The President of Breast Care International (BCI) Dr. Mrs. Beatrice Wiafe Addai has called on the government to intervene in the upsurge of breast cancer cases in the country.
She revealed that the disease accounted for more than 2,000 deaths out of 4,000 women who were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020 during the COVID-19 era, a situation she described as alarming.
Dr Mrs Wiafe Addai made the call during a free breast cancer screening and education for the members of Women’s Fellowship at Church of Pentecost at Gyinase in the Asokwa municipality in the Ashanti region on Wednesday, July 14, 2021.
She was hopeful that the government can help a lot by way of creating awareness and screening women in the rural communities, where the disease is killing women for lack of knowledge and awareness.
The former chair for the Ghana Cancer Board suggested that “the upsurge in breast cases can be controlled if the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ghana Health Services (GHS) re-train the community nurses to know how to clinically examine, screen and diagnosed early stage disease”.
Dr Wiafe Addai, who is the CEO of Peace and Love Hospitals in Kumasi and Accra said these nurses will be able refer them to treatment centres in the cities receive the medical care that they need to avert premature deaths among women.
“The government can team up with the nongovernmental organizations and other civil society organizations to help save the lives of women who are dying prematurely, and that can only be done if these nurses in the rural areas are retrained,” the consultant surgeon added.
She attributed the rise in breast cancer cases to the neglect of attention by the government that has focused all its attention in fighting against the COVID-19 disease.