News
Queenmother wages war against teenage pregnancy in Tsito Awudome
Mamaga Abla Migbloevor II
The newly enstooled Queenmother of Dededo in the Tsito Awudome Traditional Area of the Volta Region Mamaga Abla Migbloevor II, has taken strides to curb the menace of teenage pregnancy the area.
She said the rate at which young girls were dropping out of school in the enclave due to teenage pregnancy was alarming and needed swift intervention of the traditional authorities to curb the situation.
Mamaga Migbloevor II said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after she ascended the throne as the Queen of the area, 40 years after the passing of Mamaga Migbloevor I.
She pledged to work closely with the relevant stakeholders to organise sensitisation engagements for the teenagers in the area to enlighten them against the menace and its negative impacts.
She said her priority was to see young girls in the area become the renowned future leaders of the country, adding that most of these prospective leaders were now school dropouts because of teenage pregnancy.
She urged parents and guardians in the area to play integral roles in the lives of their wards to stop the teenage pregnancy situation.
Togbe Davor II, the Chief of Dededo, pledged his commitment to support Mamaga Migbloevor’s initiative to curb teenage pregnancy in the area.
He also welcomed Mamaga Migbloevor II and stated that her inclusion in Chieftaincy issues in the Tsito Awudome Traditional Area would help accelerate development.
“We believe she would put in her best for the growth of the Traditional Area. My elders and I are solidly behind every good initiative she would bring to the table,” Togbe Davor assured.
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
