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Keep environment clean – Essikado Queen tells school children
Nana Ekua Kodua II (middle) assisted by Madam Mary Perpertua Kwakuyi (right)
and Madam Flora O. Kwafo jointly planting a seedling
School children all over Ghana have been asked to be good ambassadors of the environment in order to enjoy the country tomorrow.
School children must preach cleanliness and the protection of the environment to avoid people from throwing plastics and other pollutants indiscriminately to protect the environment from further destruction.
The Paramount Queen of the Essikado Traditional Area in the Western Region, Nana Ekua Kodua 11 told school pupils at the celebration of the World Environment Day at Essikado in the Western Region under the theme “Beat Plastic Pollution”.
She said today’s pollution was caused by the handling of many different plastics which were used to contain items bought in stores and market areas.
She said after reaching their destinations, the proper disposal of these plastics were not adhered to but rather thrown away anyhow and the least wind and rain water would convey all these plastics to other lands and water bodies thereby causing an eye sore.
A representative from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Mr. Ben Franklin also said children should be able to spread the good news to protect the environment and preserve it for the benefit of the future.
The Headmistress of St. Mark Anglican Basic School, Madam Flora O. Kwafo said tree planting would give shade and protect the school buildings from being blown off by the wind.
She was grateful to Goshen Global Vision for embarking on tree planting to protect the environment and promised to make the pupils develop interest in protecting the trees around the school and in their communities.
The Executive Director of Goshen Global Vision (GGV), Madam Mary Perpetua Kwakuyi said 8,250 different species of tree seedlings including fruit trees would be shared to various institutions including Takoradi Technical University and other tertiary institutions for planting.
She urged the pupils to carry the message everywhere in order to bring drastic changes in the way plastics were handled.
Madam Kwakuyi told the pupils to develop a habit of picking all plastics around the school compound and their communities to reduce the pollution taking place throughout the country due to the poor handling of plastic materials.
She told the pupils to talk to their parents to refuse taking many plastic materials from the market areas and the stores when they went shopping in order to reduce the plastics always brought home.
Some refuse containers were donated to the schools for use.
From Peter Gbambila-Essikado
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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
