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The Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute (BNARI) in partnership with the Creative and Multimedia Team (CMT) of the Technology Transfer and Marketing Centre (TTMC), both of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), has initiated a project to promote research-proven practices in farming.

The move is targeted at reaching out to active and potential farmers to adopt effective, research-proven farming methods, beginning from seed handling to harvesting, including pest and disease management as well as postharvest processing of farm produce.

The project involves extensive video production of practical demonstrations of scientific activities at the BNARI in both field and laboratory by the CMT. Accordingly, Dr. Michael Osae, Director of BNARI, has outlined and recommended some commercially viable technologies which can benefit farmers enormously and improve their livelihoods. These including protein bait, cassava cultivation and radiation processing for postharvest management technologies.

Dr. Osae has further indicated that the current BNARI–CMT initiative will draw people’s attention to the in-depth research work carried out by his outfit to ensure standard and healthy farm practices. He is of the view that most unacceptable farm practices that result in poor yields and negative impact on the environment could be corrected through this project or initiative. He has added that BNARI will organise training programmes for interested persons who would seek further knowledge.

Ms. Sheila Frimpong, Manager of TTMC who doubles as the leader of CMT, has disclosed that the initiative will be replicated for every commercially viable technology available in all GAEC institutes. This, according to her, would help market the various technologies as a means of building new revenue streams or expanding the revenue sources of GAEC to support its activities and remain competitive.

Ms. Frimpong has hinted that there is a possibility of promoting the video contents on traditional media (e.g. television) aside the provisions made to carry out extensive promotions on all social media platforms.

By: GAEC Multimedia

The Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) and CAMFED Ghana have officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to train young women in technical and vocational skills.

This forms part of the Young Africa Works Strategy programme funded by the Mastercard Foundation and CAMFED Ghana with expectations to train a maximum of 3,250 young Ghanaian women.

CAMFED Ghana, a Non-governmental Organization (NGO) that was established in Ghana since 1998 has offered educational support to young girls in rural areas from basic to Tertiary school level across 12 regions of Ghana.

In a ceremony held at GAEC to seal the partnership, Mrs. Sally Ofori-Yeboah National Director for CAMFED said, the project’s primary objective is to empower deprived young women between the ages of 18 to 35 with work-readiness skills to be self-reliant. She added that, the trainees will be provided with start-up kits or seed fund to commence business after the training.

Mrs. Ofori-Yeboah explained that, modalities for selection requires research, interviews and other processes to identify the trade areas where females mostly require support. She is confident that the partnership with GAEC will yield a positive result. “After a thorough research and facility inspection, we found GEAC worthy to partner with on this project and we believe that with their high level of experience and expertise, the project will realise its objectives.

Prof. Dede Shiloh Osae, Deputy Director General of GAEC on his part said one of GAEC’s core objective is to offer training to persons of interest in various fields. He added that GAEC has in the past years engaged in collaborations with various local and international organizations in industry and academia to solve national issues using Nuclear Techniques.

He further assured that, the GAEC/CAMFED collaboration will live to expectation. “The doors of GAEC are widely opened for any form of Public Private Partnership that aims at national development”. He concluded.

Ms. Sheila Frompong, Manager of Technology Transfer and Marketing Centre (TTMC), GAEC in an interview disclosed that the programme will run for a period of three years and will adopt market-driven approach to science and technology research at GAEC through competency-based training to improve and empower young women for socio-economic development.

She finally called on deprived young women who are passionate about acquiring a Technical and Vocational skill to take advantage of the opportunity to become self -reliant.

By: GAEC Multimedia

The Chief of Assin Asamankese Traditional Area, of Assin Apemanim Paramountcy, Obrimpong Toku Dum VIII, was out doored to the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) this morning in a short ceremony held in the office of the Director General, GAEC.

Mr. Eric Aggrey, a Research Scientist and Manager of Radio Astronomy and Astrophysics Center of the Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute (GSSTI), who is now the Chief of the Assin Asamankese Traditional Area was introduced by Prof. Dickson Adomako, Director of GSSTI.

