A Midwife at the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC) Mrs Tmma Akua Amoah has called on women to avail themselves for regular breast cancer screening and also encourage their adult female to also develop interest in the screening exercise, to enable them to discover whether they have cancer for early treatment.
Mrs Amoah said it was important for women to seek medical attention when they identified an unusual development in their breast rather than engaging in self-medication, which would not help them but only worsen their condition.
Mrs Amoah made the call at a breast cancer education and screening programme organised by a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Smiling Heart Foundation (SHF) at Katanga in the Krachi-East Municipality of the Oti Region.
She, however, said it was unfortunate that some women in the municipality decided to visit prayer centres, when they suspected cases of breast cancer instead of visiting health facilities, and added that prayer centre leaders and pastors normally gave anointing oil to them which they applied on their breasts until the situation became worse.
According to Mrs Amoah, while some women depended on prayer centres to cure breast cancer, others relied on herbal medication, and it was only when their conditions got worse that they visited health facilities for help, and at that time they found themselves in hopeless situations which she stressed should be avoided.
Mrs Amoah, therefore asked prayer centre leaders to as a matter of importance refer any case of suspected breast cancer brought to the prayer centres to the hospitals for screening, diagnosis and treatment to save the lives of patients.
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She announced that last year, 21 suspected breast cancer cases were identified in the Krachi-East Municipality who were sent to the Ho Teaching Hospital for confirmation and treatment, and the 2023 screening recorded 30 suspected cases out of the total number of 137 women who participated in the exercise.
The Founder and Director of SHF, Mr Michael Gyato, explained that his organisation funded the transportation and treatment of the 21 women identified in 2022 to the Ho Teaching Hospital and said the 30 newly identified persons suspected of breast cancer would be sent to the hospital in Ho again.
Mr Gyato commended the management and staff of the Ho Teaching Hospital for the display of professionalism last year when the suspected cases were sent to the facility, and was sure that the 2023 women suspected of breast cancer would equally enjoy the timely and professionalism demonstrated by the medical staff last year.
Mr Michael Gyato said with time the foundation would raise funds to enable it to extend its activities to other parts of the Oti Region to educate women on the importance of knowing their breast cancer status and treatment to eradicate the disease which was common among women in the region.
