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‘Let’s not relent in fight against breast cancer’
Dr Elsie Cudjoe, representative from the World Health Organisation
Dr Elsie Cudjoe, Representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged market women at the Kaneshie Market Complex to increase their physical activity to reduce the risk of contracting diseases including breast cancer.
Speaking at the launch of the Spectator Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign on Thursday in Accra, she noted that obesity, harmful use of alcohol, smoking, among others were some of the risk factors of breast cancer and stressed the need for women to adopt healthy lifestyles and propagate the message about the disease.
Highlighting global statistics and the general incidence of the disease she maintained that there was still life after breast cancer.
Dr. Cudjoe, emphaised the organisation’s effort to control the disease citing the ‘WHO Global Breast Cancer Initiative’ which aimed at reducing breast cancer mortality by 2.5 per cent per year.
“Reducing global breast cancer mortality by 2.5 per cent per year would avert 25 per cent (2.5 million) of breast cancer deaths by 2030 and 40 per cent by 2040,” she said.
The strategies, she noted, included health promotion and early detection, timely diagnosis, comprehensive breast cancer management/treatment, adding that early diagnosis was very crucial for treatment, therefore, women should avail themselves of breast cancer treatment options offered by health practitioners.
She further admitted that breast cancer treatment was expensive but part of it had been covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) therefore, women should take advantage of the opportunity.
“It is my hope that every woman diagnosed with breast cancer would have access to specialised care without causing financial catastrophy in line with universal health coverage,” she said.
The campaign is themed: “Life Before and After Breast Cancer: A Future of Positivity and Hope” and comes with series of activities including a health talk at the Labone Senior High School in Accra.
Ms Dakoa Newman, the Member of Parliament of the Okaikoi South Constituency, also advised men to stop stigmatising women with breast cancer or other forms of illness.
She said health professionals had identified bad eating habits, exposure to radioactive gadgets as some triggers of the illness, therefore, women should desist from putting mobile phones under their brassieres.
She further observed that, some women who had been diagnosed with illness did not follow through with their treatment for fear their husbands would abandon them “when they for instance lose their breast from breast cancer,” and encouraged women not to despair when diagnosed.
Mr. Martin Adu Owusu, Managing Director of New Times Corporation, also said the complications of breast cancer were “quite daunting but we need to provide hope and support for victims and non-victims of breast cancer so they can live meaningful lives.”
He said the campaign was one of the corporation’s strategies to help reduce the incidence of breast cancer and its attendant stigmatization in the country and expressed optimism that the campaign would “make positive impact on present and future generations.”
“We need to be tenacious and relentless in our effort to fight this disease. This is not a difficult task, we can save many lives and bring solace and prosperity to many families if we continue with aggressive campaign in regular examination and screening,” he said.
Mr. Emmanuel Amposnsah, Editor of The Spectator, also highlighted statistics of the disease indicating thatthe campaign was to educate the public on the risks, symptoms, and treatment options for the illness.
“The Spectator, Your Weekend Companion, is leading this breast cancer campaign to create awareness on the dangers of the disease to women in particular who coincidentally align with the brand personality of the newspaper,” he said.
Ms. Vera Karikari Bediako, Deputy Director of Gender at the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, emphasised the ministry’s commitment to coordinate gender related issues and support campaigns aimed at sensitising women.
Mr. Kwame Agbeve, Deputy Managing Director Kaneshie Market Complex, urged women not to turn to prayer camps for treatment when diagnosed with breast cancer. “The first port of call is not the prayer camp, it is the hospital,” he noted.
Mr. Alfred Koomson, Marketing Manager of New Times Corporation said: “The nation cannot continue to lose women due to breast cancer hence the campaign against the disease which is preventable and curable.”
He thanked partners for the support and expressed hope that the support would continue in the years ahead.
Ms. Adelaide Setordzie, Hospital Administrator, Kaneshie Polyclinic, praised NTC for the initiative and asked women to undertake frequent breast care examination and remain mindful of the devastating effects of breast cancer.
By Ernest Nutsugah & Portia Hutton-Mills
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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