Breast cancer advocate warns patients against 'spiritual concoctions' from religious leaders

Breast cancer patients have been advised to beware of “spiritual concoctions” offered to them by religious leaders when seeking treatments.

According to a medical expert, concoctions have no place in providing a solution to the increasing number of breast cancer cases in Ghana.

The president of Breast Cancer International (BCI), Dr. Mrs. Beatrice Wiafe Addai, who gave the advice, urged breast cancer patients to resort to medical treatment when diagnosed with the disease.

Dr. Mrs. Beatrice Wiafe Addai, who is also the CEO of Peace and Love Hospitals (PLHs) in Kumasi and Accra, bemoaned a current trend in the country where some pastors have resorted to concoctions for curing breast cancer.

She noted that “breast cancer is not caused by spiritual agents and cannot be treated spiritually, so the reliance on concoctions and other traditional herbs cannot treat the disease”.

She stated that most of the late presentations of breast cancer cases could be traced to the reliance on these unscientific approaches adapted by the pastors to “siphon” members of their money.

Dr. Mrs. Beatrice Wiafe Addai was speaking to members of Great Glory Ministry International at Tanoso Anwiankwanta in the Kwadaso municipality in the Ashanti region, on Sunday, February 26, 2023.

The event marked the conclusion of the church's 21-day Prayer and Fasting program, which included free breast cancer education and screening exercises.

It was part of the Delta Airline-sponsored ‘Kick Breast Cancer Out’ campaigns, in collaboration with BCI and PLH.

“Church pastors and prophets are deceiving their members into believing that their prepared concoctions can cure ailments like breast cancer and other non-communicable diseases, a trend that needs an urgent halt,” she said.

“These leaders are just making money out of the concoctions sales to the venerable members because they (leaders) know the actions prove futile, and when it gets out of hand they refer the members to the hospitals,” Dr Wiafe Addai bemoaned.

Dr. Beatrice Wiafe Addai posited that, as a result of these unscientific methods, some women are dying prematurely, because these women could have been saved if they had presented them earlier for proper treatments.

“I have always maintained that the best solution in the treatment of breast cancer is its early detection through medical screening and prompt actions. Presentation of late-stage cases makes treatment difficult,” she added.

The founder and leader of Great Glory Ministry International, Prophet Collins Kwame Kesseh, in his remarks appealed to his fellow clergy to advise their members to seek medical assistance when they fall sick.

“Though I believe in prophetic healings and prayers, some diseases like breast cancer should be treated by medical experts but giving members concoctions which we know have no place in curing disease is very unfortunate,” he implored pastors and prophets.

Advising members on breast cancer, Prophet Collins Kwame Kesseh told the women to adapt to frequent clinical breast cancer screening to know their statuses.