The Eastside Life Hospital in Bolgatanga as part of its Breast Cancer Awareness Month screened a total of 355 women in the first week of the awareness month in the Bolgatanga municipality.
The staff and medical team of the Hospital, with the theme; “Close the Care Gap Through Sensitization and Screening” visited market centres, the Bolgatanga Girls’ SHS and the hospital to screen and educate the public and teenage girls on issues concerning breast cancer, its symptoms, and prevention.
The Head of Midwifery and an advanced midwifery Specialist of the hospital, Elizabeth Ogoe Anum in an interview said “breast cancer is becoming a great public health challenge among women in Ghana.
“Breast cancer screening among Ghanaian women is inadequate. Many cases are diagnosed at advanced stages leading to poor outcomes including deaths. Early detection of breast cancer gives the best chance of survival,” she noted.
She added “there are more effective therapy options available, the sooner the issue is found, the best outcome is guaranteed in this way. Women who practice regular breast screening have been known to have a lower risk of developing an advanced form of breast cancer,” she added.
In 2020, there were 2.3 million women diagnosed with breast cancer and 685,000 deaths globally.
In Ghana, breast cancer is becoming a great public health challenge among women. With about 2,900 cases occurring annually, and about 362 women dying from it.
Mrs. Ogoe Anum believes that women who practice regular breast screening have been known to have a lower risk of developing an advanced form of breast cancer than those who do not, and as part of the hospital’s corporate social responsibilities, deemed it fit to provide free breast screening for women in Bolgatanga and sensitize them on the need to screen their breast regularly.
Out of the 355 breasts screened, women with breast lumps were 12, those with abnormal nipple discharge were 10. In all, 71 women were screened at the facility, those screened in 109 at the markets 109, and 175 girls at the Bolgatanga Girls’ Senior High School.
Of the 12 screened breast lumps, ages between 17 to 21 were 8 while those between 28 and 47 were 4. These figures therefore reveal a high number of teenage girls with symptoms of breast cancer though not yet clinically confirmed.
What is breast cancer?
Breast cancer is when abnormal cells in the breast begin to grow and divide in an uncontrolled way and eventually form a growth (tumor/ solid mass or tissue).
Breast cancer can start in different parts of the breast. Most commonly it starts in the cells that line the ducts of the breast.
This is invasive breast cancer or invasive ductal carcinoma. Invasive means the cancer cells have spread outside the ducts where they started and into the surrounding breast tissue. They can also start in the lobules of the breast. This means that the cancer has spread outside the lobules and into the surrounding breast tissue. This is invasive lobular breast cancer.
Some of the lifestyles to reduce the high risk of breast cancer are breastfeeding, physical activity, weight control, low-fat dietary, pattern cessation of smoking, and reduced alcohol intake. Treatment for breast cancer includes surgical removal of the mass or breast, adjutant chemotherapy, Radiation therapy, and hormonal treatment.
The World Health Organization has set aside the month of October every year to educate the public, screen for breast cancer, and treat breast cancer cases globally as a way of reducing the number of women who die as a result of breast cancer and breast deformity among women.
READ ALSO: Over 2,000 women die from breast cancer annually – Report
By Mohammed Rabiu Tanko|UE/R|Onuanonline.com
