MMDCEs in Ashanti sensitised to breast oncology
A day's sensitisation seminar on basic breast oncology for regional ministers, metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives in the Ashanti Region has ended in the capital, Kumasi.
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In attendance were the Regional Minister, Mr Simon Osei Mensah, the Deputy Regional Minister, Hon. Elizabeth Agyemang, and the MMDCEs in the region.
The seminar, under the auspices of Breast Care International, an NGO, comes ahead of a formal launch of a basic oncology programme for 120 nurses to be trained in clinical examination. They will also be sensitised to the need to always refer women with suspicious lesions to treatment centres on time.
Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study and treatment of malignant tumours.
Beneficiaries
Two nurses will be drawn from each of the districts in the two pilot regions of Ashanti and Eastern regions to be trained after which they will return to their respective communities in a scheme designed for the localities to own and internalise the project.
A communiqué signed and issued at the end of the seminar by the President of Breast Care International, Dr Beatrice Wiafe Addai, said: “It is about time communities owned domesticated programmes tailored to rapidly facilitate the early detection and referral of suspected cases in a bid to reduce breast cancer mortality cases.”
Significance
Dr Addai explained that the programme feeds into the health module of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA). She promised a graded expansion and eventual national coverage in a determined effort to decrease the higher mortality rate from breast cancer and also reduce the incidence of advanced stage diseases in deprived communities.
Commendation
The Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister lauded the organisation for what she described as a novelty and promised the support of the RCC for any venture that would harness human capital for accelerated development of the country.
BCi ambassador and ace musician, Akosua Agyapong, entertained patrons and also educated them on the breast disease.
Koforidua
A similar workshop was held for MMDAs in Koforidua in the Eastern Region where Dr Addai said fighting breast cancer required a multi-facetted approach, saying, “no efforts should be spared in the struggle to free our women from this ignoble disease.”
She said BCI was introducing the oncology module as a sequel to the hugely successful annual flagship programme, “BCI Ghana walk for the cure” with its attendant showcasing of survivors and weekly free breast screening programmes across the length and breadth of the
country.
