Study Lead Author, Ranjith Ramasamy, an expert in reproductive urology who conducted the research while working at the University of Miami, said he used a previous study that found evidence of microplastics in the human heart as a basis for his research. The samples were taken from study participants who had been diagnosed with erectile dysfunction (ED) and were in the hospital to undergo surgery for penile implants to treat the condition at the University of Miami between August and September 2023. Ramasamy said he was not surprised to find microplastics in the penis, as it is a “very vascular organ,” like the heart. Microplastics are polymer fragments that can range from less than 5 millimeters down to 1 micrometer. They form when larger plastics break down, either by chemically degrading or physically wearing down into smaller pieces. Experts say some tiny particles can invade individual cells and tissues in major organs, and evidence is mounting that they are increasingly present in our bodies.

Source: CNN

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Households worldwide wasted over 1 billion meals per day in 2022 according to The Food Waste Index Report 2024, which was composed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP).

The report disclosed that 783 million people were affected by hunger and a third of humanity faced food insecurity. It further showed 1.05 billion tonnes of food waste generated which equated to 132 kilograms per capita and nearly one-fifth of all food available to consumers.

Additionally, 60 percent (60%) of food waste came about at the household level, with food services and retail contributing 28 percent ( 28%) and 12 percent ( 12%), respectively.

The report, which was published ahead of the International Day of Zero Waste, highlighted the staggering scale of food waste, its detrimental effects on the economy and environment, and the urgent need for action.

Inger Andersen, The Executive Director of UNEP, described food waste as a “global tragedy” with far-reaching consequences for both human development and the environment.

She emphasized the need for countries to prioritize food waste reduction efforts to mitigate climate impacts and economic losses.

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The study, which was conducted in the Bono East Region also showed that 43 percent of girls/young women had had sex as compared to 29 percent of boys/young men.

It formed part of a project being implemented by GHS and UNICEF to address the sexual and reproductive health needs of young people in transition to adulthood, especially with regard to their access to and utilization of adolescent services. 

The findings of the study were disseminated to key stakeholders drawn from eight regions at a meeting held at Fumesua in the Ejisu Municipality as part of strategies to address challenges confronting adolescents in the country. 

Dr. Joshua Amo-Adjei, a Lecturer at the University of Cape Coast and Lead Researcher, said positive attitudes around schooling were significantly associated with being sexually active. 

He said respondents who viewed school positively and expressed positive intentions of advancing in education were less likely to be sexually active.

Adolescents who reported limited access to services, according to him, were also at higher risk of sexual initiation. 

Dr. Amo-Adjei further disclosed that more than half of sexually active respondents were coerced into first sex, adding that 13 percent were forced physically. 

“Adolescent childbearing was frequently mentioned as the most concerning health problem in all the participating communities. The other was lack of access to menstrual hygiene products,” he told the meeting. 

Dr. Emmanuel Tinkorang, the Regional Director of Health Services, said adolescent sexual and reproductive health was an important health issue because it was one of the most difficult issues that could confront any health system in any country. 

He said because adolescents were in transition, they were vulnerable to a lot of challenges which if not managed well could jeopardize their future. 

He mentioned unwanted pregnancy, teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases as well as exposure to social media as some of the challenges mostly confronting the adolescent. 

The Regional Director entreated all stakeholders to step up their respective efforts in addressing adolescent and sexual reproductive health as a country. 

Madam Charity Nikoi of the Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) Unit of UNICEF Ghana Office, said her outfit conducted research during the COVID-19 pandemic which revealed that the adolescents were not visiting health facilities not solely because of the pandemic, but also due to reproductive health issues.    

“This study is to support the Ghana Health Service in having an evidence-based approach to whatever they are going to do for adolescents in terms of sexual reproductive health,” she noted. 

She said the goal was to look at the social and institutional determinants of access to services and utilization to ensure issues affecting the development of adolescents were tackled.

