Medifem screens over 900 to raise awareness on breast cancer

The Medifem Multi-Specialist Hospital & Fertility Centre has rounded up a series of activities put together to mark Breast Cancer Awareness campaign in October. The campaign which was on the theme ‘Go Pink; Fight Breast Cancer’ is part of the hospital’s social initiatives to provide advocacy and care on global health issues. In the month-long exercise, over 900 women and some men benefited from free screening exercises conducted in the Dome and Madina markets, some selected corporate institutions and at the hospital’s two branches. A team of staff led by the hospital’s lead General Practitioner, Dr. Choice Wereko-Dankwa, screened patrons and examined them for signs of lump in the breast, redness of skin of the breast, a discharge from the nipple, a rash or peeling of the skin on the breast, a sunken nipple, and a change in the size or shape of the breast among other diagnosis and tests. In a final note to wrap up the series of activities, Hospital Manager Mrs. Wilhelmina Banful said Medifem embarked on the activities as part of efforts to raise awareness on breast cancer which is killing many people especially women in Ghana and urged the general public to go for regular screening. “Breast cancer is a major health concern in Ghana and so we have decided to be part of the national effort to raise awareness on the disease every October,” Mrs. Banful noted. “We are glad that through our screening and awareness creation exercises, a lot more people have known their status and are now aware of what the disease is. In the coming years, we are going to make sure that more people benefit from this exercise. I urge everyone, especially women, to take the message serious and screen periodically because the disease is best treated when detected early.” Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death in women. More than a million women worldwide are diagnosed each year and over half of the women die from the disease. It is reported that about 60-70% of patients go to seek medical attention only at very late stages of the cancer when little or nothing can be done about their situation, hence the need for sensitization to enable women detect changes in their breast early enough and report on time. The World Health Organization and its global partners have therefore dedicated October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month; a worldwide annual campaign involving thousands of organisations, to highlight the importance of breast cancer awareness, diagnosis and research. Source: editors.3news.com|Ghana