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Check your health status regularly… Non-communicable diseases show no symptoms – Health expert
Professor Peter Lamptey (inset) making his presentation while
the audience listen attentively
A professor in Global Non- Communicable Diseases (NCDs) at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine- England, Professor Peter Lamptey, has noted that issues on NCDs must be addressed both nationally and internationally, especially through financial support in order to curb the risk of increase.
He stated that Africa was currently experiencing a triple disease burden; endemic and epidemic, current and future pandemic (HIV, COVID) and lastly the explosive burden of NCDs thus the situation would worsen if immediate measures were not taken.
Professor Lamptey on Wednesday, at the 2023 Harvard University Joseph S. Agyepong Distinguished Lecture on Public Health in Africa at the University of Ghana- Legon, in Accra.
The professor was speaking on the topic: “Combatting Non Communicable Diseases: Africa’s Greatest Health Challenges.”
Despite the fact that NCDs were not transmissible, he noted that some were caused by infections such as gastric and cervical cancers amongst others, adding that Ghanaians must give it the requisite attention.
He mentioned some underlining risk factors of NCDs such as the usage of tobacco, unhealthy diet, the harmful use of alcohol, air pollution and insufficient physical activities.
“Looking at the long exposure of NCDs it is unlikely for one to recover as compared with someone infected with communicable diseases such as COVID-19 or HIV,” he said.
Again, Professor Lamptey cited some cultural perceptions and negligence of Ghanaians that impeded public health workers while discharging their duties in the prevention of NCDs.
He advised that people should regularly check their health status by visiting health facilities “since NCDs did not exhibit any symptoms and it could take decades before patients could identify the symptoms.”
He further said that people who presumed to be healthier because they felt and looked well, should be careful
Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group of Companies, Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong and his wife, Adelaide Siaw Agyepong donated GHc500, 000 to support NCDs advocacy in Ghana.
This was due to the fact that not much money had been committed towards the education of the general public to trigger behavioural change.
The 4th edition of the annual lecture, co-hosted by the Harvard University CAS, formed part of activities of the University of Ghana’s 75th Anniversary.
On her part, Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, said the University looked forward to pragmatic measures which could address NCDs from an African perspective.
By Yunusah Essandoh
President John Dramani Mahama has commissioned four career diplomats as ambassador-designates to represent Ghana in four countries.
The commissioning ceremony took place on Friday, October 16, 2026.
The new envoys are Her Excellency Nana Antwiwaa Dodoo, Ambassador-Designate to Angola; His Excellency Louis Kwame Obeng, Ambassador-Designate to Qatar; Her Excellency Evelyn Korantemaa Ofosu-Amable, Ambassador-Designate to Israel; and His Excellency Jedidiah Reuben Adogla, Permanent Representative-Designate to Switzerland.
President Mahama charged them to advance Ghana’s national interests through strategic partnerships, economic diplomacy, investment mobilization, and expanded access to international markets.
He said Ghana’s diplomatic engagements must deliver tangible economic benefits, create jobs, and strengthen the country’s standing on the international stage.
The four envoys are career diplomats with over 27 years of experience.
On behalf of her colleagues, Her Excellency Nana Antwiwaa Dodoo thanked the President for the confidence reposed in them and pledged their commitment to emulate his leadership and deliver on the mandate given to them.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The professor who spends his days exploring the intricacies of African languages found himself at the centre of a different kind of lesson on Friday, October 2, 2026. 
This time, there were no lecture notes, academic arguments or university classrooms. Instead, there was the weight of tradition, the rhythm of a community celebration and the solemnity of an oath at a royal palace.
Professor Ọbádélé Kambon, a full Professor of African Linguistics at the University of Ghana, was enstooled as Apagyahene and Sunsum Ɔsahene of Akuapem Mampong in the Eastern Region in a ceremony that brought academia and traditional authority together.
For the professor, the occasion was more than a new title. It was a moment that connected his academic interests in African languages and indigenous knowledge with the living traditions of an Akan community.
The day’s events unfolded through a series of customary observances. Kambon was first taken to the compounds of the Ɔkyeamehene and Gyasehene, where the preparations for his installation continued.
Then came the application of hyire, the white kaolin powder associated with traditional rites.
With the customary proceedings underway, the new chief was lifted onto the shoulders of celebrants and carried along the main thoroughfare of Akuapem Mampong.
The procession transformed the streets into a public stage for a ceremony rooted in the community’s traditional institutions.
There was something striking about the image, a university professor, accustomed to the measured language of academic discourse, being carried through the town in a display of traditional recognition.
Yet the celebration was not complete with the procession.
A ram was sacrificed at the Mamponghene’s compound before Kambon was taken to the palace, to swear the oath associated with his new offices.
The ceremony brought him formally into his roles as Apagyahene and Sunsum Ɔsahene.
Beyond the colourful proceedings, the titles themselves carry layers of historical meaning.
Kambon in his research explores the historical connections between Apagya and Akan political and military organisation.
Accounts cited in his work linked Apagya to an asafo, or military company, while historical writing traces an Apagya stool in Asante to the reign of Opoku Ware I in the eighteenth century.
These historical associations offer a glimpse into the institutions that have shaped Akan society over generations, although they do not automatically define the precise responsibilities of the office in Akuapem Mampong.
Kambon’s own professional life reflects a similar interest in preserving and examining African knowledge.
His work encompasses Akan language structure, naming practices across the Black world, proverbs and indigenous intellectual traditions.
Through Abibitumi, the platform he founded, he also promotes language learning, scholarship and cultural engagement.
But tradition was only one part of the story that day.
When the formal ceremony gave way to a reception, the occasion expanded into a celebration of three milestones: Kambon’s enstoolment, his promotion to full professor and his daughter Ama’s admission to the University of Ghana.
The gathering therefore carried a personal significance that went beyond the honours bestowed on one man. 
It celebrated professional advancement, the continuation of family aspirations and a connection to cultural heritage.
For a father, seeing a daughter gain admission to the same university where he holds a distinguished academic position offered another reason to celebrate.
For the professor, the moment placed family achievement alongside his own professional and traditional milestones.
Kambon had already established a place in the traditional life of Akuapem Mampɔn through an earlier installation as Banmuhene Kyidɔmhene, recorded in 2017.
His latest enstoolment adds another chapter to that relationship.
In Akuapem Mampɔn, the day brought together the university, the palace and the family table in one celebration. And for Kambon, the journey from the lecture room to the traditional procession showed how scholarship, cultural responsibility and family achievement could converge in a single memorable occasion.
By Enoch Ntiamoah Siaw
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