By Rosemary Wayo
Tamale, Oct 18, GNA – Management of the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) has appealed for support to procure mammogram and radiotherapy equipment to help undertake comprehensive cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Mr Musah Salifu, Acting Director of Nursing Services at the TTH said the hospital offered surgery and chemotherapy services for cancer patients, and needed radiotherapy for advanced treatment.
He said the hospital did not relent in public health concerns, hence the call on philanthropists to support its efforts to effect intensive breast cancer care.
He made the appeal at a durbar in Tamale to launch the breast cancer awareness month, organised by the Oncology Unit of the TTH.
It was part of the hospital’s breast cancer awareness efforts and a call on Tamale residents to patronise the facility’s free breast screening exercise.
It was attended by the Vo-Naa Sulley Saaka, Chief of Voggo Traditional Area, Madam Naana Akyaa Asante, Board Chair of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana as well as other breast cancer survivors, who shared testimonies to encourage members of the public.
Mr Abdul-Latif Tanko Iddrisu, Deputy Director of Administration at the TTH, said the hospital had made breast health an integral part of its services, and put necessary structures and strategies in place to fight the global canker.
Dr Abdul-Rashid Timtoni, a Medical Oncologist at the TTH, said most breast cancer cases brought to the hospital were at advanced stages, adding that there was a need for radiotherapy for patients to ensure no cancer cell lived after surgeries.
He indicated that radiotherapy was a key service under breast cancer treatment and said the smallest size of the cancer cell would re-grow when left in the breast.
He called on government to be proactive in procuring chemotherapy drugs to make them accessible to patients and said though these drugs were covered by health insurance, they were not readily available and are expensive for many patients to afford.
GNA