Hot!
Communicate with your adolescent children to prevent early exposure to sexual activities- Parents advised

The Director of School Health Education Programme (SHEP) under the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mrs Theresa Oppong has called on parents to supervise and communicate with their adolescent children to prevent them from being initiated into sexual activities by their peers at an early stage.
According to her, the lack of such supervision and communication coupled with negative parenting contributed to the adolescents being initiated into sexual activities by their peers and added that it could disrupt their education.
She reiterated the need for parents to actively play their role during their children’s adolescent stages to help shape them to secure a better future for them.
Mrs Oppong made the call in a speech read on her behalf by Mr Godfred Ceaser, the Eastern Regional Coordinator of SHEP during this year’s Adolescent Advocacy Week celebration organised by the Family Health Division of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in collaboration with MARIE STOPES, a non-governmental organisation that advocated Choices among adolescents and the Ghana Education Service (GES) at Krobo Odumasi in the Eastern region.
The celebration was to commemorate the annual Adolescent Health Week by campaigning for an inclusive society that met the needs of Adolescents as they transitioned to adulthood and to educate adolescents
on reproductive health issues.
Mrs Oppong indicated that the adolescent stage came with a lot of challenges and decisions that required useful information to enable them to thrive and called on parents to play their role effectively.
She said as part of efforts to improve life skills and behaviour change among adolescents, the GES has integrated Adolescent Reproductive Health issues across subjects in the curriculum of senior high and basic schools to provide knowledge, skills and attitudes required to help them cope with the challenges of their stage and also promote healthy living and responsible adulthood.
“We have also set up school health clubs, and mentorship programmes where queen mothers have a critical role to play especially in life skills and value inculcation and many other interventions and so parents also have a role that they need to play in the socialization of the child,” she said.
For her part, the Eastern Regional Director of Nursing Services (DDNS), Ellen Darkoa Asare said, the adolescent stage was a very critical stage of self-discovery where the adolescent formed habits that could shape their lifetime, adding, that it was a time when students navigated through academic challenges, formed friendship and made decision that impacted their health and wellbeing.
She said the celebration of the week allowed stakeholders to appreciate the uniqueness of that phase and to reflect on the importance of the well-being of the adolescent and called on all stakeholders including parents to help the adolescent by providing the right guidance and support to create an environment where they felt safe, understood and encouraged to make healthy choices.
She called on the management of basic and senior high schools to encourage open conversation about health, address questions students may have and ensure that they are aware of the resources available whether through sports, clubs, counselling sessions, or educational programmes to support them to thrive.
Hot!
Swedru All Blacks back to winning ways, Roshan humble King Faisal

Sekondi Rospak FC made it eight wins in eight successive home games after three second-half goals from John Amoah, Joseph Ntow and Stephen Anthony Kofi. John Amoah opened the scoring in the 55th minute after a barren first half. Joseph Ntow added to the tally in the 56th minute before Stephen Anthony Kofi rounded things up in the 74th minute to give Rospak a 3-0 win over former Premier League side King Faisal.
Elsewhere at Swedru – leaders Swedru All Blacks humbled PAC Academy in an emphatic 2-0 win. Zayat Bubakari scored first for Swedru All Blacks in the 27th minute before Rudolf Junior Nana Kwasi Mensah made it 2-0 in the 34th minute. Swedru All Blacks are top of the table with 36 points – 4 points ahead of second placed Rospak FC.
Meanwhile, Former Premier League side Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs recorded their fourth successive home victory after beaten New Edubiase United 2-1 at the Robert Mensah Park. Enoch Odoom struck first for Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs in the 19th minute but Steven Asante equalized for New Edubiase United before halftime. After the interval, Godfred Eshun scored from distance in the 65th minute to help Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs secure all the points.
Here are the results in Zone Two

Hot!
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