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In the study, “Pooled prevalence and risk factors of malaria among children aged 6–59 months in 13 sub-Saharan African countries: A multilevel analysis using recent malaria indicator surveys” published by PLOS One journal on May 31, 2023, the authors found that older under-five children in large families with low income in rural areas are most vulnerable to malaria infection.

The WHO says the African region continues to carry a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden. In 2021, the region was home to about 95% of all malaria cases and 96% of all deaths. Children under five years of age accounted for about 80% of all malaria deaths in the region. 

According to the authors, they pooled the prevalence and risk factors of malaria among children aged 6-69 months in 13 Sub-Saharan African countries. A multi-level analysis using recent malaria indicators

Data from Malaria Indicator Surveys (MIS)

Data for this study were drawn from Malaria Indicator Surveys (MIS), conducted recently in 13 Sub-Saharan African countries. A sample of 60,541 children aged from 6 to 59 months was used. STATA, a statistical software was used to clean, code, and analyze the data while multilevel logistic regression was employed to identify factors associated with malaria. The study had a Confidence Interval (CI) of 95% which shows the reliability of the data collected. 

Co-author for the studies, Dagmawi Chilot of Department of Human Physiology the University of Gondar School of Medicine, in Ethiopia told GBC that,  the motivation for the study was based on research by UNICEF which says nearly every minute, a child under five years dies of malaria, 

(https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-health/malaria/).  

It was conducted on secondary data from the recent MIS of 13 SSA countries such as Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, and Madagascar. The rest are Mali, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Tanzania.  

Chilot said children aged between six months and five years are at the highest risk of malaria because during this period they have lost maternal immunity and have not yet developed specific immunity to the infection.  

He said the study revealed that older under-five children living in large families with low incomes in rural areas are most vulnerable to malaria infection and the results indicate that ITN utilization and improved housing are promising means to effectively prevent malaria infection among children aged 6-59 months. 

Chilot said the “persistent and overwhelming burden of deaths among under-five children, indicates the urgent need for collective action against malaria. Adequate understanding of the socio-economic, environmental, and cultural factors is important to successfully prevent the burden.” 

He said their “study could be an important asset as it investigated both the individual and community level factors.” 

Dr. Nana Yaw Peprah, Deputy Programme Manager of the National Malaria Elimination Programme, (NMEP) in Ghana, described the study as a confirmation of an existing malaria epidemiology in Ghana. He said the NMEP continues to implement malaria interventions in line with the National Strategic Plan.  

Zero malaria, according to the Deputy Programme Manager, is attainable because the power lies in collective and individual actions. He stated that through advocacy with Community leaders, the NMEP continues sensitization at the community level and it leads and mobilizes all community members to be on board to eliminate malaria in Ghana.

Dr. Peprah disclosed that the under-five malaria case fatality rate in Ghana has seen a 57% reduction from 0.07% in 2019 to 0.03% in 2022, while malaria-related deaths in all ages have reduced from 333 per 1000 population in 2019 to 151 by the end of 2022, a 53% reduction.

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The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Food Research Institute (FRI) has embarked on the commercialisation of all its research findings.

It is, therefore, seeking the right partnerships to make that materialised.

Professor Charles Tortoe, Director of the FRI who announced this in Accra said a unit had been created within his Institute, serving as the interface between research findings and other commercial entities, including Small Scale Enterprises (SMEs), individuals and processors who want to go into businesses for successful commercialisation of of its research findings.

Prof Tortoe was speaking at the launch of a new product, made out of soya and millet, serving as a beverage and known as “Agbenu ” which was the outcome of a research finding carried out by the FRI.

“Agbenu” is an Ewe word derived from “Agbenudunu” meaning “life giving.”

“This product basically is to enrich nutritional content, improve macro and micro nutrients in our systems when we take it,” Prof Tortoe explained.

He said by the launch of the product, the FRI had made it a commercial entity and was looking forward to a commercial uptake.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation sponsored the FRI to conduct the research into the product, dubbed the GC-Fermented Foods-Soy Milk-burkina in Ghana.

