By Nicholas Osei-Wusu
The Medical Superintendent of the Adansi North District Hospital, Dr. Abena Konadu Yawson, has observed that for Ghana to effectively subdue the cases and impacts of breast, cervical, and prostate cancers at the individual, family, and national levels, it is very imperative for people to accept the reality that the three deadly diseases are purely medical and therefore play their respective parts in the national crusade against them instead of attributing the causes to spirituality.
According to the Medical Superintendent, while cervical cancer is caused by known factors such as multiple sex partners, the risk factors of both breast and prostate cancers include hereditary, but she emphasised that early detection for treatment are the surest means of cure and survival for the affected persons.
Dr. Konadu Yawson was addressing a mini clinic at Fomena to climax the month-long awareness campaign on breast cancer.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has identified breast and cervical cancers as some of the most common and dangerous diseases in women, while prostate cancer is known to be the most common cancer in men. It is in appreciation of the serious socio-economic effects coupled with low public education about these diseases that the W.H.O. has set aside three different months for member countries to raise awareness on their causes, risk factors, available treatment, and possibly prevention.
While January has been set aside for public education about cervical cancer, September every year is dedicated to prostate cancer, and October is otherwise known as ‘Pink Month’ to highlight the reality, risk factors, treatment, and effects of breast cancer on the individual, family, and nation.
Partner stakeholders in the Adansi traditional area in the Ashanti region took advantage of the Breast Cancer Month of October to undertake various activities aimed at increasing public awareness about the three diseases of prostate, cervical, and breast cancer to cause people to accept the reality of those diseases.
The month-long outreach was climaxed with a mini clinic at Fomena, the capital of the Adansi traditional area, to provide screening and treatment services for a wide range of illnesses, with an emphasis on the three different cancers, at no financial cost to them, even though cases detected to be advanced were referred to hospitals for treatment.
While men 40 years of age or older were screened for prostate cancer, women had their cervix or breasts screened.
The Medical Superintendent of the Adansi North District Hospital, Dr. Abena Konadu Yawson, used the opportunity to educate the people on breast, cervical, and prostate cancers, expressing regret that many women in Ghana with breast cancer die due to the attribution of spirituality to its cause, hence the delay in reporting for detection and treatment at the hospital.
“If you look at the figures, more will die in subsequent years. The problem we have in our setting is that people don’t come early. People don’t screen. They only report when they start having symptoms, and for cancer. Once you start having symptoms, it means it’s gone beyond salvage,” Dr. Konadu Yawson said about cervical cancer.
The Senior Manager in charge of Community Relations, West Africa of AngloGold, Africa region, Emmanuel Baidoo, announced that, as part of the mine’s commitment towards improving access and quality of healthcare for people within the Adansi traditional area, AngloGold is spending appreciable sums of money to construct more health infrastructure in the operational area.
The beneficiary communities include Akrokere, which is to get a new Theatre and laboratory at the local health centre and raise it to a Hospital.
“In our 10-year development plan, many are the initiatives to bring quality healthcare to the doorstep of the people in our operational communities,” Mr. Baidoo assured.
The Adansi North District Chief Executive, Eric Kusi, while pledging the Assembly’s commitment to supporting every initiative targeted at raising public awareness about the three diseases, advised men and women in particular to adhere to advice on reducing their risks of getting any of the cancers.
The mini clinic, which was a collaboration among AngloGold Ashanti, the Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Foundation, GTZ, and the Adansi North District Assembly, also offered free screening and treatment for a wide range of illnesses, including hepatitis ‘B’, malaria, eye, dental, nutrition, and Bid Mass Index.