Breast screening exercise held in Asikuma Odoben Brakwa
About 1,200 women in the Asikuma Odoben Brakwa Constituency in the Central Region have benefited from free a breast cancer education and screening exercise.
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The well attended programme was organised by the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Asikuma Odoben Brakwa Constituency, Mrs Georgina Nkrumah Aboah, with support from Breast Care International (BCI), a non-governmental organisation dedicated to the creation of awareness of breast cancer, especially among women in rural communities, so that those with symptoms of the disease could seek early medical care.
The beneficiary communities were Breman Asikuma, Brakwa, Odoben and surrounding communities.
The President of Breast Care International, Dr Mrs Beatrice Wiafe Addai, who is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Peace and Love Hospitals, said breast cancer had become global; killing women in Ghana and elsewhere in the world. She, therefore, stressed the need for intensive public sensitisation programmes to address misconceptions and myths surrounding the disease.
She said the cause of the disease was still unknown, adding that every woman could be affected, while certain risk factors such as heredity also exposed women to the disease, with those who have never given birth also at risk.
Dr Wiafe Addai said Ghana was the 10th leading country in Africa with breast cancer cases, stressing that every 69 seconds, a woman dies of breast cancer in the world.
She advised women to regularly examine their breasts in order to report any abnormality in the breast to health officials, and cautioned against attributing the disease to spirituality, saying breast cancer could be treated when detected early. She lauded the MP for the exercise.
Mrs Nkrumah Aboah said she decided to organise the exercise to help in the early detection of the disease among women in the constituency, and urged the women to be mindful of whatever abnormality they detect in their breast.
