News
Women asked to screen regularly as cervical cancer claims more lives
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●Mrs Zenabu Addo (middle) cuttingthe tape to launch the programme
Described as deadly, devastating and leaving families in misery, cervical cancer has claimed many lives in Ghana than those recorded by road accidents and maternal deaths.
Data from the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Information Centre in Ghana has revealed that about 3,151 new cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed annually, and the disease is ranked the second most frequent cancers among women.
In 2019, alone, the disease claimed a total of 2,103 lives in the country.
The District Deputy Director of Nursing Services, Mrs Zenabu Addo who was speaking at the launch of this year’s Cervical Cancer Awareness Month at the Madina Polyclinic, Kekele in Accra, said Cervical Cancer was caused by a sexually transmitted virus called HPV.
The programme which was organised by the Madina Polyclinic in collaboration with the Cancer Support Network Ghana was themed, “Early Detection is Key.”
Mrs Zenabu Addo enumerated the risk factors as engaging in early sex before attaining the age of 20, smoking, having multiple sexual partners at different times and one’s family history among others.
Mr Blaise Ackom, a Cervical Cancer Ambassador in a keynote address emphasised the point that women should embrace regular screening for early detection of the disease and subsequent treatment.
He said the key preventable method was for young ladies to abstain from sex and that women should take advantage of the awareness creation month and have themselves screened at a lower cost.
He noted that there was no cure for cervical cancer anywhere apart from the hospital.
Mr Ackom warned against smoking, especially shisha which he said was more dangerous than smoking many sticks of cigarette and lamented that the rate at which the youth were smoking shisha was alarming.
He called on husbands to support their wives and female children to screen regularly and parents in general to take good care of their children so that they would not fall prey to bad behaviours in society.
He advised women to study their bodies well in order to identify abnormalities and promptly report issues of post-coital bleeding.
The Cervical Cancer Ambassador appealed to the government to include free screening of the disease in the National Health Insurance Scheme.
Ms Rosetta Ntriwaa Aboagye, a Midwife at the LekMA Polyclinic at Teshie Tsuibleoo, observed that since the cervix played essential roles in the lives of women, there was the need to cherish it and ensure that it was well maintained.
“Since this is the only cancer which is preventable, why do we wait unnecessarily without embracing the preventable means for it to destroy us,” she asked.
Ms Afwoa Mireku Ampomah, also a Cervical Cancer Ambassador, called on women to take control of their lives, boost their immune system and avail themselves of vaccination.
By Raymond Kyekye
Deputy Director of Operations at the Presidency, Mustapha Gbande, has alleged that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) appears more concerned and emotionally invested in the imprisonment of its Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, than the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Speaking on Joy Prime on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in Accra, Mr. Gbande argued that the NPP played a major role in the legal process that led to Wontumi’s conviction.
According to him, the law under which Wontumi was convicted originally carried a maximum prison sentence of three years but was later amended by the NPP administration to increase the maximum punishment to 15 years.
“The law that jailed Wontumi was three years. The NPP enhanced it to 15 years,” he stated.
Mr. Gbande further claimed that the evidence used to prosecute Wontumi was gathered during the previous NPP administration.
He maintained that the case against the NPP chairman did not begin under the current government but was built by officials who served in the former administration.
“The docket that jailed Wontumi was built by the NPP. The evidence that convicted him was built by the NPP,” he asserted.
To support his argument, Mr. Gbande referred to actions taken by the former Minister for Lands and Natural Resources in July 2022, when the minister declared activities linked to Wontumi in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve illegal.
He stressed that once an activity has been declared illegal, it remains a breach of the law regardless of who is involved.
By: Jacob Aggrey
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has warned that traders, transport operators, businesses and individuals who refuse to accept Ghana cedi coins as payment for goods and services could face arrest, prosecution, fines or imprisonment.
In a public notice issued on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, the central bank expressed concern over the widespread refusal to accept 1 pesewa, 5 pesewa, 10 pesewa, 20 pesewa and 50 pesewa coins, as well as the GH¢1 and GH¢2 coins.
It explained that all coins issued by the Bank of Ghana remain legal tender and must be accepted for transactions across the country.
According to the BoG, none of the coins has been withdrawn from circulation or demonetised, and no trader, transport operator, business or individual has the right to reject them because they consider them inconvenient or of low value.
The bank cited the Bank of Ghana Act, 2002 (Act 612), as amended, and the Currency Act, 1964 (Act 242), as the laws governing the use of the country’s currency.
It noted that under the Currency Act, refusing to sell goods or provide services simply because a customer is paying with legal tender coins or banknotes is a criminal offence, unless the currency has been withdrawn from circulation.
The BoG stated that anyone convicted of the offence could face up to three years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both.
It added that people who encourage or instruct others to reject coins, including business owners who direct their employees to do so, are equally liable under the law.
The bank further indicated that a person caught committing the offence may be arrested without a warrant.
To ensure compliance, the BoG said it would work with the Ghana Police Service and other law enforcement agencies to enforce the law against offenders.
It encouraged members of the public to report cases of coin rejection to the nearest Bank of Ghana office, the Ghana Police Service or through the bank’s official communication channels.
The central bank called on individuals, businesses and institutions to accept and handle Ghana’s currency responsibly in all its denominations, saying this would help uphold confidence in the country’s legal tender.
By: Jacob Aggrey
