News
Lack of privacy inhibits HIV counselling and screen in Krowor Municipality
Lack of privacy is one of the factors driving residents of Nungua from active participation in HIV counselling and screening in the Krowor Municipality of the Greater Accra Region.
This has compelled health personnel who conduct health screening in the area to passionately appeal to the Krowor Municipal Assembly to provide them with screen to ensure privacy and funds for drugs during such exercise.
They have again pleaded with the Krowor Municipal Health Directorate for the creation of more wellness clinics in the communities.
In an interview with The Spectator at HIV counselling and screening, Ms Cynthia Adongo, HIV Focal Person of Krowor Municipal Assembly said that many people were relunctant to offer themselves for screening because of the prying eyes of their colleagues “since there are no screens to ensure their privacy.”
She stressed that need for intensification of education on HIV and tuberculosis to reduce the infection rate as well as increase case detection.
“Another challenges we have identified are lack of drugs and clients’ refusal to go to the hospital when they are referred for further management,” she said.
By Castro Zangina-Tong
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) will undertake a nationwide Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination exercise in schools from October to December 2026 to protect eligible girls against cervical cancer and other HPV related diseases.
The exercise, organised in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service (GES) and its partners through the School Health Education Programme (SHEP), will be conducted in two rounds.
The first round is scheduled for October 19 to 23, 2026, while the second will take place from November 30 to December 4, 2026.
In a press release dated October 19, the GHS explained that health workers would visit schools across the country to vaccinate eligible girls aged 9 to 14 who have not yet received the HPV vaccine.
The exercise forms part of efforts to raise awareness about the routine HPV vaccine, increase vaccination uptake and strengthen the country’s routine immunisation programme.
The GHS has called on school authorities, parents, guardians, teachers and community leaders to cooperate with health teams to ensure the successful implementation of the exercise.
The Service reaffirmed its commitment to protecting the health and well-being of Ghanaians, particularly children, through vaccination and other public health interventions.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang has held high-level discussions with organisers of the 2026 Global South Academic Forum in Shanghai, seeking to draw lessons from China’s acclaimed rural revitalisation and poverty reduction drive.
The meeting, led by the Forum Chair, Professor Lu Xinyu, explored practical areas of cooperation and knowledge exchange between Ghana and China, with focus on community-driven development, fisheries and aquaculture, local governance, sports initiatives, and infrastructure development.
According to officials, the engagement is part of a broader effort by the Ghanaian government to study tested development models that can be adapted to the local context to promote inclusive growth, empower local communities, and improve livelihoods across the country.
China’s success in lifting over 800 million people out of poverty through targeted rural policies, investment in agriculture and local infrastructure has become a global reference point for developing nations.
The Vice President’s team says insights from the Forum will help inform policy direction, particularly in strengthening decentralised governance, boosting the fisheries and aquaculture sector, and investing in community-level infrastructure and youth sports development.
Professor Opoku-Agyemang is expected to continue engagements with academic and development institutions while in China.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
