Traditional leaders urged to advise youth against electoral violence
First Lady Mrs Lordina Mahama has appealed to traditional authorities to advise the youth not to engage in violent acts that could mar the peace in the country before, during and after the December 7 general election.
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Mrs Mahama made the appeal at a grand durbar of chiefs and people of Navrongo in the Upper East Region where the Lordina Foundation organised a free medical screening exercise and donated medical equipment and supplies to the Wart Memorial Hospital.
The equipment included plastic adhesives, syringes, theatre masks, gloves, electrical orthopaedic beds, plastic bandages and urological products.
She said more than 100 hospitals, clinics, medical centres and health posts in all the 10 regions of the country had so far benefited from medical equipment and supplies as well as free medical screening exercise on breast cancer and Syphilis, HIV testing and counselling for residents who were mainly women and young girls.
Mrs Mahama said the medical outreach programmes were organised by the Ghana Chapter of the Organisation of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA) and the Ghana AIDS Commission.
Child marriages
Reiterating her call to end child marriages, the first lady said child marriage was an obnoxious tradition that had "no place in our enlightened 21st century world".
She entreated all, especially traditional rulers and queenmothers, to help modify some traditional practices and customs that promoted child marriages and hindered the development of women and girls.
Mrs Mahama expressed gratitude to the people of Navrongo for the warm reception accorded her although that was her first official visit to Navrongo and the region.
She commended the health personnel in the area, including the staff of the War Memorial Hospital, for their commitment to duty and for providing health care for residents of the area.
Healthcare delivery
She explained that those medical supplies and outreaches by the foundation were intended to help complement government's efforts to achieve its vision of improving on the healthcare delivery system in the country.
The Upper East Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Kofi Issah, said the War Memorial Hospital was one of the premier hospitals in the region; and the equipment, which were mainly for surgical and anesthetic purposes, would go a long way to help improve healthcare delivery among residents in the operational areas of the hospital.
He assured the first lady that the equipment donated would be put to good use to deliver quality health care to members of the community.
The acting Navro Pio, Wekem Arthur Balinia Addah, commended the government for constructing some feeder roads in Navrongo which had significantly enhanced the movement of people.
