By Rosemary Wayo
Tamale, Oct 09, GNA – Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) has embarked on a walk to create public awareness on breast cancer.
Staff of the hospital had one-on-one engagements with residents as they marched through the principal streets of Tamale, holding placards with educational inscriptions on breast cancer.
Some inscriptions on the placards read “support your spouse battling breast cancer,” early detection saves lives,” early detection is cost effective,” “breast cancer is curable” among others.
The walk formed part of the hospital’s month-long activities to mark the breast cancer awareness month, which included free breast screening.
It was on the theme: “Living Beyond Breast Cancer: Together We Can.”
Madam Evelyn Osei Amoah, an Onchology Nurse Specialist at TTH, addressing the media after the walk, said the agenda for this year’s breast cancer awareness was to inform people in the Northern Region that there was life beyond breast cancer.
She said the hospital screened 4,044 people last year and had about 60 breast cancer cases, who were diagnosed and treated, adding that over 4000 people were targeted for this year’s screening.
She said, “In as much as we educate the public on breast cancer, we still have cases that come in advance.”
She added that “Some women come to the hospital with both breasts affected saying they are not aware of breast cancer. This means we have a lot of work to do on breast cancer awareness creation.”
Madam Amoah said the hospital was managing confirmed breast cancer cases at the Onchology Unit, adding that cases were recorded on daily basis.
She said most women died out of breast cancer due to late diagnosis and “I noticed that the TTH lost three women in September to breast cancer.”
She urged members of the public to avail themselves for the free screening for early detection and treatment stating that males were not exempted as breast cancer could affect anyone.
GNA