By Linda Naa Deide Aryeetey/Janifer Tetteh
Accra, Feb.13, GNA – The Rebecca Foundation on Monday donated three thermocoagulators to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to aid the early detection of cervical cancer.
The machines will be used by trained health workers in three selected districts: Akim Oda, West Gonga and Ejisu.
Mr Richard Darko, a member of the Rebecca Foundation’s communications team, who presented the machines, said the donation was expected to reduce incidence of cervical cancer.
The Thermocoagulator is a mobile, reusable, battery-operated handheld device used to treat cervical pre-cancer and human tissue lesions.
The device is designed based on the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) guidelines and recommendations for fighting the growing epidemic of cervical cancer. It is a compact, portable, battery-powered mobile device, which can be used in hospital and non-hospital rural healthcare locations.
Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, Director General of the GHS, who received the devices thanked the Rebecca foundation for its generosity.
He said although cervical cancer was preventable, Ghana recorded about 2,797 cases with 1, 699 deaths in 2020 due to late presentation of cases.
“As we intensify the opportunities for screening across the country, we must also be ready to stop infections at the initial stages, “he said.
The GHS Director General said the devices would be used and well maintained.
Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that occurs in the cells of the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina, it is the fourth most common cancer among women.
Globally, with an estimated 604 000 new cases and 342 000 deaths in 2020, about 90 per cent of the new cases and deaths worldwide in 2020 occurred in low and middle-income countries.
The cancer is caused by a Human Papillomavirus (HPV), mainly transmitted through sexual contact.
Cervical cancer can be cured if diagnosed at an early stage and treated promptly, vaccination against HPV and screening and treatment of pre-cancer lesions is a cost-effective way to prevent cervical cancer.
Symptoms include irregular blood spotting or light bleeding between periods in women of reproductive age, postmenopausal spotting or bleeding, bleeding after sexual intercourse; and increased vaginal discharge, sometimes foul smelling, persistent back, leg or pelvic pain, weight loss, fatigue, and loss of appetite.
GNA