Breast screening for Senchi women

For the people of Senchi Ferry, a community along the shores of the Volta Lake near Akosombo, this New Year is not only a period of merry-making, but a period to learn more about breast cancer, a disease which has claimed the lives of a number of women in the area.

A non-governmental organisation dedicated to breast cancer awareness and eradication, Rural Agenda Initiative and Network (RAIN), in collaboration with the Asuogyaman District Health Management Team (DHMT) , on New Year’s eve, held a breast-screening exercise for about 400 women drawn from the town and surrounding villages.

The area, with a population of about 2,500, made up of food crop farmers, fishermen/fish mongers and traders, is only served by a health centre which is unable to adequately cater for all their medical needs.

After the screening, those who were found to have problems with their breasts were referred to the Volta River Hospital at Akosombo, a distance of about 15 kilometres, for further examination, while the minor cases were promptly dealt with at the health centre.

Explaining the reasons for the exercise, the Executive Director of RAIN, Mr Edward Aboagye,  said a lot of women  who suffered from the disease were unaware of their condition and advised women to do regular self- examination of their breasts so that they could seek early treatment should they detect a problem. 

The exercise was hailed by the Director of DHMT, Dr Augustine Ankuvie,  who attributed deaths associated with breast cancer  to late treatment and advised women to regularly visit health facilities in the area to know the condition of their breasts.

The Mankrado of Senchi Ferry, Nana Dade Kyem,  was full of praise for RAIN and the DHMT for carrying out the exercise which he suggested  should be extended to men in future, since they were also prone to the disease.