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URBANISATION AND HEALTH IN AFRICA  

The course deals with the historical development and contemporary issues of urbanization in the world generally and sub-Saharan Africa in particular. It includes definitions of urbanization, models and conceptual issues in urbanization such as primate city, rank-size rule, conurbations, morphology of cities, resource utilisation and related human activities such as access to different modes of transportation, education, health, housing, sanitation, arts and cultural heritage, economic, business and job creation activities and healthy urban lifestyles in general.

 Other aspects are measures of urban change and growth and the role of urbanization in national development, urban poverty and inequality, slums, violence and conflict, governance and participation, resilient cities and sustainable urbanization.

Objective: The objectives are to develop the capacity of students to:

  • Analyse issues associated with the process of urbanization
  • Appraise the implications of urbanization on the socio-economic development of urban centres. 

 Mode of Delivery:  This course will be delivered through lectures, seminars and group discussions.

Course Code: 
POH 809S
No. of Credits: 
3
Level: 
Level 800
Course Semester: 
First Semester
Select Programme(s): 
Population and Health

  POLICIES AND POLITICS OF HEALTH     

The course examines policies adopted to provide health care and also consider past, present and policies of health in Africa and Ghana; strategies that have informed policies and programmes in health at the global (e.g. Health for All by the Year 2000, Millennium Development Goals, Sustainable Development Goals), continental (Bamako Initiative, Maputo Declaration on HIV and AIDS) and national levels (e.g. payment regimes; health insurance) as well as other factors which influence health delivery (e.g. brain drain and emerging technologies). The topics will include: the politics of public health; the concept of public versus private participation; health policy-making process and implementation; global influences on domestic health policy formulation in sub-Saharan Africa.

Objective: At the end of the course the student will be equipped to:

  • Demonstrate an understanding of the conceptual issues in policy formulation
  • Analyze factors which inform health policies globally and in Africa
  • Relate the knowledge gained to policy formulation in health.

 Mode of Delivery: This will be in the form of lectures, seminars, group discussion and case studies.

Course Code: 
POH 808S
No. of Credits: 
3
Level: 
Level 800
Course Semester: 
Second Semester
Select Programme(s): 
Population and Health

  SOCIAL EPIDEMIOLOGY   

The course involves analysis of the distribution of diseases in space; social, cultural and psychological determinants of risk behaviour and occurrence of diseases. Other topics are perception of risk, relationships between population, society and individual characteristics and morbidity and mortality. It focuses on the principles and their applications for the investigation of public and social health problems, planning, implementation and evaluation of health intervention strategies. The following areas will be covered: social determinants of health, , transition of communicable diseases, concept of causality, epidemiological study design, clinical trial designs, estimation of risk, screening and evaluation of diagnostic test, and standardization of rates.

 Objective: The objectives of the course are to develop the capacity of students to:

  • Understand the concepts, principles and methods of social epidemiology
  • Apply social epidemiology on issues in population and health.

 Mode of delivery: Lectures, presentations and group discussions.

Course Code: 
POH 807S
No. of Credits: 
3
Level: 
Level 800
Course Semester: 
First Semester
Select Programme(s): 
Population and Health

  NATURAL POPULATION CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT

The course provides an overview of the levels, patterns and trends in nuptiality, fertility, morbidity and mortality and their implications for development. Issues covered include historical, spatial patterns and socio-cultural dimensions associated with population dynamics. It will also involve theoretical and empirical dimensions of the changes at the global, continental and national levels with emphasis on Ghana and Africa.

Objectives: The objectives of the course are to:

  • Develop the capacity of students to be able to analyse the dynamics of natural population change.
  • Equip students with the skills to analyze the various demographic perspectives on population change and development.

 Mode of Delivery: The content will be delivered through lectures, guest lectures, individual and group presentations and assigned readings.

Course Code: 
POH 806S
No. of Credits: 
3
Level: 
Level 800
Course Semester: 
Second Semester
Select Programme(s): 
Population and Health

POPULATION MOVEMENTS     

The course deals with conceptual and theoretical issues in population movements. It covers historical and contemporary perspectives of both voluntary and involuntary migration with particular emphasis on causes and consequences of population movements in Ghana and sub-Saharan Africa; refugee movements, transnationalism and irregular migration. Other issues include mobility and its health implications. The course also discusses migration within the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the policies and programme implications at both origin and destination.

