Chronicling Country-Specific Response to Covid-19 Pandemic in Africa: From the Perspective of Ghana

Health is closely tied to human development and the overall development of a nation. Indeed, throughout history, improved public health has been a major determinant of development. Within this context, the consequences of infectious diseases including the novel Coronavirus are not in doubt. Particularly, the COVID-19 pandemic has destabilized the much-talked about world civilization with many nations still under various infection control measures. Globally, the pandemic has resulted in several losses in the areas of jobs, income, government revenues, foreign direct investments, among others. Beyond the incalculable economic losses, the pandemic constitutes a great threat to physical, social and mental health. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, several studies have been conducted on the experiences of different countries to help deepen global knowledge on the pandemic. This review paper chronicles the Ghanaian experience of COVID-19 and attempts to probe whether the country’s overall response to the disease is worthy of emulation by other nations. Part one introduces the paper by looking at the intersection of health and development, a brief history of COVID-19, challenges associated with the pandemic and measures some countries have employed to rebuild their economies. Part two describes the key issues underpinning the spread of the virus in Ghana whilst part three considers the efforts key stakeholders employed to contain and manage the spread of the virus. Part four focuses on the challenges Ghana has faced in the management of the pandemic whereas the concluding part presents the core issues which should engage the attention of stakeholders. Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, misinformation, social risk amplification and attenuation theory, health services, development DOI: 10.7176/NMMC/97-03 Publication date:August 31st 202

High prevalence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis among patients with rifampicin resistance using GeneXpert Mycobacterium tuberculosis/rifampicin in Ghana

AbstractObjective/BackgroundDrug-resistant strains of tuberculosis (TB) represent a major threat to global TB control. In low- and middle-income countries, resource constraints make it difficult to identify and monitor cases of resistance using drug susceptibility testing and culture. Molecular assays such as the GeneXpert Mycobacterium tuberculosis/rifampicin may prove to be a cost-effective solution to this problem in these settings. The objective of this study is to evaluate the use of GeneXpert in the diagnosis of pulmonary TB since it was introduced into two tertiary hospitals in Ghana in 2013.MethodsA 2-year retrospective audit of clinical cases involving patients who presented with clinically suspected TB or documented TB not improving on standard therapy and had samples sent for GeneXpert testing.ResultsGeneXpert identified 169 cases of TB, including 17 cases of rifampicin-resistant TB. Of the seven cases with final culture and drug susceptibility testing results, six demonstrated further drug resistance and five of these were multidrug-resistant TB.ConclusionThese findings call for a scale-up of TB control in Ghana and provide evidence that the expansion of GeneXpert may be an optimal means to improve case finding and guide treatment of drug-resistant TB in this setting

Appreciating the Role of Communication in Promoting Sustainable Livelihood: A Closer Look at Some Selected Literature

Livelihood interventions are essential to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs). Issues such as poverty (SDG 1), hunger and food security (SDG 2), education (SDG 4), and consumption and production (SDG 12) are central to improved livelihoods. To this end, development actors are encouraged to implement carefully designed livelihood interventions to improve the lives of people. A vital argument which dominates livelihood discourses is the issue of sustainability. The debates on sustainable livelihood appear unending, especially in developing nations where poverty continues to threaten the lives of many citizens. Particularly, there are varying positions on the concept of sustainable livelihood and its core elements. Indeed, the seeming lack of clarity on the concept of sustainable livelihood presents a challenge to development actors in their attempts to ensure improved livelihoods. Against this backdrop, this paper attempts to contribute to bringing clarity to the concept of sustainable livelihood and the role communication plays in its promotion through a review of some selected literature. The authors submit that sustainable livelihood cannot be achieved especially in developing countries without access to adequate information and improved communication strategies. They maintain that no livelihood policy can sustainably be implemented without consciously designed efforts on the part of stakeholders to integrate policy communication strategies into the policy. Finally, the authors contend that participatory communication approaches are central to any sustainable livelihood initiatives and must, therefore, be given the necessary preeminence in sustainable livelihood thinking and theorizing

The challenge of participation in community development activities in rural Ghana: implications for effective development communication

Despite increasing calls for adequate measures to promote participatory development, stakeholder satisfaction with participation in development projects remains a challenge. This study explored the views of beneficiaries of Cocoa Life Project interventions and local authorities of Wassa East District of Ghana regarding their satisfaction with participation during the planning, implementation and evaluation stages of a development project. The study used sequential-dependence mixed methods design. A total of 410 respondents including farmers, members of Village Savings and Loans Groups, Head of District Agriculture Department, Head of Business Advisory Centre, District Education Planner and Extension Agents were selected for the study. Interview schedule, focus group discussion and interview guides were used for data collection. The study found that, apart from awareness creation on development problems and problem identification, project beneficiaries and local authorities were lowly satisfied with participation in planning activities. Again, satisfaction with participation in evaluation activities of the project was low among beneficiaries and local authorities. Also, no significant difference manifested in the overall satisfaction with participation among project beneficiaries irrespective of differences in sex and marital status

Pulmonary aspergilloma: An evasive disease

Aspergillomas are often misdiagnosed as tuberculosis (TB) in developing countries where the prevalence of TB is high, hemoptysis is often equated with TB, and most patients are diagnosed clinically. This report describes the case of a patient being treated for smear-negative TB who presented with hemoptysis and was found to have an aspergilloma