“Ghana’s ‘Mad Cow’ Scandal”, is the banner headline adorning the front page of the Statesman. The accompanying story says frightening reports are beginning to emerge about how vaccination against the deadly bovine disease, anthrax, was bungled in the Northern Region two years ago. The Statesman says the Ministry of Agriculture, under Mr Ibrahim Adam, commissioned the preparation of anthrax vaccine, soon after the ethnic conflict in the Northern Region. According to the paper a team under the leadership of a well- recommended veterinary doctor, Dr Abavana, was constituted and sent to some districts in the eastern part of the region, Saboba-Chereponi, Zabzugu-Tatale and others to help control the disease. The Statesman says the team did a successful job until the first batch of the vaccine got short in supply. It says a laboratory at Kpong Tamale was therefore requested to prepare more of the vaccine which it did. When vaccination started with the second vaccine, the animals started dying. The Statesman says the team leader of at the Kpong Tamale laboratory, Dr Aklaku, was hurriedly withdrawn without any explanation when the disaster began. Nothing more was heard, added the paper. GRI
In a back page story the Statesman reports that six district health centres in Ashanti have been presented with 60 hospital beds and 29 mattresses woth 6.8 million cedis by the Youth Population Information and Communication, a Kumasi-based non-governmental organisation in conjunction with Foundation for Africa Development, a sister organisation in Germany. The beneficiaries are Nyinahin, Mmooso, New Edubiase, Obuasi, Juaben and Dompoase SDA health centres. GRI