Speaking at the programme, Prof. Adomako, indicated that it was essential to present the newly crowned Chief to the Director General and GAEC as a whole. “We have already been to the Minister and it is now time to present our Chief to the Director General”, he added.

By: Corporate Affairs, GAEC

The Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute (BNARI) of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) and the Centre for Plant Medicine Research (CPMR), Mampong Akuapem, have engaged in advanced talks for collaborative research on large-scale production of seedlings of Capparis erythrocarpos Isert, an important medicinal plant used in the management of rheumatoid arthritis in Ghana.

The research project is expected to foster collaboration between the two institutions, build capacity, and lead to the transfer of technology in the use of Plant Tissue Culture for large-scale propagation of important medicinal plants in Ghana. In addition, the collaboration will facilitate the exchange of scientific ideas and expertise in other areas of interest.

In a brief meeting held at the CPMR to strengthen/formalize this partnership, the Director of BNARI, Dr. Michael Yao Osae, expressed confidence that this project would encourage collaboration and facilitate the exchange of scientific ideas in other areas of mutual benefits to both institutions. He pointed out that besides plant tissue culture, the Gamma Irradiation Facility (GIF) at BNARI-GAEC is capable of sterilizing and preserving food and medicinal products to improve safety and extend the shelf-life. This technology will be of immense benefit to the CPMR and small-scale producers of traditional herbal medicine in Ghana.

The Acting Executive Director of CPMR, Dr. Kofi Bobi Barimah, disclosed that the use of plant tissue culture for mass production of C. erythrocarpos seedlings would encourage large-scale cultivation, eventually boosting production of “Sirrapac”, an important herbal medicine used for the management of rheumatoid arthritis in the clinic at CPMR. According to him, this partnership can be extended to solve cultivation challenges associated with other medicinal plants used for herbal medicines at CPMR. Mr. Tony Asafo-Agyei, a research scientist and head of the Plant Development Department (PDD) of CPMR who initiated discussions leading to the collaboration, was present at the meeting together with the Deputy Executive Director, Dr. Alfred Ampomah Appiah.

Dr. Wilfred Elegba, a research scientist at BNARI and leader of the project team, is working with other scientists from BNARI and CPMR to enhance the large-scale production and cultivation of C. erythrocarpos to meet the demand for “Sirrapac” production and for other medicinal uses. He reiterated the need for collaboration and partnership between research and teaching institutions/universities in Ghana to facilitate the development of innovative solutions to address challenges in agriculture.

Over the last two decades, BNARI has played a pivotal role in the development of plant tissue culture protocols for mass production of clean planting materials for food crops such as pineapple, plantain, sweet potato, sugarcane, and medicinal plants such as Aframomum melegueta (alligator pepper) and Phyllantus niruri (Awommaa guwakyi).

By: GAEC Multimedia/TTMC

The University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) has extended its appreciation to the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the logistic support to beef up its capacity in the fight against the global novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

 

As part of an initiative by the IAEA to help its Member States to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of laboratories around the world have been presented with a nuclear-derived testing technique called real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (real-time RT-PCR). This method is currently adjudged by scientists as the fastest and most accurate for the detection of the SARS-COV-2 virus, which is causing COVID-19.

UHAS through the efforts of GAEC on May 14, 2020, took delivery of a € 98,000 Euros worth of COVID -19 testing equipment donated to Ghana by the IAEA. The items include a COVID-19 Positive control, MIC-PCR System, Eurofins Genomics, MIC-4, TaqMan Fast Virus Master Mix, Class III Biohazard Safety Cabinet, and a Class II Biological Safety Cabinet, PCR workstation.

In a follow-up visit to UHAS, a delegation from GAEC on behalf of the IAEA met with the university’s COVID-19 select team to observe the extent of work done regarding equipment installation and use of donated items.

