cprc

The Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) held a machine learning workshop for tertiary students to provide them with essential artificial intelligence skills at the GAEC Reactor Training Facility.

The programme was organized in partnership with the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ITCP) in line with Physics Without Frontiers Ghana and the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. The workshop was designed to equip participants with the fundamental techniques and resources needed to analyse visual and statistical data, build models, and effectively communicate decisions based on data.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Director of the National Nuclear Research Institute (NNRI) of GAEC, Dr. Samuel Ganyaglo, stated that the workshop’s broad skill set was to address real-world challenges by strategically using algorithms to analyse vast amounts of data and make informed decisions.

According to the Director, the training is crucial in a world where everything is going digital.

“Anytime I get the opportunity to address a gathering like this, I always say that the world is evolving. Machine learning is at the forefront of technological advancements, and by providing this training, participants will acquire the skill set that will drive Ghana’s progress in science and technology,” he stated.

He further advised the participants to take the programme seriously since the knowledge they acquire can help bridge the gap between academic knowledge and practical skills.

“If you want to make a meaningful contribution to the global village, you need to be abreast with machine learning. And if you know it very well, it will provide you with the leverage you need to contribute effectively to the country’s economy” he added.

The project coordinator for the Physics Without Frontiers Ghana, who is also a Senior Research Scientist at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, Dr.  Irene Opoku Ntim, in an interview indicated that the program was not only targeted at students who offered science and IT but to all students who use data in their work.

“It is being run for all undergraduates and post graduate students who use data in their work and how they are going to process and interpret it. So, we want to equip our students, especially those who are in the second year doing their thesis to process any data that they come across”, she opined.

The five-day workshop which ended on November 17, 2024, brought together a diverse group of tertiary students from various institutions including the Graduate School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences (SNAS), University of Ghana, Data Link Institute of Business and Technology, and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

By: CPRC/CCD, GAEC

The Radiological and Medical Sciences Research Institute (RAMSRI), in partnership with the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) Hospital and other partners, is scheduled to organise a breast cancer awareness campaign throughout the month of October.

Apart from the awareness creation of the devastating effects of the disease on individuals, families and nations, the campaign seeks to inspire hope in those affected by cancer through early detection, education, and support services.

There would also be a free breast cancer screening under the auspices of the GAEC @ 60 Anniversary celebration, supported by the GAEC Hospital, University of Ghana Medical Centre, Legon and the International Maritime Hospital at Tema.

At the media launch of the campaign on the theme: “Healthy Breasts for Healthy Life,” Prof. Dickson Adomako, the Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, said breast cancer was the most dominant of this disease, making up to 12 per cent of all cancers globally.

He said women were the most diagnosed, citing the risk factors of developing breast cancer as age, gender, family history, genetics, obesity and excessive alcohol intake, among others.

He said early detection through education, awareness creation and effective screening was key to saving lives.

Prof. Adomako gave a brief background of GAEC’s role as Ghana’s statutory body mandated to carry out research into the peaceful application of nuclear science and technology and its development.

He said the Commission engaged in research, education, commercialisation of its research among others, through its six Institutes including RAMSRI and the Graduate School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences.

He acknowledged RAMSRI and its partners including the GAEC Hospital and GAEC Ladies Association for spearheading this important activity of Breast Cancer Awareness, which was key in the Commission’s 60 Anniversary programme.

Prof. Francis Hasford, the Director of RAMSRI, said being the leading cancer research Institute under GAEC, his outfit had been leading in the crusade against breast cancer prevention over the past three years through the annual campaigns, supported by the GAEC Hospital, and hoped to expand the outreach to other areas of the country.

He said the reason for the campaign was to announce dreadfulness of breast cancer as a killer, saying society never appreciated the call for early diagnoses unless one encountered a patient affected by the disease.

He said available statistics showed a global record of 2.3 million breast cancer cases annually, which was projected to double by 2035, and in Ghana the disease accounted for 4,500 cases a year, with 50 per cent of the diagnosed cases resulting in death.

“Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in Ghana only after liver cancer,” but there was a 90 per cent chance of successful treatment when detected early, he said.

Dr Hasford outlined the plan activities for the campaign month as community and media engagement, article publications, awareness walk and free breast cancer screening for workers of corporate institutions including the National Petroleum Authority, Graphic Communications Group, G4 Security (G4S), Ghana Free Zones Authority and the Ga East Municipal Assembly starting from October 02, 2023.

Other target groups for education and free screening were the Kwabenya Senior High School, and the Kwabenya, Dome and Taifa markets respectively, all in the Ga East district.

He explained that the 15 Kilometre health awareness walk through the principal streets of Dome-Kwabenya-Haatso was slated for October 13 , starting from the GAEC hospital at Atomic.

“We will walk through the Kwabenya and Dome markets, linking to the Christian Village, Westlands, Haatso and back to the GAEC Hospital amidst brass band music and sharing of educative information including flyers,”

Prof. Hasford explained that the Breast Cancer Awareness Month had always been a crucial opportunity to unite communities, honour survivors, remember lost loved ones, and empower individuals to take charge of their breast health.

