REFLECTION SERIES

The Ebola outbreak is estimated to have killed almost twice as many people as we thought, by diverting resources away from illnesses such as malaria, HIV and tuberculosis. Current figures suggest that 11,316 people died from Ebola during the outbreak in West Africa. But a further 10,623 people died from other diseases thanks to the outbreak’s impact on local healthcare, according to a new analysis. “While it’s essential for resources to be targeted at a public health emergency like Ebola, it’s important to consider the indirect impacts of the outbreak as well,” says Martial Ndeffo-Mbah of the Yale School of Public Health, who led this study. The team used a model that assumed that resources for other diseases shrank by 50 per cent during the outbreak. They say this is probably an underestimate, given that during the outbreak, visits to health centres in some locations fell to just 10 per cent of those originally scheduled, as families remained at home to avoid ...

KEEP on kissing. At least that’s the advice for now, with the discovery of active Zika Virus in saliva and urine.The finding, by researchers at the Flavivirus Molecular Biology Laboratory in Fiocruz, Brazil, adds to concern following recent confirmation that the virus can spread through sex. “We are not yet sure if Zika can be transmitted to others through saliva or urine,” Myrna Bonaldo, whose team found the virus in the urine of one patient with Zika-like symptoms and in the saliva of another, said this. But Jonathan Ball of the University of Nottingham, UK, says the family of viruses that Zika belongs to are primarily insect-borne, spreading from bloodstream to bloodstream. “The risk of Zika infection from infected saliva while kissing is very low, but not impossible“ He suggests there may be a small chance that virus particles in saliva could infect someone with bleeding gums. “The risk from kissing is very low, but not impossible.” ...

Perfect Life Health Services and Ghana National Association of Adventist Students jointly organised a 5 days free Medical Outreach at the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons. The program started and ended on Monday 4th and Friday 8th January, 2016 respectively. The outreach started each day at 10:00am and ended at 4:00pm. On a daily basis, the medical outreach team visited the prison to provide services such as blood pressure checking, body mass index (BMI), malaria and blood sugar testing, medical consultation, counseling, eye screening and pharmacy. All the services we provided were free of charge (that is, no one paid money for the services we provided). All the outreach was held at the male prison except the morning of Thursday 7th January 2016 when the outreach was moved to the female prison for the female inmates and officers to be screened as well. All those who were screened were given free medicine when necessary. At th...

I listen to an interview by Dr Ray Moynihan who is a Senior Research Fellow at Bond University in Australia. He talked about how many pharmaceutical companies are funding researched to favour their products. He says that at times, the side effects are played down to make the drugs look attractive to the patients who buy them. This notwithstanding, drugs save life. Watch the video below to hear for yourself what Dr. Ray said. The transcript is found below: Ray Moynihan : “If there’s one simple thing that people can do to protect themselves against unnecessary tests and diagnoses and treatments, it’s to be a healthy sceptic - to ask more questions, to interrogate your health professionals, to try to seek out evidence that is not tainted by vested interests and to really question as much as possible: “Do I really need that test? Do I really need that diagnosis? Do I really need that treatment or intervention?” And gather the evidence and discuss it with your loved...

I saw this article on myjoyonline and I have decided to share it with you. Zika virus is a disease which is currently found in the Caribbeans and North and South America.  It is transmitted when a person is bitten by an affected mosquito. It can cause microcephaly (Small head) in babies. There is currently no cure as well as vaccine to protect a child from the disease. It is very serious. Please find time to read this article. http://www.myjoyonline.com/lifestyle/2016/January-25th/zika-virus-likely-to-spread-across-americas-who.php

Obviously one major cause of infertility today is Sperm Leak or Sperm Pour. Sperm leakage is a major cause of childlessness among many couples. Sperm leakage occurs when semen which contains sperms flow out of the vagina of a woman after sexual intercourse either while she is lying down or after some hours when she gets up. Many couple are facing this problem but they are not talking about them partly because our African culture frowns upon talking about sex publicly.  I read an interesting piece on this topic and I have decided to share with you the main points. Make sure the vaginal canal is clean of any artificial lubricants as these slow down sperm movement and also encourage leakage of sperm. Couples should discourage the use of artificial lubricants such as Creams to facilitate penetration. The men should rather play with their wives for them to get "wet", since a natural lubricant is released when the woman is wet. Woman should urinate shortly befor...

  Bad prison conditions in Ghana: A peep into the Navrongo Prisons Thirty-six (36) prisoners died at the Contagious Diseases Prison (CDP) alone, since 2009. Thus, an average of six deaths per year. In fact, one prisoner dies every two (2) months in this Prison. This death rate is disturbing but not surprising, because the establishment lacks basic facilities and personnel to provide the necessary health care services that will in the long run prevent avoidable and unnecessary deaths of the inmates. Read more at: https://www.modernghana.com/news/661127/1/the-state-of-ghanas-only-contagious-diseases-priso.html Thirty-six (36) prisoners died at the Contagious Diseases Prison (CDP) alone, since 2009. Thus, an average of six deaths per year. In fact, one prisoner dies every two (2) months in this Prison. This death rate is disturbing but not surprising, because the establishment lacks basic facilities and personnel to provide the necessary health care services...