More women die from breast cancer yearly

She said the number represents only those who report at the hospitals because many patients seek treatment from other sources such as prayer camps and shrines.

“We are not saying prayers are bad but our appeal is for them to use prayer to support what medical doctors do at the hospitals,” she said.

Dr Wiafe Addai, who was speaking on Wednesday during the launch of the UT Bank Pledge Pink 2013 Campaign in Accra, said most of the deaths were caused by ignorance and misconceptions about the disease.

The Pledge Pink Campaign, which is to help raise awareness on breast cancer in Ghana, is an initiative of the Bank, and was launched in 2010 in collaboration with the Cancer Society of Ghana.

The launch also coincided with the unveiling of a 100,000 Mobile Screening Van, which was acquired by the Pledge Pink Campaign to reach out to those in the hinterlands for screening.

Dr Wiafe Addai said breast cancer is a global issue and stressed the need for stakeholders to come together to help fight the disease.

She said the incidence among men in Ghana is around one to three per cent while in Nigeria it is five per cent.

Dr Addai called on corporate bodies to support efforts to educate the people about the disease.

“Cancer is a curable and a preventable disease if diagnosed early and I would like to use this opportunity to appeal to our women to seek early treatment.

“We must talk about the breast cancer and ensure that the education and awareness creation goes down and far to the people. Many people claim they do not know about the disease and they are right because those of us who are informed are not talking about it, “she said.

Dr Addai said “diseases like malaria and tuberculosis would one day leave us but breast cancer would continue to live with us”, and urged all to start talking about it to achieve positive impact.

Mrs Pearl Esua-Mensah, Deputy Managing Director of the UT Bank and a Patron of Pledge Pink Campaign, said as the disease is known to affect both women and men, it is important for all to put their hands on the wheel to save lives.

She said for every 10 women diagnosed of breast cancer there is a man and this motivated the Bank to join others to raise funds and help to create awareness of the disease.

Mrs Esua-Mensah said the bank paid about GH¢3,000 on breast cancer patients last year and expressed the hope that the financial entity would raise more funds this year to support the cause.

Mr Kofi Amoabeng, Chief Executive Officer of the UT Bank, appealed to other institutions to assist in addressing the problem.

He said the Mobile Van would be used to help women, especially those in the remote areas to fight the disease and pledged to acquire more of such vans to effectively reach everyone in Ghana.



Source: GNA