Prof. John Owusu Gyapong, Vice-Chancellor of UHAS, in a brief meeting with the GAEC delegation, disclosed that his outfit is able to deliver results of samples received from the Volta and Oti regions within a period of 24 to 48 hours. According to him, this has eliminated the worrying backlog situation in the regions. “Initially we had 16 wells for sample processing and receiving an additional 48 wells has fast-tracked the process. Additionally, over 12000 samples have been tested and this has been made possible partly due to the donation by IAEA and we are very grateful,” he added. Prof. Gyapong appealed to the IAEA and GAEC to further support the University of Health and Allied Sciences with a -80^oC freezer that would beef up their sample storage capacity since they are faced with difficulties managing the storage of their samples.

On behalf of Prof. B.J.B Nyarko, Director-General of GAEC, Dr. Shiraz Issahaku, Research Scientist and Dr. Adolf Kofi Awua, Senior Research Scientist and Centre Manager with the GAEC Radiological and Medical Sciences Research Institute (RAMSRI) expressed utmost satisfaction at the extent of work done by UHAS.

 

Dr. Issahaku acknowledged that IAEA is a UN Agency, and part of its objective is to ensure that Member States benefit from this type of initiative during pandemics of this proportion. He added that the IAEA has been of immense support to Ghana in the areas of training and capacity building programs as well as the donation of high-level equipment to facilitate research works in the fields of Health, Nuclear Science, and Biotechnology.

After an extensive tour of the laboratories, Dr. Adolf Kofi Awua on his part commended Dr. Kwabena Duedu, Biomedical Laboratory Scientist in Charge of the COVID 19 testing Centre who doubled as the Coordinator of the UHAS COVID-19 team and also Prof Richard Harry Asmah, Dean of the School of Basic and Biomedical Sciences and the entire team for living up to expectation.

He finally encouraged the UHAS team to keep up the good work till Ghana wins the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

By: GAEC Multimedia/TTMC

The Management of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) has congratulated outgoing Director of Administration, Mr. Felix Adeku, on his achievements and dedication to work over the past years in office.

In a short ceremony held at the GAEC Guesthouse in Accra to mark his 60^th birthday anniversary as well as bid him farewell on his retirement, Professor Benjamin J.B. Nyarko, Director-General of GAEC, recounted difficult times they shared together. He described Mr. Adeku as a comforter and a confidant whose judgment during critical decision-making moments always prevailed.

According to Prof. Nyarko, the Director’s endurance to pressure at all times, including odd hours, was amazing and stemmed from his passion to see GAEC succeed. He described the Director’s retirement as an enviable one, adding that “a leader’s struggle is real.”

The Deputy Director-General of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA), Prof. I.J.K Aboh, extended his appreciation to the wife and children of the Director of Administration and commended them for their unprecedented love, patience, and support for the Director during his active years in office.

 

Prof. Aboh who was once the Deputy Director-General of GAEC disclosed that Mr. Adeku worked tirelessly from one institute of GAEC to another to restore peace and good interpersonal working relationship among the staff. He added that Mr. Adeku had a unique and subtle way of addressing issues, regardless of their complex nature.

Mr. Felix Adeku joined GAEC in 1992 and served for 28 years in various capacities. He served as a Scientific Secretory at the Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute (BNARI), Director of the National Nuclear Research Institute (NNRI), Head of General Services, and finally retired after serving for 8 years as Director of Administration.

He was presented with a citation by GAEC Management and the Technology Transfer and Marketing Centre (TTMC), respectively. Additional items that were presented to him as a sign of gratitude by the GAEC Secretariat, Welfare and Pensions Department included a 48-inch smart television, a refrigerator, and an air conditioner.

On his part, Mr. Adeku expressed joy at the love and support shown him by Management and the entire staff of GAEC throughout his stay in office. He was confident that the competent and hardworking staff of GAEC would continue to work in line with the vision of GAEC to achieve milestones.

Mr. Adeku ended with a Bible quotation from Romans 10:11 – 13 and prayed for the peace of God to lead staff and GAEC to success.

By: GAEC Multimedia/TTMC

“In addition to healthcare and laboratory use of face shields, promotion of community intervention through wearing of face shields in combination with nose masks at schools, market places, churches, mosques and funeral gatherings should be encouraged for dealing holistically with the Covid-19 pandemic in Ghana”.

