Extend LEAP to breast cancer patients- BCI boss appeals to Gender and Social Protection Ministry

Breast Care International (BCI) has appealed to the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection to extend the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) support to breast cancer patients. The LEAP support, according to BCI, will give financial relief to the patients mostly located in deprived areas to cater for the costs of treatments and other medical expenses. The Founder and Leader of BCI, Dr. Mrs. Beatrice Wiafe Addai, believes that the support will reduce needless and premature deaths among breast cancer patients. Dr. Mrs. Wiafe Addai said this during the climax of the 50th-anniversary celebration of the Ghana Hairdressing and Beauticians Association (GHABA) in Kumasi. The anniversary was held on Wednesday, October 12, 2022, on the theme "Accelerating the Adoption of Digital Solutions in the Hair and Beauty Industry; The Role of Ghana". "Most breast cancer patients in the deprived areas lack financial support in the treatments. They cannot afford transportation fares let alone pay for the medical bills," she noted “BCI has been selflessly absorbing some of these costs but we cannot alone fight the disease. We need everyone’s support to save our women from dying, that is why appealing to the Gender Ministry to extend some of their social support to these women in the rural areas,” she stated. Dr. Wiafe Addai, who is also the CEO of Peace and Love Hospitals in Kumasi and Accra posited that “women contribute to the socio-economic development of the country so their concerns should be a national affair, hence the need to support their well-being.” Addressing the participants at the Great Hall of the KNUST, she reminded them that the disease is preventable, treatable, and curable when detected and reported to the hospitals early. He advised them to adopt the Breast-Self Examination (BSE) every month and report to the hospital quickly if any changes or irregularities are found for diagnosis and treatment. “In every 90 seconds, a woman somewhere in the may die from breast cancer, so it’s not something to joke with. The only way to survive the disease is to report to the hospital quickly if you find any change in the breast for quick action to be taken,” Dr. Wiafe Addai appealed to them.