DCE calls for women participation in decision making

The District Chief Executive of Jaman South, Mr. Julius Atta-Bediako, has appealed to women to get involved in politics and decision making to enable them to better understand issues affecting them and their children. He deplored the general apathy of women in the district, in particular, in contesting for political positions at both the district and national levels and entreated them to participate in politics to be able to better address issues affecting them. Mr Atta-Bediako was addressing a workshop on breast cancer education organized by the District Education Office for female teachers in the Jaman District. He told the participants at the workshop, which served as a forum for education, screening and testing for breast cancer, that plans were far advanced to organize general staff durbars throughout the district to enable workers to ask pertinent questions regarding government policies and programmes. He extolled the numerous benefits of breast milk, which provides antibodies to the child, prevents allergy, and aids in brain development. Mr Atta-Bediako said breast milk also had numerous advantages for the mother and the community, saying it enhances the contraction of the uterus, serves as natural family planning, and bonding between mother and child. “Breast milk is always available and saves time; it is very economical, and helps in the expulsion of the placenta to prevent the occurrence of cancer of the cervix and breast,” he said. He, however, warned that, in spite of the numerous advantages derived from the breast, it required periodic care and checks against many diseases and problems such as breast cancer and inflammation of the mammary glands that ends up with the engorgement of the breast. He said though these problems associated with the breast could be corrected through regular examinations, most women in the area tended to overlook the need for such regular checkups or examinations. Mr Atta-Bediako said he was not happy that most women with breast problems resorted to herbal treatment and prayer camps for solution and urged them to rather do regular checks at medical facilities to get early treatment for the problem. His said his fear was that though the Jaman South District had over the past year not recorded any cases of breast cancer, there was the belief that most women resorted to crude ways of treatment instead of taking their problems to the hospital. He lauded the teachers for taking the initiative to organize the forum, saying it had come as a relief to female teachers in the district. The DCE reiterated that, under the National Democratic Congress’ manifesto and “Better Ghana Agenda”, the one-time payment of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) would come into being, adding that plans were far advanced to implement it. He debunked media speculations that the NHIS was on the verge of collapse, saying the NDC government had improved its operations by committing huge sums of money to see to its smooth running.