A statement made by Dr. Francis Hasford, project team leader, in an interview as he stressed the importance of face shields for Ghana’s fight against Covid-19.

 

Adding, he indicated that personal protective equipment such as face shields and nose masks have become highly important in the fight against Covid-19.

 

“Face shields offer several advantages and a great need for the containment of Covid-19”, he elaborated.

 

He explained that Coronavirus disease 2019, otherwise called Covid-19, is a highly infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. The disease has ravaged the entire globe and most people who fall sick with COVID-19 experience mild to moderate symptoms of fever, fatigue, dry cough, myalgia and dyspnea.

 

“Older people and those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease and cancer, however, have high tendencies to develop serious to critical illnesses, of which fatalities are very common” he warned.

 

He indicated that with calls for identification of home grown solutions such as local production of cost-effective personal protective equipment to aid in the fight of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Medical Radiation Physics Centre (MRPC) of the Radiological and Medical Sciences Research Institute (RAMSRI), of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, has successfully undertaken a project to produce face shields for staff of GAEC, health workers and the general public.

 

 

Finally, he opined that face shields are comfortable to wear, protect the pathways of viral entry, and reduce the potential of the wearer from touching their face.

 

“They can be reused indefinitely and are easily cleaned with soap and water. People wearing face shields do not have to remove them to communicate with others. The use of a face shield is a reminder to maintain social distancing and allows visibility of facial expressions and lip movements for speech perception”, he stressed.

 

On her part, Prof. Mary Boadu, Director of RAMSRI, appealed for funding and logistical support from Government and stakeholders to position Ghanaian scientists to produce research outcomes that can solve our local needs.

 

“One positive thing about Covid-19 pandemic is that we are being forced to innovate and produce locally, and to consume Made-in-Ghana products. Given the necessary support and funding, scientists in Ghana can address numerous challenges that the country has had to seek solutions to from overseas”, she concluded.

By: Corporate Affairs, GAEC

Ghana Atomic Energy Commission’s (GAEC) fight of the COVID-19 pandemic, has positioned it to offer third party quality control services for all nine-testing equipment located in various health facilities in the country.

The Radiological and Medical Sciences Research Institute (RAMSRI) of the Commission is leading this noble gesture.

The Institute is poised to help the process by detecting any possible analytical errors within the various laboratories to ensure reliability and accuracy of test results. This will help provide the best possible care to patients knowing the true state of their health. The “policing work” will ensure that at all times, results provided are both accurate and reliable. It will offer an unbiased, independent assessment of analytical performance of the various testing centers.

Over the years, RAMSRI, through its clinical audit program has been engaged in quality control assessment of diagnostic equipment as well as protocols, and procedures of our various hospitals in Ghana. The Institute is also involved in monitoring and evaluation of infectious diseases protocols using radionuclide based molecular techniques.

The Institute has highly qualified personnel involved in the study of the prevalence and distribution of infectious disease agents while advancing the use of molecular methods in infection diagnosis and management in the country.

RAMSRI is equipped with the technical know-how on the fight against infectious diseases such as Human Papillomavirus (HPV), Cancer causing agent, Tuberculous (TB) and HIV-AIDS. This wealth of experience has placed it at the right place to offer its services in the fight against COVID-19.

Furthermore, it is of interest to note that, RAMSRI has been working on infectious agents with molecular techniques for close to two decades. This will not be the first time the Institute has stepped up to the occasion to contribute to the national healthcare system.

The Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) has successfully obtained a license for the production and sale of hand sanitizers to its stakeholders and the general public as a whole.

This was necessitated by the result of laboratory tests conducted, indicating that some of the hand sanitizers being sold on the market were sub-standard.

The Nuclear Chemistry and Environmental Research Center (NCERC) of the National Nuclear Research Institute (NNRI) of GAEC, was therefore asked to produce a high-quality hand sanitizer for the protection of Staff of against the deadly virus COVID-19 when it became clear that some of the products on the market were ineffective against it.

