Market women benefit from breast cancer screening
Five hundred market women have benefited from a breast cancer screening and awareness creation programme in Accra.
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Medical officers and nurses from the Radiotherapy Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital enlightened the beneficiaries on the dangers of breast cancer and the need for patients to seek prompt and regular medical care.
Those identified with certain abnormalities in their breast, especially lump in the breast, were referred to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital for further examination and treatment.
Participants were taught how to do regular self breast examination (BSE), which is acknowledged by medical experts as an effective means of early detection of the disease.
Doctors say early detection is an effective way to manage the disease, and have encouraged women to report to the nearest health centres upon finding any abnormality with their breasts.
The exercise was put together by the Prayer Chain Ghana, a non-denominational group, with support from JM Addo & Sons, Pledge Pink Adro Limited, Hallowed Charted Ghana, Tansy Limited, Green Hills School of Health Sciences and F & B Consult.
Breast cancer situation in Ghana
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), breast cancer is the most common cancer among African women between the ages of 20 and 50, and a 2012 report by the organisation also indicated that breast cancer among Ghanaian women was on the increase.
In October 2014, the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs, together with the WHO office in Ghana, launched the ‘Save a breast Ghana’ campaign for awareness creation and treatment for affected persons.
Why programme was organised
In an interview, the Founder and President of Prayer Chain Ghana, Mrs Catherine Forson, said the exercise was geared towards market women because of their busy schedule, stressing that “Market women receive less awareness and education on breast cancer.”
The Principal Nursing Officer at the National Centre for Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Mrs Juliana Tagoe, encouraged women who were not breastfeeding or those in their menopausal stages to do a thorough breast analysis once in a month and report any change to the nearest health centre.