Christiana Afua Nyarko
Accra, Oct 20, GNA – Dr. Efua Commeh, the Acting Programme Manager, Non Communicable Diseases Control Programme at the Ghana Health Service, has asked faith healers and spiritualists to encourage their followers to seek medical treatment for breast cancer beside any spiritual care.
That, she said, would mitigate the high breast cancer prevalence and associated mortality rate in the country.
Dr. Commeh said some patients reported cases late due to assurances from spiritual healers and said that must stop because it often led to worse outcomes for the patients.
“There have been multiple times that people start their chemotherapy and radiotherapy and abandon it because somebody has promised that a miracle can happen, and they can pray away the breast cancer. The chemo is poison and killing them faster.
“These are myths and misconceptions in the system that we try to address,”she said, adding that: “Our mortality rate for breast cancer is over 50 percent and that is not acceptable. We should be able to drive down the figures and prevent these worsening disease outcomes.”
Dr. Commey said this in an interview with the GNA on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the Society of Family Physicians of Ghana (SOFPOG) and Pfizer, a pharmaceutical firm.
The seminar was under the theme: “Journey through Breast Cancer: Demystifying the Myths”.
Dr Commeh underscored the importance of a patient’s faith in seeking healthcare, but said it must be managed to produce positive outcomes.
She added, “You cannot rubbish somebody’s faith… In some cases, we involve some of our specialists, who are also Reverend Ministers.”
The seminar, which brought together healthcare professionals, advocates and survivors in Accra, offered insights into the disease condition, emerging trends and strategies for awareness creation.
It sought to promote the importance of early detection and treatment.
Dr Takyi Duayeden, the Vice President of SOFPOG, called for more education on the disease for the public to make informed decisions.
GNA