Features
Breast Cancer rate on the rise!!!
Worldwide report indicates that Breast cancer is one of the diseases that is causing alarming mortalities with an estimate of over 2.3 million cases recorded globally in the year 2020 (WHO).
Research has shown that Breast Cancer is the most common cancer among women. Although men also get affected with the disease – it’s estimated that one per cent of cases recorded worldwide (WHO) were reported by males.
It has also been estimated that over 685,000 women died from Breast Cancer in the year 2020 (WHO). Additional statistical report has revealed that, at the end of the year 2020, there were 7.8 million women alive who were diagnosed with breast cancer five years ago.
While breast cancer rates are higher among women in more developed countries, they have lower mortality rates due to the fact that Breast Cancer cases are detected in the early stages and immediately holistic treatment is given with effective continuity of care even to the involvement of a psychologist (good support system) which is very much key.
However, in low and middle-income countries like Ghana, breast cancer mortality rates are significantly higher though the prevalence is lower as compared to the developed countries.
The reason for the soaring mortalities of breast cancer in sub-Saharan Africa specifically Ghana, is partly associated with people’s erroneous beliefs of the disease. Other significant factors such as cost of treatment, accessibility to screening machines, irregular education and publicity of the disease are issues which need to be addressed immediately.
Unfortunately, about 60-70 per cent patients seek for medical attention at the very late stage of the disease where little or nothing can be done for them. Sadly, this is one of the factors that is causing defeat in our quest to reduce deaths amongst breast cancer patients.
Narrowing the discourse to our immediate environment Ghana specifically, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, our main referral centre has the following statistics on Breast Cancer cases.
In the year 2018, 400 new cases were recorded. Out of that, 2.4 per cent were found to be males while the remaining 97.6 per cent were females. Also, out of 2,260 cumulative cases studied over five years, 1,021 people died from the disease.
Isn’t it sad that, just within five years, more than 1,000 souls perished because they probably failed to seek for medical attention at the early stage of their sickness?
Or possibly, they were not self-aware of what was happening to them?
Hitherto, the age group that was mostly affected was between 40 and 49 years.
Surprisingly the age bracket keeps reducing gradually with incidences occurring between 25 and 29 years due to adaptation of the western and sedentary lifestyle.
Breast Cancer as we all know has no known cause but there are risk factors that can precipitate it.
Sex: The fact that one is a female automatically puts you at risk of Breast Cancer because women have more breast tissue than men do, hence the increased risk of getting breast cancer.
Age: Usually women above 45 years are prone to Breast Cancer but now the age bracket is reducing. Now, there are records of Breast Cancer patients between the ages of 25 and 29 as a result of westernisation in terms of diet and sedentary lifestyle
Exposure to Estrogen Hormone: Early menarche (first occurrence of menstruation) latemenopause, nulliparity (when a woman has never given birth to a child, or has never carried a pregnancy) and giving birth after age 30.
All of the above situations cause increased exposure to estrogen hormone which can cause Breast Cancer.
Family History: When one’s aunt, mother, sister, grandmother has had Breast Cancer, it puts one at a risk of getting the disease. However, recent medical investigations posit that, it is when a first-degree family member gets the disease, that can put one at a risk.
Interestingly, it has also been discovered that when any primary male relative, has been diagnosed with even prostate cancer, it can put you at risk of getting Breast Cancer.
Hence, the need to be keen with regular screening, visiting women wellness clinics, and the need to conduct personalise routine breast examination, etc.
Also, increased fatty diet, obesity, alcohol, smoking, lack of exercise; these are but some of the known risk factors that can precipitate Breast Cancer.
Nonetheless, there are many ways to reduce the incidence of an individual getting breast cancer.
Keep your weight in check, by being physically active and undertaking regular exercises.
It’s also important to incorporate fruits and vegetables in your diet.
At risk persons should avoid the following: Alcohol (Zero is Best), forsake smoking, avoid birth control pills, particularly after age 35 or if you smoke. Almost every woman is at risk of getting Breast Cancer hence the need to adopt the best lifestyle as a preventative measure.
Breast feeding is also another sure way to reduce the risk of getting breast cancer as a woman. Hence women are encouraged to breastfeed their infants, especially working-class mothers. There is this notion that breast feeding is old fashioned. Sadly, some women now resort to formula feeding for their infants which they think is fashionable and trendy.
Now, let’s consider Breast Cancer myths. Myths are misbeliefs or false ideas, so breast cancer myths are false beliefs that people have concerning breast cancer. In our Ghanaian society, people have the mindset that breast cancer is a “cursed” disease. The unfortunate belief is that, a person may have offended the gods, hence the repercussion of their actions.
