About 50 to 60 percent of suspected cases of breast cancer has been recorded during a breast cancer screening for over 250 women at the Kaneshie Medical Centre(KMC) during the breast cancer month-long campaign.
This was disclosed by the Medical Officer of the Kaneshie Medical Centre, Dr ObedBoamah,in an interview with the Ghanaian Times in Accra on Friday.
Organised by the New Times Corporation (NTC) in partnership with other organisations such as Kaneshie Medical Centre, Unichem Ghana Group, World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Kaneshie Polyclinic, the exercise was to create awareness about breast cancer, leading to low mortality rate.
When the Ghanaian Times got to the Medical Centre at the Kaneshie Market Complex, it observed that some women who had made their way to the place were seated patiently waiting to go through the screening process.
The women were also educated on the disease by the nurses who were attending to them while ensuring that the screening process went on smoothly.
According to Dr Boamah, those who had suspicious cases were recommended to visit scanning centres depending on their proximity and later report back to the Medical Centre.
Additionally, he said the screening would also afford the Medical Centre the opportunity to determine who needed urgent attention based on the medical report after the scan had been done.
Dr Boamahnoted that illiteracy was proving a challenge in the fight against the disease as he asserted that through his interaction with the women,it came to light that most of them had little or no knowledge about the disease.
This, Dr Boamah indicated, called for intensified awareness creation by showing images of the disease on various media platforms including broadcast, print and online media and the use of a language that would be understood by the women.
Heappealed to government to include breast cancer screening such as mammogram and ultra-sound screening to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) as most clients found it costly.
For his part, the Acting Head of Clinical Service at the KMC, Dr Seth KwabenaMawuena, lauded NTC and its associate partners for the exercise, describing it as impressive considering the enthusiasm with which it had been received by the women.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
He said through the exercise, breast cancer cases and other health-related cases that would have gone unnoticed had been detected with the appropriate medical assistance being offered.
Dr Mawuena noted that early detection was key in the fight against breast cancer, saying "early detection is very important because when there is late detection it becomes complicated and there is a high chance of death."
He, therefore, urged the public, especially women, to take advantage of breast cancer screening in order to know their status.
Some women whom the Ghanaian Times spoke to expressed high level of satisfaction about the whole exercise and called for intensified awareness creation about the disease.
They also urged women not to wait until the cancer became severe before visiting the health centre for treatment but rather make frequent check-up a habit.