 Objective: The course will build the capacity of students to:

  • Understand and appreciate the dynamics involved in human population movements in both the past and contemporary; and
  • Analyse the implications of population movements on the socio-economic development of both places of origin and destination.

Mode of Delivery: The mode of delivery will be lectures, individual and group presentations.

Course Code: 
POH 805S
No. of Credits: 
3
Level: 
Level 800
Course Semester: 
First Semester
Select Programme(s): 
Population and Health

POPULATION POLICIES, REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS

The course deals with concepts and processes involved in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of population, reproductive health and rights policies and programmes. It examines the historical perspectives in the development of population policies, concepts in (population) policy formulation, the factors which contributed to these developments; international agenda which have shaped concepts, policies and programmes in reproductive health and rights (e.g. Almaty Declaration of 1978, Cairo and Beijing Conferences), the implications of these developments for issues of population and reproductive health and rights. Among the topics to be discussed are definition of policy, population, reproductive health and rights; policy formulation – approaches; concept of heath as a right.  Population policies of Ghana, beginning with the pre-independence period to the present, and selected African countries will be discussed.

Objectives: At the end of the course the student will be able to:

  • Demonstrate an understanding of the conceptual issues in policy formulation;
  • Analyse the factors which have shaped population and health policies in Ghana and in selected African countries; and
  • Relate the knowledge gained to policy formulation in population and social dimensions of health.

 Mode of Delivery: The course will be delivered through lectures, team teaching and presentation of individual and group assignments

Course Code: 
POH 804S
No. of Credits: 
3
Level: 
Level 800
Course Semester: 
Second Semester
Select Programme(s): 
Population and Health
Apostle Samuel Yaw Antwi and staff of UCC Health Service

Church of Pentecost Donates PPEs to UCC Health Service

13 May, 2020 By louis Mensah

The University Health Service has received a donation of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and sanitary items from the Cape Coast Area of the Church of Pentecost at a short ceremony held at the forecourt of the Central Regional Health Directorate.
        
The items included Veronica buckets, gloves, face masks, protective boots, gallons of sanitizer, and detergent.

Fighting COVID-19

Presenting the items, the Cape Coast Area Head of the Church of Pentecost, Apostle Samuel Yaw Antwi, noted that the donation was to complement the government’s effort to contain COVID-19. He indicated that the Headquarters of COP has urged various area groupings under its jurisdiction to support health facilities within their communities. “We have already offered our convention centre to serve as isolation centre, presented information vans to the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to educate people on the virus and also supported the COVID-19 National Trust Fund with GH ¢100,000,” he added. 

Apostle Antwi said all these acts of kindness were inspired by what Jesus said in the Bible (Mathew 25:35-36) “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me". 

Advice

Apostle Antwi advised people to observe the precautionary measures and support in the fight against COVID-19. “It is in our own interest to wash our hands under running water or use hand sanitizer, observe social distancing, and all the other precautionary measures,” he advised. He commended health and other frontline workers for their commitment and sacrifices towards fighting the virus.

Responding, the Director of the University Health Services, Dr. Evans Ekanem expressed appreciation to the Church of Pentecost for demonstrating true love. “You have put smiles on our faces through this donation and we shall put them to good use” he indicated. He called on residents of Cape Coast and its environs to be concerned about the spread of the virus and help to fight it.

The Ankaful Maximum Prison was also presented with similar items at the function.
  
 

Ms. Millan Ahema Tawiah

Current Hall Master/Warden, University of Cape Coast

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Ms. Millan Ahema Tawiah

Past Faculty Officer, School of Educational Development and Outreach

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POPULATION, ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH

The course deals with the dynamics between population and environment; accompanying trade-offs between land use and health in Africa. Themes discussed include urbanisation; sustainable development; agricultural and industrial practices; pollution; deforestation and afforestation; distribution and competition for resources; health of migrants; emerging and re-emerging human diseases and community involvement in health service delivery.

Objectives: By the end of the course the student will be able to:

  • Demonstrate an overall understanding of the population-environment-health nexus; and
  • Apply knowledge gained to "real world" situations

Mode of Delivery: The content will be delivered through lectures, guest lectures, individual and group presentations and assigned readings.

Course Code: 
POH 803S
No. of Credits: 
3
Level: 
Level 800
Course Semester: 
First Semester
Select Programme(s): 
Population and Health

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