However, the Commission later decided to seek approval from the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) to produce the sanitizers for sale to the general public. This decision was due to GAEC’s continued effort to support the fight against this deadly disease.

The “VIBAC CLEANSE” hand sanitizers (Gel and Spray) produced by Ghana Atomic Energy Commission contain 70+% alcohol and therefore extremely potent against viruses and bacteria, including the Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19).

The name Vibac was derived from the first few letters of “virus” and “bacteria” indicating its effectiveness against both pathogens.

 

By: Corporate Affairs, GAEC

The Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) Ladies Association has donated assorted items to their mother organization to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, in a short ceremony held at the Commission’s auditorium.

The presentation of the donated items coincided with its one-year anniversary celebration.

In her opening remarks, the President of the Association, Prof. Mary Boadu, stated that due to the current global pandemic and the ban on all forms of mass social gatherings in the country, the Association decided to celebrate its one-year anniversary on the quiet by donating items to support the efforts GAEC is making to fight the disease.

“On 11th March 2020, the Director-General of WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, implying that the disease is not just a public health crisis, it is a crisis that will touch every sector. Global data shows how fast the disease is spreading and Ghana has also seen a rapid increase in people infected with the virus”, she added.

Prof. Boadu said that the best method of protection against COVID-19 has been shown to be regular washing of hands, surfaces, wearing of face masks, and maintaining social distancing.

“Hence water, soap, hand sanitizers, paper towels, etc. are very essential and key in the fight against COVID-19”, she said.

She revealed that the Commission since the declaration of the disease as a pandemic and the prescription of the associated precautionary measures has been providing the needed essentials.

“With this observation, GAEC Ladies Association thought of a way to support GAEC even if on a limited scale”, she revealed.

“It is with great joy and honour that I present the items before us to the Director-General and Management of GAEC on behalf of GAEC Ladies Association, to support the efforts of the Commission to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus in the offices of GAEC. We are ready to use our imagination, creativity and our curiosity to impact the Commission and our World, both in technical and social forms”, said the President.

The Director-General (DG) of GAEC, Prof. Benjamin J.B. Nyarko, in a short statement thanked the Ladies’ Association for their kind gesture to help curb the spread of the disease. He also took the opportunity to congratulate them on their one-year anniversary celebration.

Prof. Nyarko was also thankful to all the associations of the Commission for their immense support nationally and within GAEC during this trying period.

He revealed that the Research Scientist Association (RSA) made a donation to the GAEC hospital to help augment their efforts to fight against the disease.

Also, the DG indicated that in addition to some equipment and kits supplied by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Research Scientists Association (RSA), and Association of Senior Members in Administration (ASMA) of GAEC, made a cheque donation to the Government.

Prof Nyarko also revealed that the Technical Staff Association (TSA) of the Commission in conjunction with the National Nuclear Research Institute (NNRI) has submitted a hand sanitizer formulation to the Food and Drugs Authority for certification. This he said will enable them to produce hand sanitizers for the Commission and also on a commercial scale.

He added that The TSA has also submitted some drawings produced by the Mechanical Workshop of the Commission for approval and onward manufacture, to help dispense water and soap from Veronica buckets without touching them.

He revealed that GAEC is contributing immensely to the fight against the disease.

“Officials from Noguchi Memorial Institute and the Ghana COVID-19 secretariat have inspected the Radiological and Medical Sciences Research Institute’s (RAMSRI) laboratories and a report has been sent to the Minister of Health for the building to be used in this fight”.

The Director-General indicated that GAEC has also placed a request through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the IAEA to support the Accra Veterinary laboratory with equipment to test for the presence of the virus in animals, bearing in mind the belief that the virus is zoonotic, that is, can be transmitted between animals and humans.

He indicated that the IAEA is supporting member states in Asia, Latin America, and Africa including Ghana with equipment for the frontline laboratories and workers to fight the disease.

He finally thanked the GAEC security for their tireless efforts in protecting Staff and equipment especially during the lockdown.

By OCPA