By Patrick Ofoe Nudzi
Accra, March 10, GNA – The India Embassy in Ghana, in partnership with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other partners, have held a health walk through some principal streets of Accra to mark the International Women’s Day.
The walk which had more women participants, started from the Parks and Gardens near the 37 Military Hospital and ended back there, focuses on raising awareness creation on crucial health issues affecting women.
After a short workout and stretching exercise having completed the walk, health experts took turns to highlight on key health challenges including cervical and breast cancers, sexual and reproductive health, menopausal issues as well as mental health and remedies to these illnesses.
Emphasising on early screening and self-care to significantly reduce the risk of cancer in women, the experts explained that regular screening for cervical and breast cancers ensured early detection, which helped in effectively fighting the disease.
Dr Priscilla Vandyck-Sey, a Consultant Family Physician at the Korle-Bu Polyclinic, urged the participants especially women, to undertake cervical cancer screening to know their status, take the HPV vaccine and seek early treatment if diagnosed.
She said cervical cancer which was caused by high-risk exposure to the human papillomavirus, could manifest 10, 20 or 30 years later if not screened and these viruses could cause cancers in the cervix, vulva, anal and penile regions of people.
Dr Vandyck-Sey said cervical cancer was preventable and emphasised on the need to catch as many women as possible in the pre-cancerous state, where it was easy to treat, adding that early detection through screening tests like pap smear and HPV tests was crucial for preventing the disease.
She said treatment at the pre-cancerous state had been less expensive, however, when it moved to a stage which was seen as invasive cancer, then treatment became more expensive.
She said the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine had been made available and in some jurisdictions the vaccine had been given to girls and boys to prevent high concentration of the virus amongst the population.
““Ideally, it is recommended to give the vaccine to people between the ages 11 and 26 years but it can be given as early as nine years and sometimes as late as 45 years depending on the type of the human papillomavirus,” Dr Vandyck-Sey,” Dr Vandyck-Sey.
Dr Katherine Attoh, National Professional Officer, WHO Ghana, responsible for Reproduction, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent Health and Healthy Aging urged parents to educate their children about their nutrition, sexual and reproductive health.”
“Once the child has a basic understanding of the part of the body, we should not use euphemisms to describe the parts of their bodies. We should tell them about the breast, reproductive organs and private parts that should not be touched,” she said.
The sensitisation exercise was followed up with some fun games like musical chairs, tag of peace and sack race.
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