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GES: Parents must assist children to observe COVID-19 protocols

The Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Professor Kwasi Opoku Amankwa has appealed to parents to assist their children to comply with the necessary protocols outlined by government as they return to school to ensure their safety is not compromised.
According to him even though government had instituted a lot of measures to ensure the safety of all students, there was the need for parents to compliment these efforts.
“There is no need for any parent to prevent his or her ward from going to school to prepare and write their final exams. Government has put in place all the necessary measures to safeguard the children and it will be appropriate for parents to compliment this gesture,” he emphasised.
Speaking to the Ghanaian Times in a telephone conversation, Prof Amankwa said even though no one could force any parent to send his or her ward to school, it was important that the parents placed the development of the children above all other consideration.
He said government would not deliberately endanger the lives of the very student it had spent so much on, stressing that as a result, parents must do away with the fear factor and support them in safeguarding the welfare of the children.”
Outlining a number of measures put in place at the various schools, he said each student had been provided a dedicated desk with their names embossed on it and would be arranged spaciously in accordance with the social distancing protocols.
In addition, he said all the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) including face masks, Veronica buckets, santisers, paper tissues and thermometer guns meant for the schools had been sent to the schools.
On parents who were contemplating keeping their wards and home and hiring private teachers to teach them, he said there was no guarantee that such arrangement would keep the children safe.
H explained that unless the private teachers to be hired by the parents lived under one roof with the students as well as their parents, the potential spread of the infection could not be stopped.
“Those parents who say they are afraid and for that matter will let their children stay home and get them private teachers to teach them, I want to know if they have the capacity to detect whether the teachers are infected or not?” she queried
Furthermore, he said even if the parents succeeded in that direction, it was important that they realised that their wards would still have to join their mates to write the exams.
Source: Ghanaian Times
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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

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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