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‘Seek psychosocial counselling after breast cancer treatment’
Mrs Bernice Ofosuhene Peasah
Mrs Bernice Ofosuhene Peasah, Lincensed Counselling Psychologist at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Counselling Centre, Kumasi, in the Ashanti Region has advised women diagnosed with breast cancer and breast cancer survivors to seek psychosocial counselling after treatment.
Psychosocial counselling is a service provided by a skilled professional counsellor to an individual, family, or group for the purpose of improving their well-being, alleviating distress, and enhancing coping skills.
According to her, “even though counselling is voluntary, it enables patients and survivors of breast cancer to face the future and rebrand themselves but empowers survivors to develop and cope with everyday life as cancer patients”.
Mrs. Peasah who gave this advice in an interview with The Spectator stated that counselling session was a major session most patients took for granted yet it was beneficial to them.
“Both newly diagnosed patients and survivors need counselling. Specifically for new patients, pre-counselling is necessary before disclosure of positive results. And post counselling follows which involves managing the effect such as shock, fear and emotional distress” she explained.
Mrs Bernice Peasah, a Volunteer Counsellor of Breast Care International and Peace and Love Hospitals further explained that breast cancer survivors benefitted from continuous psychosocial counselling because they were likely to have been through and survived intense emotional and psychosocial disorientation.
She disclosed that some patients combined other substances and practices with their medication and such noncompliance delayed their recovery process.
“Some people also pay attention to what society says coupled with unfounded beliefs thrown out there through social media regarding breast cancer which add to their frustrations and these affect clients’ response to counselling” MrsPeasah added.
She said that fear and insecurity about death and the inability to be a total woman again after surgery and other superstitious beliefs, however, limited the positive effects of counselling.
“Counselling is highly recommended for survivors, and through counselling survivors are able to programme their mindsets regarding their condition to live more fulfilling lives full of hope and thankfulness” she emphasised.
She appealed to women to take advantage of the free health screening in this October for early detection of the disease.
By Linda Abrefi Wadie
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GEXIM deepens relations with US EXIM Bank
A management team of the Ghana Export – Import Bank (GEXIM) led by the Acting Chief Executive, Sylvester Mensah met with the leadership of the Export–Import Bank of the United States (US EXIM) on Wednesday April 23, 2025 in Washington DC, United States of America.
The Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM, Mr. James C. Cruse and Vice President, International Relations, Ms. Isabel Galdiz received the GEXIM delegation, which included Deputy CEO for Banking, Mr. Moses Klu Mensah and Head of International Cooperation, Mr. Jonathan Christopher Koney at the headquarters of US EXIM.
The meeting offered the GEXIM team the opportunity to share the strategic direction of the Bank in line with the resetting agenda of the President of the Republic, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama for the repositioning of the Ghanaian economy into an export-led one by providing the requisite investment to Ghanaian businesses.
Mr. James C. Cruse expressed US EXIM’s eagerness to deepen its existing relations with GEXIM and proposed the signing of a new Cooperative Framework Agreement following the expiration of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2019 to utilize US EXIM’s medium term loan guarantees to procure machinery by GEXIM for qualified Ghanaian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
Mr.Sylvester Mensah thanked the Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM for hosting the GEXIM delegation and reaffirmed the Ghanaian government’s commitment to strengthening trade and investment between Ghana and its global partners for economic transformation of Ghana with GEXIM playing a pivotal role.
The two teams will be meeting on the sidelines of the 2025 US EXIM Annual Conference on 29th and April 30, 2025 to explore possible areas of collaboration and matching Ghanaian businesses to American companies. The meeting ended with an exchange of gifts.
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Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation –Pres.Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has expressed concern over the misuse of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) for personal financial gain by individuals in leadership positions.
Speaking during a meeting with Chief Executives of specified entities under the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) on Thursday, March 13, the President directly attributed the dire state of SOEs to their leadership, accusing chief executives, management teams, and governing boards of prioritising personal enrichment over organisational efficiency.
He pointed to bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures as factors draining public funds while SOEs continue to rely on government bailouts.
“Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation by appointees. The chief executives, management, and boards of these enterprises are responsible for this situation. Some SOEs have become perennial loss-makers, draining public funds with bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures while relying on government bailouts as if entitled to them. Many of these entities are at their lowest point in the entire history of the Fourth Republic,” he said.
President Mahama further noted that many SOEs have been plagued by inefficiencies, corruption, and mismanagement, leading to consistent financial losses. He cited the 2023 State Ownership Report by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), which highlighted systemic inefficiencies and wasteful expenditures within these entities.
He therefore reaffirmed his commitment to reforming under-performing SOEs and ensuring they serve national interests.
He warned that loss-making SOEs will no longer be tolerated and will either be merged, privatised, or closed.
“I will assess you based on your performance. If you do not align with the pace of the reset agenda, you may be asked to step aside. If that adds to the horror movie, so be it,” he added.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
