MEDICAL ASSOCIATION INTRODUCES MAGAZINE

GMA Focus, the news magazine of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), is replete with useful information, as well as specialised knowledge for all on health and medicine, especially for medical professionals and health policy initiators.
The second edition of the magazine is equally bold in ideas and print.
A varied and specialised group of writers have dissected issues pertaining to health and the 2008 elections that are worth reading for informed choices, while the layout, printing and picture quality are comparable to any serious magazine.
For lay people, the magazine provides vital information on GMA, its activities, its initiatives in the health sector, statistics on its membership nationwide and professional development information for its members.
The key theme for the second edition of the magazine, “Health and Election 2008,” makes interesting reading for all Ghanaians, as the Flag bearer of the Peoples’ National Convention (PNC), Dr Edward Mahama, answers questions on what his party has for the sector.
It is, however, rather unfortunate that other presidential candidates, even after persistent requests from the GMA and the astute writer, Ms Lucy Adoma Yeboah of the Daily Graphic, failed to honour requests for interviews.
One of the issues Prof. Mahama assures of dealing with, is to introduce a common platform that will enable both private and public sectors to contribute to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
GMA Focus rightly links political leadership with a good health sector and provides some relevant examples from the United States, with an insightful article by one Brian Levine of the Columbia University’s New York Presbyterian Hospital.
Several other features on how political leadership and medical expertise can be synchronised to provide better services for Ghanaians are discussed in articles such as “Expanding the Oral Health Outreaches to Deprived Communities,” and “The Health of the Nation: Involving other sectors.”
GMA focus has an interactive section that includes letters from readers who are already addicted to the magazine, especially in its maiden edition, and an uncensored discussion by professionals and lay people on line interactive forum dubbed GMA Google Groups.
Practitioners can also find basic legal underpinnings for the practice of medicine in the country, which when kept, will help in preventing negligence in practice.
On the lighter and recreational side, a Medical Travelogue, by Prof. Stephen Addai, takes readers on an adventure in four countries on three continents in a sort of mental reality excursion.
To top up, GMA Focus, mindful of the welfare of all, provides professionals and readers with the know-how on expanding sources of income of practitioners through sound finance and investment.
GMA Focus is worth the price, the reading time and the information it provides.
DAILY GRAPHIC, THURSDAY AUGUST 28, 2008, PG 7