Two sibling research scientists, Dr Richard L. K. Glover and Dr Mrs Mary Glover-Amengor, led the research titled, the “Grand Challenge on Integrating Tradition and Technology for Fermented Foods for Maternal Nutrition.”

Prof Tortoe said the FRI and the CSIR were looking forward to commercialising their research findings.

“In the past there has been this issue that research always rests on the shelf and we are changing that. We are taking the bull by the horn and commercialising all our research findings so that it can become accessible to SMEs, and individuals who want to go into commercialisation.

He said the Institute was coming out with more unique products such as the Agbenu product which they were seeking to commercialise to individuals and processors and in so doing “we are improving all the value actors on the soya value chain, we have the farmers, processors, marketers and traders who are all being enriched. Because there will be more production of the soya, more processing of it and more market.

“We look forward to this product being commercialised in a manner that will be all over the country and be exported to neighbouring countries.

Dr Glover, who is also the Scientific Director, African Science Technology and Policy Institute, Pretoria, South Africa, said GC Fermented Food project was to investigate the effects of intake of soymilk-burkina, a novel Ghanaian indigenous fermented milk and millet beverage (smoothie), on the gut microbiome and nutritional status of women of reproductive age from 15-49 years living in the Volta and Oti Regions of Ghana.

The specific aim was to assess microbial quality in soymilk- burkina and also to determine the effects of soymilk-burkina on the gut microbiome diversity and nutritional status of Ghanaians.

Dr Mrs Glover-Amengor, who works with the FRI on her part, said Burkina, as the drink that migrated from Burkina Faso is affectionately called in Ghana, is made with either dairy/ powdered milk or soy milk and millet.

However, the Soymilk substitution would enhance the nutritional and health benefits of burkina, while the use of soymilk in its production would ultimately boost the soybean market with finings being promoted, to enhance livelihoods of local farmers in Ghana.

Professor Paul Bosu, Director General, CSIR, commended the two siblings for leading the research and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for collaboration with some institutions in Ghana: namely, the CSIR, the University of Health &Allied Sciences (UHAS) and NOGUCHI, University of Ghana (UG) to conduct the research titled the ‘Effect of soy milk burkina intake on gut microbiome and nutritional status of Ghanaian women.

He expressed the joy that the output of “this study was to be a pilot data evaluating the effects of traditional fermented foods on gut microbiome and health axes in local populations.”

That he said had helped in ‘bringing’ out the Agbenu product.

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A report by the Ghana Statistical Service has revealed that more than 4 million people in the working age bracket (15 to 60 years) did not use the internet in the three months before the last census. 

The report also said, vulnerable populations notably children who have never attended school, the multidimensionally poor, and persons with disabilities are at high risk of digital exclusion and the success of Ghana’s digital economy agenda hinges on bridging the digital divides.

The Government Statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim  who was speaking at the program  on Thursday 27th April 2023  to launch the  StatsBank and to also release the 2021 population and housing census thematic brief on digital exclusion in Ghana at Accra has also indicated that “5.1 million persons in Ghana aged 6 
years and older were digitally excluded i.e. they did not use an ICT device in the three months before Census”. 

This represents about one in every five (19.6%) persons 6 years and older. 

Further, three in every ten persons (31.4%) in this age group did not use the Internet in the three months. 

Concerning digital financial inclusion, the Professor said, “Over one-third (36.7%) of adults 18 years and older did not use a mobile device for a financial transaction in the previous three months.

Nationally the digital divide by sex, which is the difference between males and females in the percentage that did not use ICT devices is 2.7 percentage points”. 

“The divide is largest for the age group 61 years and older (16.6 percentage points difference) and the age group 6 to 14 years is the only category where a higher proportion of males did not use an ICT device relative to females.

He said the difference in the percentage of persons that did not use ICT devices and that of Greater Accra exceeded 20 percentage points in six regions – Savannah (37.3 percentage points), North East (34.9 percentage points), Northern (29.1 percentage points), Upper West (26.9 percentage points), Oti (24.0 percentage points), and Upper East (23.2 percentage points).

