The Rebecca Foundation in partnership with the Ghana Health Service has launched the Capacity Building for Breast and Cervical Cancers in Ghana project to help reduce the high incidences of these diseases in the country.
The project is initially being rolled out in three districts, the West Gonja, Birim South, and Sekyere West Districts in the Savannah, Eastern and Ashanti Regions of Ghana.
The project would involve the training of more than 90 health workers who will be able to screen and treat breast and cervical cancers at the districts’ primary health care levels.
Breast and cervical cancers cause significant morbidity and mortality in Ghana. Ghana Health Services statistics reveal that as at 2020, an estimated 4,400 cases of breast cancer and 2,797 cases of cervical cancer were recorded with almost 50 per cent deaths.
The Rebecca Foundation, therefore, through the Organisation of African First Ladies for Development, secured funding from Roche, a multinational healthcare company, to undertake the project.
Speaking at the launch of the project in Accra on Wednesday, October 19th, First Lady and Founder of the Rebecca Foundation, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, said studies indicate more and more cases of the two cancers are being recorded in the country.
She said many reasons including late detection, inadequate access to information, stigma and fear could be accounted for that trend.
“The tragedy is that many of these women succumb to the disease…We cannot afford to lose them, and we should not have to,” she stated.
She said breast and cervical cancer survival, especially in more advanced countries, had improved over the last few decades, attributed to early detection through effective screening and treatment options made possible through cancer research.
“It is in this light that I took advantage of the support offered by Roche to improve the response and treatment for breast and cervical cancers in Ghana. This project will need the full commitment of Municipal and District Chief Executives.”
Mrs Akufo-Addo said the already purchased thermal coagulation machines for the health centres in the training districts were not enough, hence more machines were needed.
She said further support would be needed to help scale up the training in the operational districts, as well as to support community awareness creation.
Source: theGhanaianVoice.Com