The Healthcare Federation of Ghana has urged private health service providers to take advantage of the current technological advancements to improve services to their clients. The Federation noted that the wave of digital transformation globally was revolutionising various industries, hence it was imperative for the private health sector to adapt it in earnest. The private health service providers have no option than to adopt the digital health practices, involving the digitalisation of business processes thus allowing patients to exchange personal health data to foster data-driven decision-making. Dr Maxwell Antwi, the Country Director of PharmAccess Group Ghana and Board Member of the Healthcare Federation of Ghana, made the call at a cocktail in Accra on Friday. Unity in diversity should be a guiding principle for the growth of every Association, he stated. 'Digital transformation, data connectivity and personal data exchange are transforming many industries globally, but health is left behind,' Dr An twi said. He cited various technological advancements in the telecommunication industry mentioning P and T, the town postmaster, mobitel sim card, CDs and DVDs, which were currently out of the system. He said adopting digital health and digitalisation of business processes would create an enabling environment for patients to exchange their personal health data and position their businesses on the right track. 'If you cannot stop the storm, adjust your sails. Come under one umbrella and ride on one elephant,' Dr Antwi advised. Sharing his thoughts on policy-making and implementation processes in the country, he said the health sector alone contributed about five per cent to Ghana's GDP and 20 per cent to GDP growth, hence it deserved a seat at the political table. 'It is said that if you are not around the table then you are on the menu to be eaten. Therefore, it is better to be around the table to be heard and listened to. The best option is to be the chef in the kitchen who prepares the menu,' Dr Antwi added. He charged private health providers to be at the centre of influencing health agenda for politicians, especially as the 2024 Election approaches, adding; 'It's crucial to be part of Manifesto discussions'. Dr Lynda Ajoa, the First Vice President of the West African Private Healthcare Federation, expressed concerns about the existing state of healthcare delivery in Ghana. She noted that the absence of affordable financing for private health providers hindered the quality of healthcare delivery, thus impeding the realisation of the Universal Health Coverage. She, therefore, appealed to the Government to consider lowering the interest rates to enable companies access affordable loans to ensure quality healthcare delivery. Dr Samuel Donkor, the President, Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, expressed the Association's readiness to partner with the private health service providers to improve the quality of care to patients. The Healthcare Federation of Ghana is the country chapter of the Africa Healthcar e Federation affiliated to the African Union. It comprised regional federations; West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, North Africa and Southern Africa federations. Source: Ghana News Agency It is considered as one of the last remaining water towers in Kenya. Nestled in the towering mist-covered hills of Wundanyi, Ngangao forest is characterised by densely packed indigenous trees and thick undergrowth that give the forest a permanently brooding and chilly quality. The forest is replenished by rains, streams, and natural springs that bubble from old moss-coated rocks scattered across the protected area. Classified as an isolated natural ecosystem, the forest is a self-sustaining marvel that owes its survival largely to decades of untiring conservation efforts by the government, stakeholders, and community forest associations, who have waged a valiant battle to ensure the forest retains its original integrity amidst the looming threats posed by the twin risks of climate change and the burgeoning human population. A section of the community members at the gigantic Mother Tree; a 200-year old main attraction at Ngangao Forest. Photo by Wagema Mwangi However, the success of the conservation effort s has spawned a dark side. For hundreds of farmers with farms adjacent to the forest, the conservation success has a bittersweet feel that signifies the ironies of nature. Ngangao's thriving ecosystem has proven irresistible to clans of hundreds of voracious monkeys, whose insatiable appetites for crops including ripe guavas, bananas, beans, and tender maize crops have turned into a nightmare for farmers. From planting seasons to the time the harvests are ready, farmers are constantly fatigued by the endless cycles of chasing the agile apes away, only for the clans to sneak back and raid the farms. 'We have never seen anything like this. We are battling monkeys from dawn to dusk, and they are not giving up. When we chase them, they simply melt into the forest and wait for us to retreat,' says Ms. Ariatha Wakesho, a farmer at Mchungunyi village. Living in an environment that is predator-free, the monkeys are having the time of their lives and have multiplied so quickly that they are rumoured to be in the t housands. Wundanyi MP Danson Mwashako says the unintended consequences of forest conservation by the local farmers have been to bring the pesky and troublesome apes that have now colonised the forests and enjoy raiding farms with reckless impunity. Any attempt to get rid of them has been an exercise in futility. Ngangao Forest, with its towering trees and hawk-eyed forest rangers, has become the perfect sanctuary for the mischievous monkeys to retreat to whenever they are done rampaging through farms. 'These monkeys have become a menace and call for immediate action. Unless they are tamed and dealt with, our farmers will never realise a good harvest,' says the legislator. He urged the government to act on farmers' concerns as a way of paying them back for conserving the forest that has not become a source of their pain. He proposed radical measures, including neutering the male monkeys and placing female monkeys in a strict regime of family planning pills to halt their reproduction. Kenya Forest Service (KFS) guards walk in the woods as they patrol one section of the vast forests. Photo by Wagema Mwangi 'Such a programme has been done in India, and it worked. We should enforce the family planning directive on all these monkeys,' he insists. The government, through the ministry of wildlife and tourism, is already planning to deploy primate experts and bio-technology teams from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to establish ways of combating this monkey menace. Speaking at Ngangao Forest in Wundanyi, Tourism and Wildlife CS Dr. Alfred Mutua commended the farmers for their conservation efforts, adding that KWS teams will be deployed to the region and come up with the best methods to deal with these pesky climbers. 'I have heard your concerns and will send a KWS team to come find ways to deal with the monkeys,' he said. What makes the situation more precarious for the farmers is the fact that the government does not compensate for any loss occasioned by monkeys' activities. According to the Wildlife Manageme nt and Compensation Act 2013, monkeys are not listed among the wildlife species whose destructive activities attract compensation. 'We want monkeys to be included on that list. They are as destructive as elephants; perhaps more,' says Ms. Poline Nanjala, a farmer at Mghambonyi village. While the debate rages on how the monkeys can be tamed, the question of the origin of the monkeys remains murky and unclear. Bitter farmers have several theories on how the monkeys came to the forest, with local politics being cited as the biggest culprit. One popular opinion says the monkeys have been terrorising farmers in the lowlands. Farmers complained. Politicians harangued KWS, who, to quell the heat and calm political jitters, rounded up all the monkeys they could lay their hands on and carried them to Taita Forest. 'They were brought here by KWS because they had become troublesome to farmers in Mwatate, Voi, and Taveta. They have become our headache,' says Nanjala. However, KWS scoffs at such a suggestion, insisti ng that the animals found their way to the forest by themselves. 'That's preposterous! Monkeys are among the most intelligent creatures in the animal kingdom. They simply followed the vegetation along the rivers because they wanted food and an environment devoid of hostile activities,' says a senior KWS official in Tsavo who requested anonymity. Source: Kenya News Agency
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