Media urged to scale up breast cancer education

A United States (US)-based Ghanaian lecturer, has rallied the media to scale-up breast cancer education to deepen awareness and help reduce its fatality among women.

Professor Seth Agyei Wiafe of the Loma Linda University said it must not be lost on journalists that they have a critical role to play in the fight against the disease.

He said to be able to perform their expected task more effectively they would need to have better understanding of the cancer and its effects on women.

Prof Wiafe made the call at a days’ workshop on breast and gynaecological cancers for selected journalists in the northern sector of the country, at the Peace and Love Hospital in Kumasi.

It was organized by Breast Care International (BCI), an NGO, at the forefront of the battle against breast cancer and the goal was to help the participants to become adequately informed to do a better and thorough job.

Prof Wiafe, who is currently conducting a research on breast cancer with the University of Southampton - United Kingdom (UK), said access to knowledge about the disease was important to aid the media to provide the right information to the public.

The cancer stigma, he noted, continued to persist in many countries and communities and the media was the key resource to facilitate more positive attitudes to overcome the myths and misconceptions.

Dr Augustine Tawiah, a Gynaecologist, spoke on cervical cancer and said the disease, common in females, kills about 300,000 people every year the world over.

He said 75 per cent of the fatality was from sub-Saharan Africa, adding that, majority of the victims were in the sexually active age.

He identified weakened immune system, sexual weakness, smoking, the use of birth control pills for a longer period and having many children as some of the risk factors.

Dr Samuel Amanamah, Urologist, talked to the journalists about prostate cancer and described it as the common diagnosed cancer among men in Ghana, with most of the cases reported at the advance stage.

Dr Mrs Beatrice Wiafe Addai, Chief Executive Officer of BCI, expressed worry about the high incidence of the breast cancer disease in the country, saying 200 new cases were recorded every month.