The Essikado Government Hospital with the support of Mr Charles Onuawonto Bissue has screened hundreds of people for breast cancer in the Essikado-Ketan Constituency and neighbouring communities.
The exercise included counselling and education sessions on breast cancer.
The Breast Cancer Campaign started in early October this year with a team of dedicated nurses from the Maternity Department of the Essikado Hospital. It is the biggest campaign yet, undertaken by the hospital.
This is a result of an aggressive social media advertisement and media involvement that accompanied the support offered by Mr Charles Onuawonto Bissue, an aspiring parliamentary candidate, on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
According to data from the exercise [as of October 25, 2023], 6 people have breasts with discharges, 17 with a lump in one breast, 22 with a lump in both breasts, 3 with a swollen and dimpled breast, 10 with pains in the breast, and 1 with a wound on the areola.
At a durbar held today at the hospital to climax the campaign, Mr Bissue urged Ghanaians to be very particular about breast cancer.
He disclosed that a close relative was lost to this disease, and thus his reason for supporting such a mass exercise in the constituency is to create awareness and facilitate access to early treatment.
“As an indigene of the Western Region, I availed myself to support and sponsor the whole exercise, particularly because about three months ago my cousin died of breast cancer. A nurse I know has also died of the cancer”.
He has, therefore, vowed to continuously support creating awareness of breast cancer that will promote early detection to avoid untimely deaths.
“So if a nurse could not [purportedly] detect the disease early, it tells you that more should be done to create awareness and educate, particularly women, on the cancer”, he stressed.
Adelaide Charlotte Arhin, a senior midwife at the Essikado Hospital, indicated that the numbers recorded for voluntary screening and counseling this year have been overwhelming.
She urged residents to continuously visit the hospital for regular checks, adding that “it should not be for only October that you must get screened.”
She underscored the significance of comprehensive breast health checks and self-examinations, adding that “both men and women can walk to the hospital at any time to have their breasts screened, and it is for free too.”
Madam Margaret Eshun, another midwife at the hospital, also addressed a common misconception, stating that while it is uncommon, men are equally at risk of developing breast cancer.
She debunked the assertion that when men suck women’s breasts, it prevents the women from contracting the disease. She recommended a regular breast health check as the best way to detect and treat breast cancer.
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com