Again, there is a belief of witches “buying” the sickness in the spiritual realm to infect innocent people. Due to this notion, most people seek spiritual help than going for medical treatment.
Hence, 70 per cent of cases recorded at Korle-Bu report at very late stages due to social stigma of this disease leaving little or nothing to be done for the patient except palliative care.
Other myths concerning breast cancer are wearing a brassiere can cause Breast Cancer. The usage of underarm antiperspirant, carrying your cell phone in your brassiere and many others are sheerly make beliefs that are clearly untrue.
In light of these misconception and superstitious beliefs, Breast Cancer awareness creation remains one of the effective ways to educate and screen people against possible Breasts Cancer.
October is the month set aside worldwide for breast cancer awareness celebration termed Pink October. This pink month celebration is catching on well with Ghanaians. The good news is that, many organisations have sprung up the quest to fight this vile disease called Breast Cancer.
One of such is the Ladybits Health and Wellness Foundation which is determined to help build the “Quintessential Woman‚ in our contemporary Ghanaian society. The organisation reaches out to all women found in various endeavours especially the rural and less deprived areas where we educate them on breast cancer with effective screening and diagnosis of the disease.
Our aim is to empower women especially in deprived areas to be in charge of their health and take precautionary measures where necessary. In the end, I reiterate that Breast Cancer is very treatable especially when detected early.
Some aspects of the treatment of Breast Cancer is covered by NHIS. In addition, members of GNAT have access to free medical treatment of all cancer diseases including breast cancer.
Nevertheless, I look forward to a time where the government and for that matter NHIS will absorb the full treatment cost of Breast Cancer so that the screenings that we do in the rural areas will be more impactful and effective
By Dr. Victoria Partey-Newman
Features
The Prophet part 4
Antobam woke up with a terrible headache. He checked the time on his mobile phone, 2:30 am. “What! Where is the money?” He asked aloud. “Where are those girls? Why did I drink so much of that whisky? What were those two girls up to?” He sat up on the bed and noticed a bulge close to the pillow.
He lifted the mattress and picked up the newspaper wrappers with the neatly arranged notes. He saw the neatly written record of the value of the notes. No, those girls are not thieves.
“It was my mistake. If I hadn’t drank myself to sleep they would be here in bed with me, giving me the time of my life. Pretty girls, those two. And so loyal and honest. Tomorrow will be different.”
“I will not drink any whisky, and I will show them that I am a real man. Just then he heard the whispers. Very soon it will be time, they seemed to be saying. This is an important day.”
The gold dealer will bring lots of money. Give him some of the liquid to drink, and we will prepare him. He will do very big business, and he will give you anything you ask for. There will be more miracles and testimonies today.
Antobam smiled to himself. “I am going to be a very rich man in only a few days man. Money, power, and women. Wow! Antobam got to the grounds at 5, but there were quite a number of people waiting.
Mr Kwame Dofu was among them. He greeted them all, and they came around to shake his hand. “My brothers and sisters, I assure you that whatever your problem is, you will not go home without a solution.” Shouts of “Amen” “thank” you Osofo and “you are a true man of God” responded.
“Please take your seats, and start talking to the great one about whatever bothers you. Before the service is over, there will be a solution.” He waved Mr Dofu over, and went with him to the wooden structure that serves as a temporary office.
“My brother, I have done quite a lot of work on the issue you came to see me about. I have prepared a special, powerful package for you. Take this, drink it, and go back to your business. I want to see you in two weeks.”
Beaming with smiles, Mr Dofu drank the foul smelling liquid in two gulps, said a big thank you to Antobam and took his leave. “I believe you, Papa Osofo. And I assure you that I will reward you, big time.”
Just when Osofo Antubam finished with Mr Dofu, Mary and Suzzie went over to him. “Good Morning ladies. I am very sorry about yesterday. I drank too much of the stuff you gave me. Today will be different, I assure you.”
“Don’t worry, Osofo. Since you are now setting things up, our main concern now is to help you to put things in place, and to make you comfortable. We are always there to serve you. This morning, Osofo, we want to go and clean up your place, and prepare something nice for you when you close.
And before coming to church, we will pass by the bank and collect the forms. After you have signed them, the account will be open. You can check the payments anytime and, of course, issue cheques whenever you need money.”
“Suzzie and Mary, I am happy I picked the two of you from the very start. Listen, I will take good care of you, okay? Here is some money. Buy whatever you need for the errands you have mentioned.
And here is the key. Please come back as early as you can. You know I need you here.” The service was very lively. The lively singing of praise songs was followed by one and a half hours of testimonies.
Most of them related to money – big sales, new jobs and overdue debts paid. But there were also testimonies about healing. Barren women had taken seed, and, of course, several men who had lost their bedroom authority had regained them, to the delight of their partners.
