Jirapa women get free health screening services
According to health experts, cervical, breast, liver, and prostate, are the leading types of cancer, recorded among the about 16,000 new cases of cancer that occur in the country annually.
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At a three-day free screening services offered by a medical team led by the Project Manager of Save My Mother, Dr Edward T. Dassah, to women in Jirapa and beyond in the Upper West Region, the Director of Health Services for the Jirapa District, Madam Phoebe Bala, said cervical cancer was a top killer of women, and that the availability of screening services would help to save many lives.
Vulnerable women
She said women in rural areas, including Jirapa, were most vulnerable because of their inability to access cervical cancer screening services in distant areas due to the cost of transport.
She pointed out that 221 women voluntarily accessed the screening services during the last exercise, with 32 cases proving positive, with majority of that number in the sexually active age bracket of 20-29.
Dr Dassah, who is a native of Jirapa, facilitated the procurement of medical equipment, worth more than GH¢25,000, donated by Save My Mother Project of the SOS Villages in Ghana, to the St Joseph Hospital at Jirapa for the screening and treatment of early stages of cervical cancer, making the hospital the first of the kind in the region to offer such services.
The equipment include a cryogun and accessories, speculums, gas cylinders filled with nitrous oxide, volumes of vinegar and packs of sanitary towels.
Madam Bala said the presentation of the medical equipment was a welcome relief to the district health directorate, considering the fact that the closest services for the condition was in Tamale, a five-hour journey from Wa, the capital of the Upper West Region.
Dr Dassah, who is also a medical doctor with specialisation in the treatment of cervical cancer, said he was persuaded by the Director of Health Services for the Jirapa District, Madam Phoebe Bala, following an outreach programme that brought him and a small team to the district late last year to provide screening services and treatment for early stages of cervical cancer.
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He said the huge attendance during the screening was most encouraging, and given that Upper West Region did not have a facility for the screening of cervical cancer, he deemed it necessary to help provide one for the people.
Advice to women
He advised women in the region to take advantage of the availability of the screening services, to prevent mortalities resulting from the condition.
The District Chief Executive for Jirapa, Mr Cletus Dapilaa, said the intervention would reduce the incidence of the condition in Jirapa and the region at large, and pledged the commitment of his office to support the cervical cancer centre with relevant logistics.