whole Hajj affair by giving us from time to time
02:21 pieces of advice.
02:24 He asked that the preparations towards a smooth 2024 Hajj pilgrimage is already underway as
02:29 the board seeks to commence its activities early in order to have a smooth Hajj and return
02:34 on an early date.
02:36 Next year is just at the corner.
02:38 The initial out is being called next year's Hajj will begin in September.
02:44 So we have we are in July.
02:46 Next month is August.
02:48 In September they are going to start the preparatory grounds for the taking over of next year's
02:53 Hajj.
02:54 So we are also going to ready ourselves, get ourselves and do the necessary meetings and
02:59 make sure that we leave early, get to Medina early and finish our program early and also
03:09 leave Makka early.
03:10 Alajima Saud Osman is a member of the Hajj board.
03:13 He's optimistic that the board would institute measures from the experience they garnered
03:17 this year to help improve the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage.
03:22 We take that experience after seeing where we sleep, we tour all and see other countries
03:29 where they sleep.
03:30 We have seen better places of some countries where they sleep so we interact with them
03:36 and see how do they come by getting this better place.
03:40 So we have much much experience.
03:41 Taking that by next year, inshallah, we will give our pilgrimage the best reception, the
03:49 best of feeding and the best of transportation maybe from Makka to Medina.
03:55 Some of the agents who facilitated the processes of the Hajj pilgrimage commended the overall
03:59 organizers of the exercise and expressed their joy for the successful air lifting of pilgrims
04:05 back home.
04:06 I want to commend all the Hajj board shamans that I have worked with, Alhaji Ben Abdullah
04:11 and Executive Secretary Farouk.
04:14 I want to commend them for their good work done and I want to commend the Hajj committee
04:19 for this year and we expect them to do even much better than this year.
04:22 I heard that the Hajj is not only for the Hajj, it is for all the Hajj.
04:27 It is for all the Hajj.
04:28 It is not only for the Hajj, it is for all the Hajj.
04:29 It is for all the Hajj.
04:30 It is for all the Hajj.
04:31 It is for all the Hajj.
04:32 It is for all the Hajj.
04:33 It is for all the Hajj.
04:34 It is for all the Hajj.
04:35 It is for all the Hajj.
04:36 It is for all the Hajj.
04:37 It is for all the Hajj.
04:38 It is for all the Hajj.
04:39 It is for all the Hajj.
04:40 It is for all the Hajj.
04:41 It is for all the Hajj.
04:42 Sheikh Isa Abdallah is a member of the Ulama committee that provided guidance to the pilgrims
04:47 throughout their Hajj journey.
04:49 He admonishes them to strive towards leading a much pious life to show that their journey
04:54 to Mecca has impacted them positively.
04:57 This is a humble message to my dear pilgrims, al-Hajjis and the Hajjis that in the first
05:03 place we must fear Almighty Allah.
05:05 We must fear Almighty Allah.
05:07 Number two, we must show that we have changed to the positive aspect.
05:14 People should see the change in us that oh, this person has gone to Hajj and we have seen
05:20 positive change in him.
05:22 Hajja Musliha Mohammed on her part cautions would-be pilgrims to desist from embarking
05:27 on the Hajj pilgrimage by dealing with unapproved agents who leave them stranded in Saudi Arabia.
05:33 They have to go to a determined Saudi Arabian regard.
05:38 They feed us to them.
05:41 They have to pay to those who have to pass back and forth.
05:46 I realize that this is a much higher experience.
05:51 Our own, we must feed him.
05:55 Whenever they bring us to Hajj, you have someone right to decide.
06:04 But for them, they are like their own.
06:07 Hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam, enjoys every Muslim who can afford and is physically fit
06:15 to embark on the pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime.
06:19 Anna Sabit, Joy News, Accra.
06:26 In our next story, the Bullet East director of the National Health Insurance Authority,
06:32 George Opondangwa, says the region has witnessed an increase in its active membership.
06:37 He believes the authority's digitization drive is a positive step towards helping the country
06:43 achieve universal health coverage by 2030.
06:46 He made this disclosure during the mid-year review meeting of the NHIA held in Tichiman.
06:51 Anna Sabit once more reports.
06:54 Following a move to digitize the registration process of the National Health Insurance Scheme,
06:59 the Bullet East region has witnessed an increase in its active membership over the past couple of years.
07:05 This was revealed during the mid-year review meeting of the authority held in the Tichiman municipality.
07:11 Regional director of the NHIA, George Opondangwa, who disclosed this to Joy News,
07:16 noted that the development is a positive step towards helping achieve universal health coverage by the year 2030.
07:23 For Bullet East, anything health insurance, we attach serious attention to it.
07:28 So, from even what you witnessed this morning, mobile renewal, we have about 70.9.
07:39 percent as our achievement for the mid-year.
07:45 And individually, Tichiman even had about 80 something, 89 points, almost 90 percent
07:52 per their performance for the mid-year.
07:57 So, we have made serious announcements on mobile renewal.
08:06 And as I told you, our people have understood the mobile renewal concept and they are using it.
08:15 And that is why Tichiman office in particular, every year they keep on either first or second nationwide.
08:23 And Bullet East, two years now, we have been also doing excellently well in terms of mobile renewal.
08:31 So, in terms of mobile renewal, we have educated, well educated our people and they are using it.
08:36 He was however quick to note that with the establishment of a new regional office complex,
08:40 coupled with the provision of vehicles to facilitate the movement of its staff,
08:44 the region is working towards ensuring that it achieves its targets by the end of the year.
