Journalists urged to find time for health checks

Dr Anthony Ashinyo, Akatsi-North District Director of Health Wednesday advised journalists to take some time off their heavy schedules and go for medical checks ups.

His advice was prompted by abnormal blood pressure figures recorded by some journalists during a health screening exercise at Ave-Dakpa in the Akatsi-North District.

The screening exercise was organized by the Volta Regional Branch of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), in collaboration with the Akatsi-North District Assembly and the District Directorate of Health

It was to herald World Press Freedom Day 2015, marked every May 3, but shifted to Wednesday because May 3, 2015 falls on a Sunday.

The theme this year is “Towards Better Reporting, Gender Equality and Media Safety in the Digital Age”.

Dr Ashinyo told the journalists that as they chased after news, day and night and under pressure to meet deadlines, “try and also chech up on your health, which is also important.”

The main topic discussed before screening commenced was hypertension, its causes, cautions and consequences.

Dr Ashinyo also urged the people who patronized the exercise, to disabuse their minds about medications that could correct hernia.

He said the story going round that tots of alcohol regularly could also cure hernia was false.

Mr James Gunu, the Akatsi-North District Chief Executive, who hosted the journalists, stressed that, the district, a new one, carved from the Akatsi District is a healthcare distressed one.

It has only one health centre, at Ave-Dakpa, no clinic but has nine CHPS compounds and very few weighing sheds.

The Health Centre has no accommodation for the District Director of Health and the infrastructure there, generally rundown.

Mr Gunu said as part of measures to improve the situation, Mr Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, the Member of Parliament for the area, using the MPs Common Fund, renovated a four bedroom bungalow for nurses, supplied eight motor bikes to facilitate movement of health workers and rehabilitated some CHPS compounds.

Speaking to the Day, the DCE praised journalists working in the region for avoiding recklessness and “remained focused on developmental journalism”.

“Continue to project the cultural heritage and identity, tourism and agricultural potentials to building investor confidence in the region,” he stated.

Mr Gunu stressed that ensuring “freedom for the media around the world must be a priority to all governments”.

He stressed that “independent, free and pluralistic media are central to good governance in democracies that are young and old.”

Mr Gunu, a Corporate Governance professional, said “a free and independent media can ensure transparency, accountability and Rule of Law, promote participation in public and political discourse and contribute to fight against poverty”.

Mr Anthony Bells Kafui Kanyi, Volta Regional Secretary, GJA, said the Association linked better reporting to an in-depth surveillance and correlation of situations through the prism of gender.

Mount Zion Pharmacy, Dominion Pharmacy and GN Pharmacy all in Ho, provided medications.