Accra, Oct. 16, GNA – Rotaract Club of Accra-Ring Road in partnership with the University of Ghana Medical Students have held a breast cancer awareness programme to increase knowledge of the disease.
Dr Eugene Atuahene-Ampadu, the Surgical Resident Doctor of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, told the GNA that the exercise was to encourage women to check and screen for breast cancer.
He said early detection of breast cancer was the only way to eliminate it among women and it was prudent for every woman, especially from 30 years and above to know their status.
“Just know your breast and if there are any abnormalities in the breast you can easily detect it,” he said.
For him, it was also necessary for men to frequently get screened for breast cancer, adding that about one out of 10 men may develop a breast disease.
He said among men, who develop breast diseases, about 10 per cent of them may have breast cancer disease, hence, men should not be left out during breast screening programmes.
Dr Atuahene-Ampadu explained that as much as the country had dedicated the month of October to breast disease, more essentially breast cancer awareness, it was important to generally create awareness throughout the year.
He said the fact that the country had dedicated one month, underscored the importance of breast diseases, with breast cancer being one of the highest causes of mortality and significant morbidity among women.
He urged young women to frequently get screened against breast cancer, early detection saves lives.
Mr Yayra Korshie Mawugbe, President, of the University of Ghana Medical Students Association, said most breast cancer deaths would have been prevented if early screening had been held to detect it for action to be taken.
“The disease at the early stage is not painful, the only way to detect it is through medical screening,” he said.
He urged women to adopt regular breast cancer screening at home to avoid the late stages of the disease to prevent premature death.
Ms Patience Dibabe, President, Rotaract Club of Accra, Ring-Road Central, explained that as part of their 27th Anniversary Celebrations, there was the need for the team to come out with this awareness programme since October had been dedicated to creating awareness.
She asked women to avoid applying traditional medicines to the breast, whenever they noticed unusual things in the breast, adding that they should seek medical attention from qualified health experts.
Ms Dibabe appealed to men to get involved in breast cancer awareness screening as well as encouraged their wives to visit health facilities regularly for breast screening.
More than 150 residents were screened with some suspected cases and referred to scanning centres and hospitals for necessary investigations.
GNA