As he had promised, Antobam preached for only 30 minutes, exhorting the congregation to attend church regularly, pay their tithes and offerings, and strictly follow his ‘directions’ for securing solutions to their problems.
After another round of praises during which the congregation danced to the floor to drop their offering, he closed the service, grabbed the big bowl which was full to the brim with money, and moved to his desk. A long queue was quickly formed at the desk.
Meanwhile, Mary and Suzzie had gone to give Antobam’s place quite a decent look. A new bedsheet and pillows, a secondhand carpet and four plastic chairs placed in the verandah had done the trick.
They also prepared two fish and chicken stews. After all these, they rushed to the National Savings Bank and collected application forms for opening current and savings accounts.
They joined the service a few minutes before the main session closed. Antobam looked round and saw, to his relief, Mary and Suzzie moving towards him. “Hello ladies. What have you been up to?” “Quite a bit, Osofo. We’ve just collected your drink. Here you are. We’ve made a few changes at your place. I think you will like it. You will also have something nice to eat. Now, here are the forms for the savings and current accounts.
If you will sign them, the bank will open the account. From today, we can pay all monies direct into the account.” ‘How can I thank you, ladies?” “You don’t need to thank us,” Suzzie said. “It is our duty to help a man of God succeed.” “Okay, my ladies, please take the offerings and count them as you did yesterday.
You can add the payments made after the consultations. Will it be possible to pay them into the account today?” “Yes,” Mary said. “The bank closes at four. If we leave here at three, we would be there just in time.”
The two friends started counting, as Osofo Antobam gave his clients his directions for solving their problems. On quite a few occasions he closed his eyes as if he was receiving direction from above on what to do.
But as the fetish priest at the Nana Kofi Broni shrine and the dwarfs had assured him, the solutions would certainly be provided. Having heard the huge testimonies earlier in the day, the clients parted with substantial sums of money in expectation.
By Ekow de Heer
Features
The issue of spiritual father in our churches
A student was supposed to go to school as the natural cause of events should be when universities or schools in general opens but this was not the case in a certain young man’s life.
He decided to postpone his trip because apparently he could not get to meet his pastor, his spiritual father. The question is, should this spiritual father die, will the young man’s life come to an end?
Does it mean in such an instance, he is going to curtail his education? This is a worrying trend in a lot of churches where the pastors use this notion of spiritual father to manipulate members especially the youth.
Some unscrupulous pastors utilise this spiritual father concept to have affairs with gullible young ladies in their churches.
Now with homosexuality gradually making inroads into some of the churches, young men are becoming vulnerable to pastors who have hidden homosexual inclinations.
This spiritual father concept is a Biblical concept that runs through both the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. We see it in 2 Kings 4:12 where Gehazi is serving Elisha and also in the New Testament we see Paul relating to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:2 as a Spiritual Father.
In fact, the concept of spiritual father is a good thing if executed according to the word of God since it helps in guiding the younger ones. However, it becomes problematic when it is being executed by unscrupulous wolves in sheepskins as described by Jesus in Mathew 7:15.
I see it as a way that these unscrupulous so-called men of God maintain their hold on the congregants so they do not question their unchristian actions.
One of the things I have observed since I got born again many years ago is that, any pastor who often insists that members recognise that he is their spiritual father is a warning sign that he is doing some wrong things or is about to indulge in some wrong things.
A parent complained about how his daughter was being influenced by a pastor of the church she attends and how worried he was. I am sure there are many parents out there with stories to tell about how their wards are being made to see their pastors almost like their Jesus.
These pastors have managed to make their congregants so loyal to them and to believe in them so much that it is terrifying, as a parent.
The way things are going, an immediate intervention is required otherwise I am not a prophet of doom but I forsee unfortunate instances where parents burst into church auditoriums and star shooting some Pastors out of frustration and anger.
We cannot look on unconcerned as a society and allow unscrupulous fraudsters using the name of God to create problems for families. My recommendation is for a certain amount of regulation in order to bring some sanity in religious practices.
I agree that ordinarily regulating religious practices makes it a bit restrictive in terms of freedom of worship as enshrined in our constitution but given the way things are going, a bit of regulation will not be out of place.
Disgusting stuff are being attributed to some men of God. There are cases of manipulation of young ladies and sometimes married women by so called men of God and it is bringing Christianity and therefore the name of the Lord into disrepute.
Christianity is gradually losing its attractiveness as a result of the negative reportage resulting from disgusting stuff happening in Christian circles. The way some pastors have been manipulating congregants to take money from them leaves much to be desired to the point where they are convincing some of the youth to give out their phones. May God help us.
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
