Addressing breast, cervical cancers: Battor Hospital gets new screening equipment
The Cervical Cancer Prevention and Training Centre (CCPTC) of the Catholic Hospital at Battor has taken delivery of three iBreastExam (CervAIcal colposcopes) equipment that can be used to screen women for both breast and cervical cancer.
The purchase and delivery of the equipment was funded by the Ben Addy Foundation and it is intended to further support the centre in its efforts to help train more healthcare givers to deliver the service of breast and cervical screening and treatment to the doorstep of all women in Ghana
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It is the first of its kind in the country and has been described by the CCPTC as “a new era for cervical and breast cancer screening in Ghana.”
IBreastExam
The iBreastExam is a simple gadget which is USA FDA approved and considered a crucial tool in the fight against breast and cervical cancers.
CervAIcal, a mobile colposcope, is integrated seamlessly with iBreastExam, which allows for breast cancer screening and cervical pre-cancer screening/follow up at the same setting, even in decentralised or remote settings.
It enables the scanning of the breasts by middle cadre staff (nurses, midwives, etc.) with little training as with it, they are able to detect breast lesions at the level of specialist breast surgeons.
Trained nurses, using the iBreastExam, can detect some clinically non palpable breast lesions which specialist surgeons cannot pick up during Clinical Breast Examinations.
Two-in-one service
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Director of the CCPTC, Dr Kofi Effah, said the arrival of the equipment would simplify the screening process as well as make it convenient for women to get the services at a go.
He said with breast and cervical cancers being the top two cancer killers of women in Ghana, it was important that the efforts to screen and provide services for every woman, no matter her location, was sustained and stepped up to save lives.
“Breast and cervical cancers when detected early can be treated. The good thing is that the IBreastExam is a two-in-one service equipment and it will help the CCPTC to achieve its main objective of training healthcare givers to deliver screening services to the doorstep of women and on every CHIPS compound,” he said.
Dr Effah, who is an Obstetrician Gynaecologist, explained that the advantages the IBreastExam had over the widely known mammogram was that it was able to screen the breasts of women of all ages and not for only the above 40s as the mammogram.
“The mammogram is restricted to women above 40 years because it cannot be used for dense breasts, but the IBrestExam can be used for women at all ages because it can screen the various levels of density of breasts and that is key. What it means is that being a handy tool, the healthcare giver equipped with the gadget can visit any facility either on a CHIP compound or in a remote area, set up and screen women for both cervical and breast cancer in a very convenient manner,” he stressed.
He said apart from using it in its training programmes, the CCPTC would also make the equipment available for use during its periodic screening exercises which form part of the training and also its corporate social responsibility for people within its catchment area.
The CCPTC
The CCPTC in early 2021 added training in early breast cancer detection to its training in cervical cancer prevention (screening and treatment of precancerous lesions of the cervix).
The iBreastExam will be used together with Clinical Breast Examination and trainees at the CCPTC will be taught to use it in their institutions across the country.
Among the key supporters of the centre are the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Ben Addy Foundation and its Founding President, Mr Ben Addy, as well as the Accra Lions Club. The Cervical Cancer Prevention and Training Centre (CCPTC) of the Catholic Hospital at Battor has taken delivery of three iBreastExam (CervAIcal colposcopes) equipment that can be used to screen women for both breast and cervical cancer.
The purchase and delivery of the equipment was funded by the Ben Addy Foundation and it is intended to further support the centre in its efforts to help train more healthcare givers to deliver the service of breast and cervical screening and treatment to the doorstep of all women in Ghana
It is the first of its kind in the country and has been described by the CCPTC as “a new era for cervical and breast cancer screening in Ghana.”
IBreastExam
The iBreastExam is a simple gadget which is USA FDA approved and considered a crucial tool in the fight against breast and cervical cancers.
CervAIcal, a mobile colposcope, is integrated seamlessly with iBreastExam, which allows for breast cancer screening and cervical pre-cancer screening/follow up at the same setting, even in decentralised or remote settings.
It enables the scanning of the breasts by middle cadre staff (nurses, midwives, etc.) with little training as with it, they are able to detect breast lesions at the level of specialist breast surgeons.
Trained nurses, using the iBreastExam, can detect some clinically non palpable breast lesions which specialist surgeons cannot pick up during Clinical Breast Examinations.
Two-in-one service
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Director of the CCPTC, Dr Kofi Effah, said the arrival of the equipment would simplify the screening process as well as make it convenient for women to get the services at a go.
He said with breast and cervical cancers being the top two cancer killers of women in Ghana, it was important that the efforts to screen and provide services for every woman, no matter her location, was sustained and stepped up to save lives.
“Breast and cervical cancers when detected early can be treated. The good thing is that the IBreastExam is a two-in-one service equipment and it will help the CCPTC to achieve its main objective of training healthcare givers to deliver screening services to the doorstep of women and on every CHIPS compound,” he said.
Dr Effah, who is an Obstetrician Gynaecologist, explained that the advantages the IBreastExam had over the widely known mammogram was that it was able to screen the breasts of women of all ages and not for only the above 40s as the mammogram.
“The mammogram is restricted to women above 40 years because it cannot be used for dense breasts, but the IBrestExam can be used for women at all ages because it can screen the various levels of density of breasts and that is key. What it means is that being a handy tool, the healthcare giver equipped with the gadget can visit any facility either on a CHIP compound or in a remote area, set up and screen women for both cervical and breast cancer in a very convenient manner,” he stressed.
He said apart from using it in its training programmes, the CCPTC would also make the equipment available for use during its periodic screening exercises which form part of the training and also its corporate social responsibility for people within its catchment area.
The CCPTC
The CCPTC in early 2021 added training in early breast cancer detection to its training in cervical cancer prevention (screening and treatment of precancerous lesions of the cervix).
The iBreastExam will be used together with Clinical Breast Examination and trainees at the CCPTC will be taught to use it in their institutions across the country.
Among the key supporters of the centre ishealth4 the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Ben Addy Foundation and its Founding President, Mr Ben Addy, as well as the Accra Lions Club.
