By Godfred Aaneamenga Polkuu, GNA
Bolgatanga, Sept. 27, GNA – Dr Catherine Yiyugsah, a Paediatric Oncologist at the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH), says childhood cancers are not death sentences but treatable if detected early.
“Children also get cancers, it is not just a disease for adults, but the good news is that cancers in children are not equal to death. There are lots of prospects, a lot of them are treatable and curable.
“But that is only possible when the disease is detected very early. Once they delay at home and the disease spreads, treatment is usually quite difficult and challenging,” Dr Yiyugsah said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency after she facilitated a day’s workshop on early warning signs and symptoms of childhood cancers in Bolgatanga.
The workshop was at the instance of the World Child Cancer (WCC), a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), for healthcare professionals including nurses of various categories, midwives, Physician Assistants and doctors on how to identify early warning signs and symptoms of childhood cancers.
The month of September is regarded internationally as the Childhood Cancer Awareness Month (CCAM), and the multi-professional workshop was to build the capacity of participants with the requisite knowledge on how to identify early warning signs of childhood cancer, as part of activities to celebrate the CCAM.
Dr Yiyugsah admonished healthcare professionals, especially those at the Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds, health centres and hospitals to look out for the early warning signs and symptoms of childhood cancer including persistent fevers, weight loss, brittle bones, squint, growths and swellings, unexplained bleeding despite interventions, and immediately refer for further investigations and management.
Even though the Paediatric Oncologist said the causes of childhood cancers were unknown, she indicated that there were however, risk factors, including malaria for some cancers.
Dr Yiyugsah explained that some agrochemicals could increase one’s chances of cancer, “But we are not saying that everyone who is exposed to these factors would 100 per cent have a cancer,” she clarified.
Mr Emmanuel Ayire Adongo, the Head of the WCC in Sub-Saharan Africa, stressed the need for healthcare professionals, especially those at the community level to be able to identify the early signs and symptoms of childhood cancers, and immediately refer for further investigations and management to curb cancer-related mortalities in children.
He said about 1,500 children in Ghana were expected to develop cancer a year, and out of the number, only about one-third were identified, “It means most of the cases are perishing in their homes because they think childhood cancer is not treatable.”
He noted that owing to socio-cultural practices in rural communities, some parents and guardians relied on herbalists and traditional healers, and only reported to healthcare facilities with deteriorated conditions.
He further indicated with concern that even at the healthcare facilities, staff were knowledge deficient on the early signs and symptoms of childhood cancers, saying, “By the time it is detected, it is at an advanced stage where they cannot treat.”
According to him, about 80 per cent of children used to die of childhood cancers, but with the intervention of the WCC, including support treatment among others, the number was reduced to about 40 percent.
“What about the other 60 per cent?- they are dying, because of late presentation at health facilities. That is why we are here to train doctors, PAs, nurses on how to identify childhood cancer early and refer for proper diagnosis and treatment,” he noted.
Apart from the training, Mr Adongo said his outfit would support the managements of the Regional Health Directorate and the Regional Hospital to establish a well-equipped childhood cancer centre to manage cases effectively.
“We have trained nurses, and we are looking for doctors and pharmacists to train so that they can manage the childhood cancer centre to prevent people from travelling to Tamale and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospitals or Accra for treatment,” he said.
A participant, Mr Mark Anthony Azongo, who is a Senior Resident, Paediatric Oncology at the Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives, and staff of the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital, described the training programme as “very important” for healthcare professionals in the region, and thanked the NGO for the initiative and support.
The WCC team led by Mr Adongo, later visited the site earmarked for the establishment of the Childhood Cancer Centre at the Regional Hospital, the Paediatric Ward and the children’s play therapy unit of the hospital.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali/Lydia Kukua Asamoah