The ASA Savings and Loans Limited, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility towards this year’s October breast cancer awareness creation, has supported women at Nkurakan in the Yilo Krobo Municipality in the Eastern Region with breast cancer screening.
The whole day’s programme was led by a medical team from the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital Public Health Medical Outpatient Unit, led by Dr Edwin Essel and Senior Midwifery Officer Ivy Akorly. It was on the theme, “Know your breasts, detect changes early.”
In all, 150 women between the ages of 20 and 55, from Nkurakan and its environs under the Koforidua Branch of The ASA Savings and Loans Limited were screemed.
Self-examination
Dr Essel, who led the women through a breast cancer education, noted that breast self-awareness helped individuals to notice changes in how their breasts looked and felt.
“I will advise you to report any new changes promptly to a healthcare professional at the Public Health/Medical Unit or at your nearest health facility.
Our main aim for this breast cancer awareness programme today is to educate you on the signs and symptoms you should look out for in order to report to any public health facility for assistance,” Dr Essel insisted.
“Let me emphasise that early detection of breast cancer actually saves lives. When it is detected early, there is a more controlled way to avoid further spread, and that is exactly what the ASA Savings and Loans Limited and we, the medical team, are here to do for your safety,” the medical officer emphasised.
During question time, most of the women wanted to know the truth in the saying that when men suck the breasts of women during intimacy, it reduced breast cancer.
Dr Essel, however, responded that there was no scientific and medical truth in that perception.
He said it was just a perception coined by men, and that it had no scientific and medical basis.
He explained further that when a man sucked a woman’s breast ordinarily at the time of intimacy, there were no hormonal changes taking place because it was not breastfeeding that would go on, and added, “A woman breastfeeding lowers the risk of breast cancer because of hormonal changes.”
According to Dr Essel, rather, it is breastfeeding that lowers the risk of breast cancer because of hormonal changes.
“Normally, after the age of 45, that is when we normally see that those that are beyond that age are likely to get breast cancer.
But these days, even women as early as those in their 20s even get it,” he stressed.
The Koforidua Branch Manager of ASA Savings and Loans Limited, Rosina Aku Owusu, emphasised that the benefactors believed that through the provision of education about the characteristics of breast cancer to the general public, and especially to their operational areas, more people could become informed about the disease, leading to improved treatment outcomes for the affected women due to early detection and better treatment methods.
