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Be vigilant during Easter …Police warns residents
ASP Avornokadzi addressing parishioners of theSt. Augustine Catholic Church Ashaiman while
other church leaders and police officers look on
The Ashaiman Police command has cautioned members of the public, especially those within its jurisdiction to be vigilantduring the Easter festivities and not fall into any ‘trap’ by criminals.
The Acting District Commander for the Ashaiman District Police Command, Asst. Supt. of Police (ASP), Mr. Isaac Avornokadzi disclosed that the Service has observed over the years that criminals like to take advantage of festive seasons such as Easter to carry out their activities on unsuspecting members of the public.
In the light of this, he disclosed that the Service was undertaking a series of sensitisation exercises in churches and other social gatherings to caution the public to be extra careful during the period in order not to fall victims to the activities of criminals.
The aim is to have an incident-free festive period.
It was one of such exercises that took him to the St Augustine Catholic Church in Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region (GAR) on Palm Sunday where he charged parishioners to be extra vigilant during the period to ensure their personal safety.
ASP Avornokadzi assured residents of Ashaiman that the police was poised to make the area uncomfortable for criminals in the Easter season and beyond.
He disclosed that several measures have been put in place to make personnel available and visible to enhance their response time to calls placed to them.
He also urged members of the community to be each other’s keeper by being concerned about what happens around others to ensure all were safe.
“Every member of the public must observe and report anything unusual in their communities or around the neighbourhood. When you find something unusual, report it to the police immediately to ensure that criminals do not have a field day.”
He said the area would be a nogo area for criminals if residents report activities of criminals to the police freely.
He recalled occasions when some residents had failed to call the police when they observed that their neighbours were attacked.
He cautioned the public that when people were suspected to be engaging in criminal activities, they could do a citizen’s arrest and hand them over to the police for the right action to be taken.
“Don’t beat them. Don’t take the law into your own hands. Just bring them to us,” the Acting District Police Commander advised.
He encouraged the public to have confidence in the police because they are up to the task.
He advised the public to memorise the various police emergency numbers so that they could readily use them when under attack.
“Do not write it in your diary or save it on your phone alone,” he said, explaining that sometimes people under attack may not have the luxury to check from their diaries or phones to get the contacts.
From Dzifa Tetteh Tay, Ashaiman
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Cervical Cancer alert: Avoid sex at early age
The Programmes Manager of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Mary Efua Commeh, has advised young girls to avoid sex at an early age.
This, she explained, will give the cervix the opportunity to mature before they become sexually active.
“You need to delay what we call the first sexual intercourse as much as possible to give the cervix the opportunity to mature before the person becomes sexually active,” she said.
Dr Commeh stated this in an interview with The Spectator in Accra on Tuesday as a part of the Cervical Cancer awareness month.
According to her, cervical cancer was the second leading female cancer in Ghana with a total of about 3,072 cases annually, and out of that, 1,815 deaths are recorded, representing more than 50 per cent.
She indicated that “If young girls are going to be sexually active, then you need to talk to your parents about being vaccinated.”
She explained that vaccinating young girls against human papillomavirus (HPV) has been found to be a very effective way of preventing cervical cancer.
“There are countries that started HPV vaccination years ago and they are not seeing any cervical cancers now because they would have eliminated most of the high-risk HPVs in their women. So if the high-risk HPV is not there, then obviously the results on cervical cancers are going to go down,” she added.
Dr Commmey said the HPV vaccination is recommended for young girls aged nine to 14 years, adding that it had been found to be highly effective, not just for cervical cancers but for other HPV-related cancers, such as anal cancers, cancers of the vagina, genital warts, amongst others.
She further elaborated that the idea is to put up a barrier before the HPV comes in and that once a young female encounters it, she is already protected.
She also mentioned that for cervical cancers, the main cause is called HPV infection, saying generally, all sexually active women acquire HPV at some point in their lives.
However, the Programmes Manager of NCDs at the GHS mentioned that the body has a way of clearing the HPV, explaining that it is a natural mechanism that goes on, unfortunately, there are a few women whose HPV persists.
Moreover, she noted that the numbers for Cervical Cancer tend to be much higher because at times, clients would wait, and try all sorts of medications before they finally report to the health facility saying “we actually lose some women before they get to the hospitals with over 75 per cent of the cases coming in its third and fourth stages.”
Dr Commey, therefore, called for public awareness while ensuring the availability of information for prevention and control.
By Jemima Esinam Kuatsinu
Entertainment
Maxi Sway teams up with Kweku Darlington on ‘Efie Bayie’
One of Ghana’s fastest-growing musicians, Maxi Sway known in private life as Alex Bonsu, has teamed up with music sensation, Kweku Darlington on ‘Efie Bayie’.
The song is off his new External Play (EP) dubbed, ‘Love and Life’ which is made up of five songs.
The EP written and performed by Maxi Sway, drew inspiration from real life situations.
According to Maxi Sway, ‘Efie Bayie’ was inspired by something unfortunate which happened in the life of his producer Ssnowbeatz.
He revealed that “some years back as it was almost close to the B.E.C.E examinations, Ssnowbeatz fell sick and had to write the exams at the hospital with a few Security Personnel around.”
“Ssnowbeatz told me it was a very difficult time because he was out of school for a while and had no time to even revise or prepare for the exams. He failed the papers because of his health and even didn’t go for the results,” he said.
According to him, after hearing the story of Ssnowbeatz, “It got me thinking and it inspired the song Efie Beyie.”
The video was directed and shot by Mista Morgan.
The songs on the EP include, Meganja, Efie Bayie, Wayo Love, Come Closer and Seke.
The songs making waves were produced by Klassic Beatz and Ssnowbeatz.