In her remarks, Dr. Grace Bediako, the Chair of the GSS Governing Board of the GSS highlighted the importance of the event whose focus was using data to project not just the population but most importantly girls in this digital age. 

She noted the release would “demonstrate the utility of these statistics, making statistics widely available and gain insights into digital exclusion”. She continued with the importance of generating gender-sensitive statistics for decision-making and said that  “gender gaps can only be addressed by tackling them head on” – which only be done with gender-sensitive statistics. 

She concluded with the importance of the StatsBank and noted the census was a significant national exercise and it is, therefore the responsibility of the stakeholders to ensure that the data is used to the fullest.

The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) for the first time has developed an online database for accessing disaggregated census statistics. 

The GSS StatsBank, which contains over 300  million unique statistics from the published 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC)  will allow users to generate customized tables and maps at the national, and sub-national levels at no cost. 

The development of the StatsBank is part of GSS’ commitment to utilizing innovative and user-friendly methods to disseminate findings from Ghana’s first fully digital census and promote the uptake of the data for decision-making. 

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The West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) at the University of Ghana and its research partners have been selected as one of the 14 leading science consortia to receive funding under phase two of the Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training, and Science in Africa programme (DELTAS Africa II).

The DELTAS Africa II programme, which was launched by the Science for Africa Foundation (SFA) in Nairobi on March 14, this year, is a 70 million US dollar programme jointly funded by the Wellcome Trust and the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). The programme seeks to build world-class research and African scientific leaders for the continent while strengthening African institutions. The second phase of the DELTAS Africa programme funds 14 consortia in nine African countries, with WACCBIP as the lead institution in Ghana.

The consortia are led by 14 world-class research leaders who were selected from 150 applicants through a highly competitive process, with WACCBIP’s Prof Gordon Awandare winning the grant for the second time. Each consortium will receive 4.4 million US dollars over four years to produce quality scientific data and train new science leaders. According to Professor Awandare, the vision of WACCBIP DELTAS II is to build on the successes from DELTAS I, by providing high-quality training and advanced research on the mechanisms underlying the development of infectious diseases (IDs) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

“We intend to use deep research approaches to obtain a more thorough understanding of the disease mechanisms for some of the major infectious and non-communicable diseases affecting African populations” he indicated. The project will significantly impact health research capacity by training 60 graduate interns, 15 master and 39 students, 12 PhD students, five early-career postdoctoral fellows, two advanced technology training fellows, and two senior research fellows. The Centre will also enhance the skills of at least 250 health sector professionals through targeted short courses, and build research infrastructure in several collaborating and partner African institutions to enhance their capacity for high-quality research and competitiveness for future research funding.

The  DELTAS Africa II Programme set to run from 2023 to 2026, supports 14 programmes in 75 institutions, across 36 countries, which now includes institutions in North Africa and Lusophone countries that had previously not been covered. The consortia, led by world-class African research leaders, recognise the interconnectedness of Climate Change, Food Security and Health and the necessity to balance research excellence and equity. DELTAS Africa II emphasizes intra-African collaboration, engagement and partnership between institutions that are relatively well-resourced and those that are low-resourced.

Deputy Director of Programmes and DELTAS Africa Programme Manager, SFA Foundation, Dr Alphonsus Neba, noted that the DELTAS Africa programme paves the way for new scientific leaders who will address Africa’s most pressing public health challenges and generate data and evidence that informs policy and Africa’s development agenda. “These scientists have contributed to health policy development globally, improved research infrastructure, and increased scientific knowledge through peer-reviewed publications and innovations in health,” he added.