He said GAEC was deeply committed to making a difference in the lives of women and those affected by breast cancer and called for public support of the efforts to make a meaningful impact through the campaign.

Source: GNA

The government, media, academia, industry, and the general public will discuss the state of Ghana’s nuclear power program tomorrow at the Nuclear Power Forum at the Accra International Conference Centre.

Ghana is in phase II of its Nuclear Power Programme (NPP), and the forum seeks to provide stakeholders with an update on the status of Ghana’s nuclear power infrastructure development.

It will also serve as an opportunity for stakeholders to gain first-hand knowledge of the pre-and post-Fukushima experiences of the Japanese nuclear industry.

The forum is being organized by the Nuclear Power Institute (NPI) of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) on behalf of the Ghana Nuclear Power Programme Organization (GNPPO) on the theme “Learning from the Japanese Nuclear Experience”.

The GNPPO is the technical workforce and advisory body responsible for coordinating the nuclear power program. Three key organizations constitute the GNPPO: the Nuclear Power Institute, which is responsible for providing technical know-how and support; Nuclear Power Ghana, which is the owner and operator; and the Nuclear Regulatory Authority, which is the regulator. It is chaired by the Ministry of Energy.

The forum, which will be streamed live on the social media accounts of GAEC, forms part of technical cooperation with the Japanese Government through the JAIF International Corporation Centre (JICC). It has seen about 450 participants trained virtually in the last 12 months.

According to the Director of NPI, Prof. Seth Kofi Debrah, the Japanese government continues to explore the opportunities nuclear power has to offer them because of its enormous benefits to the country’s development.

“That should tell us the critical role of nuclear power, and I’m certain that once nuclear power comes online to augment Ghana’s energy mix, it will help boost the country’s industrialization agenda,” he added.

“In order to educate stakeholders on Ghana’s nuclear power program and help them understand the tremendous advantages it has to offer; key topics have been carefully selected for discussion at the forum. We also hope to draw some valuable lessons from the Japanese nuclear industry”, Prof. Debrah stressed.

The topics for discussion at the forum include Ghana’s energy transition, the status of Ghana’s nuclear infrastructure development, and the socio-economic benefits of nuclear power—the Japanese Experience.

The rest are radioactive waste management in Japan, the Japanese nuclear power industry and experience.

Some key personalities to participate in the forum include the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation (MESTI); the Minister of Energy; and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, as well as the U.S. and Japanese Ambassadors to Ghana.

CPRC/CCD, NPI

A fellowship on clinical training in nuclear medicine to address the shortage of Imaging Medical Physicists in Africa was opened in Accra last Tuesday.

This comes on the heels of the maiden fellowship held in 2021, after a study conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Federation of African Medical Physicists Organization (FAMPO) revealed that Africa has only 200 imaging medical physicists instead of the over 4,000 needed to serve the continent.

The six-month fellowship being hosted by the Radiological and Medical Sciences Research Institute (RAMSRI) of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) and the Nuclear Medicine Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital with sponsorship from the IAEA brings together eight participants from five African countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, Sudan, and Tanzania.

The fellowship aims at strengthening and sustaining medical imaging services in Africa through academic education programs and clinical training, as well as effective diagnostic and interventional radiological practices to ensure healthy lives and promote the wellbeing of everyone.

Addressing the participants at the opening ceremony, the Director-General of GAEC, Prof. Samuel Dampare, announced that the fellowship starts on April 3, 2023, and ends on October 3, 2023.

He explained that several studies by the IAEA showed that even though there were medical physicists at the Radiotherapy Centres in the member states of the African Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research, Development, and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology (AFRA), the same could not be said of Nuclear Medicine and Diagnostic Radiological Centres. “As a result, a task force group was setup to put together a training curriculum that was later harmonized for academic and clinical training in medical physics in Africa,” he added.

“Currently, 11 countries, namely Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, and Zimbabwe, have academic programs in this regard,” he indicated.

He admonished the participants to help their countries develop the competencies needed in nuclear medicine physics with the knowledge and experiences they would gain at the end of the fellowship.

“This is a very great opportunity provided by the IAEA, and I would want to encourage you all, fellows, to make the best out of the situation,” he added.

The Director of RAMSRI at GAEC, Prof. Francis Hasford, reiterated the importance of the training to equip medical physicists with the needed competencies to become clinically qualified to practice independently in one or more of the subfields of medical physics.

Prof. Hasford, who is also the project scientific consultant, said the participants would be taken through 10 key areas. They are clinical awareness, performance testing of imaging equipment, radiation protection and safety, dosimetry instrumentation and calibration, and patient radiation dose audit.

The rest are image quality assessment, optimization of clinical procedures, technological management in nuclear medicine, radioactivity measurements and internal dosimetry, and performance testing of nuclear medicine equipment.

The fellowship supervisor, Dr. Theophilus Sackey, on his part, mentioned that there were a lot of expectations for the participants during the fellowship. He urged them to network among fellows and experts, gain knowledge of the harmonized protocol for quality control in nuclear medicine, and publish their works at the end of the fellowship, among other things.

By CPRC/CCD, GAEC