08:50 By the grace of God and the government and our management,
08:58 they have promised us with very nice edifice, our regional office.
09:02 Now we are not patching with the Tichiman Municipal Office again.
09:05 We have our own very beautiful office complex.
09:09 And also, we have vehicles to support our operations.
09:16 All the material that we need to support our operations, head office, they have given to us.
09:23 We have computers, we have ID cards, we have all the BMS materials to support our work.
09:32 And as you are all aware, we have resolved that by the close of the year, we will achieve our targets.
09:40 George Opondangwa however disclosed that the authorities are working towards ensuring that the issue of co-payment
09:46 and the illegal extortion of monies by some service providers are curtailed.
09:51 We applaud our chief executive. He has established what we call a co-payment committee.
09:58 We have the national co-payment committee, we have the regional ones and we have the district ones,
10:03 which are also doing their best to resolve all these issues.
10:09 And recently, we released the money to pay our facilities up to January 2023.
10:19 And tariffs too have been increased.
10:24 So, authority is doing everything possible to curb this challenge of co-payments.
10:32 The region is currently 11th on the National Active Performance Chart
10:37 after securing 70.3% of its target for the second quarter of the year.
10:41 Anas Sabit, JOY News, Tichiman
10:47 A study by the Hepatitis Foundation of Ghana has shown that there are more people living with the condition in northern Ghana.
10:57 Director of the foundation, Theobald Ouswansa, wants persons diagnosed with the disease to avail themselves of proper medical care.
11:06 He made this known during a screening exercise in Tamale,
11:09 organized in partnership with the Ghana Health Service to sensitize the populace and encourage them to adopt healthy lifestyles.
11:17 Over the last decade, Ghana has seen a rise in cases of the deadly Hepatitis B and C viruses
11:24 with experts calling for a national policy to help address the threat it poses to people.
11:29 Globally, about 2 billion people are estimated to have been exposed to Hepatitis B virus in particular,
11:37 with almost one quarter of them having a chronic infection.
11:41 Here in the Tichiman municipality, health authorities at the Holy Family Hospital are engaging the services of special doctors
11:49 to help educate the masses as well as offer specialist services to Hepatitis B and C patients.
11:55 Dr. Kofi Amwakun Obinfrimpon is a medical officer with the Department of Internal Medicine at the Holy Family Hospital.
12:02 He says the high prevalence of Hepatitis B in the area is worrying.
12:07 In our research, we saw that although it is spread across the various regions of Ghana, it is centered here.
12:14 This is where Hepatitis B is prevalent.
12:16 And indeed, whenever we go for our mortality meetings, at the end of the month, every time,
12:21 we find out that people die from chronic liver disease and most of them are from Hepatitis B.
12:29 And so, we saw the need to actually conduct this group, to actually get the number of people who are positive here in Tichiman,
12:38 so that those who are negative, we know that Hepatitis B is a potentially preventable disease, it's a vaccine-preventable disease.
12:47 We don't see why people should be dying from Hepatitis B when there is a vaccine to prevent it, I mean, in the first place.
12:55 The facility, as part of activities to mark the World Hepatitis Day, held a free screening exercise to help provide early care to patients diagnosed of the disease.
13:04 So, like I said, we want to screen the people, those who are negative, we want to vaccinate them, and then those who are positive,
13:12 those who are positive, after being positive, we conduct some other tests to see whether you need the drugs,
13:18 or we may have to monitor you to the point you might need a drug.
13:22 Dr Kofi Amwako noted that the facility is intensifying a sensitization drive to help create more awareness across the area.
13:30 Indeed, this week has been a very busy week for the Department of Internal Medicine.
13:35 We have gone to vantage points to inform them about Hepatitis B.
13:40 We've used other avenues, like the radio station.
13:43 We're at Gascleer FM, another team was at Classic FM.
13:48 We spoke in chief, discussed the menace that Hepatitis B can bring to the public if they are not screened, if they are not managed.
13:56 He was, however, quick to emphasize on the relevance of screening, adding that the safest way to stay away from being infected is through screening and getting vaccinated.
14:06 The primary preventive method is to screen.
14:09 Screen yourself, if you are negative, we give you the vaccine, and you are supposed to take the vaccine for three times.
14:15 Some members of the public who were taking advantage of the screening exercise shared with us what prompted them to participate in the exercise.
14:23 For me, I think it's important, as I said in the beginning, for the screening it helps to know your conditions with you, if you have a problem or if there is a way to assess them.
14:34 You may not show this in the centre of the conditions, but you need to know that there are some conditions with you,
14:39 so that if there are some health conditions with you, the interviews can be taken as early as possible.
14:45 Chief of Takofiano and Atepemheni of the Tichman Traditional Area, under whose jurisdiction the exercise is currently taking place,
14:52 urges the public to take screening exercises seriously in order to stay safe.
14:57 I think it's important to know that we are not going to be vaccinated, because we are not going to be vaccinated.
15:07 We are going to be vaccinated, but we are not going to be vaccinated.
15:11 We are not going to be vaccinated, but we are going to be vaccinated.
15:16 We are going to be vaccinated, but we are not going to be vaccinated.
15:20 We are going to be vaccinated, but we are not going to be vaccinated.
15:26 The free screening exercise forms part of a series of activities organised by the Holy Family Hospital to mark the World Hepatitis Day.
15:35 Anna Sabit, Joy News, Tichman.
15:40 Thank you for staying. That's how we cap off the news this morning. But stay with us, the news review, up next.
15:50 [Music]