Executive Director of, SFA Foundation, Dr. Tom Kariuki explained that a wide range of expertise will be brought to bare to address the challenges faced by the continent, and to ensure that researchers and institutions are not left behind in efforts to close the critical gaps in the science ecosystem. “This is to ensure healthy and productive nations for the acceleration of economic growth” he reiterated. Chief Research Programmes Officer at Wellcome, Cheryl Moore said “Wellcome is committed to funding ambitious and creative research across Africa that takes on some of the most pressing health challenges facing the world. In addition to funding research, support from Wellcome and the UK government is directed towards the development of global standards for grant due diligence, research management, open access to science and enabling public participation in research.

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It also states that about 54 percent of the adult population is extremely concerned about paying for their children’s education, and that 29 percent is more concerned about paying school fees than monthly bills, such as medical expenses.

The report, titled Global Findex Database for 2022, is the Bank’s definitive source of data on global access to financial services, from payments to savings and borrowing.

Economic challenges contribute to the fact that Africa has the highest rates of education exclusion among the six developing regions in the world. Since the economy in Africa empowers men more than women, the burden of worry affects mostly females.

The report stated that their most significant financial worry was at 31 percent, compared with 26 percent of men.

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Blood loss has long been the biggest cause of maternal deaths in Niger and many other developing nations.

Over the last six years the NGO Health and Development Initiative has introduced in Niger a combination of treatments that includes providing health workers with a low-cost medicine.

The findings – published in the medical journal the Lancet – are extremely encouraging.

Out of almost 1.5 million births, the proportion of women bleeding to death in health facilities across Niger fell by well over a half.

The researchers say the initiative can easily be rolled out in other countries and could lead to a dramatic fall in global maternal mortality rates.

SOURCE: BBC NEWS

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Therefore, existing strategies and plans have not been effective, particularly in building climate resilience and mitigating migration from the northern to southern part of the country.

In view of this, the European Union is implementing a six-year project in the Upper West and Savannah regions known as Resilience Against Climate Change; Social Transformation Research, REACH-STR with 2,323,340 Euros.

It aims among others at generating knowledge on the social transformation conditions that promote sustainable and inclusive rural development and adoption of climate change adaptation and mitigation practices.

Dr. Charity Osei-Amponsah in an interview with Joyce Gyekye about the project made reference to a preliminary study in the Upper West region which indicated that migration from that part of the country to the south is not all negative as being portrayed.

She said “the migrants send back home new technologies in terms of agricultural practices which they also introduce into the community for others to emulate. The migrants upon their return home also introduce new ways of doing things including construction of modern houses.

On social transformation, she said some social intervention programs are not being utilized after the end of such projects. She cited a solar-powered water project in Naaha in the Wa Municipality which is not being utilized because the solar-powered pipe pumps water in the afternoon when most of them are at work or on their farms.

Upon their return in the evening, they cannot get water because the sun is down and the battery cannot store energy to be used at that time. She noted that such a laudable project is therefore not transforming the lives of the community. It is upon this that the project has social transformation research to find out if such interventions are impacting the lives of communities.

Dr Osei-Amponsah who is also the Project Coordinator of the REACH-STR project entreated researchers to use social transformation indicators while undertaking their research works. This way, she noted, social Interventions being deployed can be assessed to find out if they are transforming the lives of communities. She said the project is sponsoring 19 students who are pursuing their masters and PhDs programs to frame and think about social transformation and how they can do research around it.

Mrs. Osei-Amponsah was optimistic that the students upon completion of their courses would incorporate the knowledge into policies, strategies and development plans that would be developed in their workplaces.

”If we don’t focus on how society changes and we formulate development plans and policy strategies that are looking at linear and static issues, we might not be capturing the important things in society and those plans may not be as socially inclusive as they should be.

”The REACH project has three result components and the Social Transformation Research and Policy Advocacy, STR study is the third component. Social transformation means structural change in the economic and social relations that surround individuals, households and communities. It could be evident in the extent of migration, gender, youth dynamics and the overall resilience of communities.

Partners of Reach-Streach-STR is being implemented by the IWMI in collaboration with the Centre of Migration Studies at the University of Ghana, the University of Development Studies and CSIR’s- Science.

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