Accra, Nov. 25, GNA – The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), on Wednesday launched an awareness campaign on prostate cancer, to advocate for early detection through regular screening and diagnosis, especially among its personnel, to prevent complications and avoidable deaths from the disease.
Rear Admiral Seth Amoama, the Chief of Naval Staff, Ghana Navy, who launched the campaign in Accra said the challenges with access, affordability, and poor health seeking behaviours of most men, contributed to the high incidence of prostate cancer-related mortalities.
He said some soldiers, attribute the admission to ill-health as a sign of weakness, hence, they often refuse to report their health predicament.
He said often they hide and resort to alternative sources of care due to the myths and misconceptions surrounding prostate cancer, resulting to late presentation when the cancer had spread to other major organs leaving no chances of survival.
He said in 2019, a total of about 1.3 million new prostate cancer cases were recorded globally and indicated that studies have shown that the incidence and mortality increased with age, occurred more often among men of African descent.
The disease, he said was high within the GAF, because it was made up of predominantly men, and encouraged all personnel in the Garrisons across the country, aged 40 years and above, to immediately go to the medical research stations for appropriate screening, diagnosis, and referral for treatment.
He said cancer screening aimed to detect the disease before the onset of any symptoms, stressing that the benefits included improving the quality of life and saving people from preventable deaths.
R/Adm Amoama stated that various training had earlier been organized for the requisite frontline health workers and medical personnel, as well as health promotion officers across the Garrisons.
These were undertaken so they could effectively assist in the proper education, for attitudinal change, encourage regular screening, diagnosis and treatment.
He said with funding from the Janssen Pharmaceuticals Companies of Johnson and Johnson, the GAF facilities had been resourced with Information, Educational, and Communication materials and videos in five languages, which were being shared on social media outlets to public education.
Dr Ben Adusei, Urologist at the 37 Military Hospital, in a brief overview on prostate cancer, said it was the second most common cancer among men of African origin, and in Ghana, evidence from population-based screening, showed a prevalence of seven per cent in males between the ages of 50 and 75 years.
However, due to the absence of a cancer registry in Ghana, accurate statistics could not be obtained, said there had been a decrease in mortality related to the disease in the past few years due to the increased awareness.
He mentioned some common risk factors as age, family history, and race, and advised men to observe symptoms including trouble urinating, decreased force in the stream of urine, blood in the urine or semen, bone pain especially in the hips, back (spine) and ribs, as well as weakness in the legs or feet due to spread of cancer other body cells.
Dr Adusei also said there were two types of prostate cancer, with one being latent and without any symptoms until a pathologist’s microscopic autopsy on a dead person revealed meaning that a person could have the disease but remain asymptomatic.
The clinical type could easily be diagnosed through simple hand screening techniques, MRI, ultrasound and other diagnostic procedures, he said.
He said one could reduce the risk of prostate cancer by maintaining a healthy body weight, aiming for a Body Mass Index below 30, regular exercising, eating a balanced diet, reducing and substituting intake of animal with plant-based fat, and minimising the consumption of dairy products.
Dr Adusei said prostate cancer was curable, depending on the advancement of the disease, and the success of the available treatment options such as surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, would depend on early detection to ensure a better outcome.
Mr Kwabena Asante, the Manager for Governmental Affairs, Janssen Pharmaceutical, said studies had shown that globally, there was in-depth knowledge on prostate cancer, but it had received very low support, compared to breast cancer, hence, the need for increased awareness, to attract the needed leadership commitment.
He said apart from providing diverse funding and technical support to the GAF’s efforts, his outfit had initiated an ongoing conversation with the National Health Insurance Authority to support and help reduce the treatment cost of prostate cancer.
GNA