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GFA President visits Black Starlets ahead of WAFU B Championship

The President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kurt Edwin Simeon-Okraku, has met with the nation’s national male U17 team and backed them to qualify to the 2025 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations.
Beaming with smiles and energy, the hardworking GFA chief, interacted with the players and technical team at their hotel in Accra on Tuesday, ahead of the team’s WAFU Zone B opening match against neighbours Ivory Coast on Wednesday May 15, 2024.
President Simeon-Okraku told the team his hands were itching to touch the golden trophy at the end of the tournament, thus setting a tough target for the Black Starlets.
“I am very happy to be here and to see you on the night before your first major competitive test tomorrow. Over the past months, you have been working hard and looking forward to this week. I’ve come here to encourage and assure you that the Football Association and the entire nation are behind you,” President Okraku said
“You offered yourself to serve Ghana at this tender age and Ghana has offered all of you the chance to serve. This is the first time that I am going into a tournament that I feel extremely confident. I trust in your abilities and whatever happens, you will surmount the challenge. I’m looking forward to the celebration after the match,” he encouraged amidst loud applause.
President Simeon-Okraku charged the players to reward Head Coach Laryea Kingston and his backroom staff for the confidence reposed in them.
He said, “For the chunk of you, this is your first time of representing Ghana in a competitive game. But when you were first scouted by the technical team, your ambition was to arrive at this day. Your ambition was to show to Ghana the stuff you are made of and what you can do for yourselves and for our country. Fortunately, you’ve gone through a good preparatory period where you have listened, practised and rehearsed all the ideas, the methodologies and the processes from the technical team. Now, it’s time for you to show to Ghanaians all the things that you have learnt.”
The Black Starlets will open the WAFU Zone B tournament on home soil with a crunch tie against Cote D’voire on Wednesday at the University of Ghana Stadium. Benin is also in Group A.
A run-of unbeaten matches in Ghana has turned the home team into a side with high hopes of qualifying to the U-17 AFCON for the first time since 2017.
The team took their preparations a notch higher when they participated in a UEFA U1-6 tournament in Russia last month, losing to the host nation and dismantling Kazakhstan and Serbia.
The regional tournament serves as a pathway to the 2025 U-17 AFCON, with the top two teams earning qualification.
The Black Starlets will commence their campaign against Ivory Coast on May 15, followed by a fixture against Benin six days later.
Ghana have not participated in the U-17 AFCON since finishing as runners-up in 2017. It is noteworthy that the U-17 AFCON also serves as a qualifying platform for the World Cup.
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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