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Breast Care International advises men to go for breast screening
Dr Wiafe- Addai
Between one and three percent of men are diagnosed with breast cancer in Ghana annually, Dr Beatrice Wiafe-Addai, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Peace and Love Hospital has disclosed.
Dr Wiafe- Addai, also the Founder of Breast Care International (BCI), said this was as a result of mortality rates which varied according to the stage at presentation, adding that 60-70 percent of men with breast cancer reported at the hospital late and come in with late stage disease and due to this close to 50 percent died.
Dr Wiafe- Addai made this known in an interview with The Spectatorahead of her health walk which takes place on October 1, 2022 at Tepa in the Ashanti Region.
She explained that stages 0, 1, 2 were the early stages and could be cured easily when detected early.
“The stages 3 and 4 were the last stages and organs spread to the target organs such as the liver, brains, lungs and bones leading to the death”
“Men normally do not have breast so we advise them to be vigilant and slide soapy hands on their chest when bathing to examine whether they have lumps or not” she said.
Dr Wiafe- Addai said there was no cause of breast cancer in men but a risk factor including age and family history could increases a person’s chances of getting cancer.
“Men do not stand high chances of getting breast cancer unlike women but there is the need for men to go for screening yearly or do self-examination” she added.
She advised both male and female to do self-examination or go for routine checkup early because it was curable especially at it early stage.
Breast Care International (BCI) Ghana will organise a health walk on October 1, at Tepa in the Ashanti region for the 10th year in a row for a cure for breast cancer.
Themed “Brest Cancer Won’t Rest, So Why Should We?” is expected to record a number of health-conscious people walking to raise awareness about breast cancer while celebrating survivors.
By Linda Abrefi Wadie
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Swedru All Blacks back to winning ways, Roshan humble King Faisal
Sekondi Rospak FC made it eight wins in eight successive home games after three second-half goals from John Amoah, Joseph Ntow and Stephen Anthony Kofi. John Amoah opened the scoring in the 55th minute after a barren first half. Joseph Ntow added to the tally in the 56th minute before Stephen Anthony Kofi rounded things up in the 74th minute to give Rospak a 3-0 win over former Premier League side King Faisal.
Elsewhere at Swedru – leaders Swedru All Blacks humbled PAC Academy in an emphatic 2-0 win. Zayat Bubakari scored first for Swedru All Blacks in the 27th minute before Rudolf Junior Nana Kwasi Mensah made it 2-0 in the 34th minute. Swedru All Blacks are top of the table with 36 points – 4 points ahead of second placed Rospak FC.
Meanwhile, Former Premier League side Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs recorded their fourth successive home victory after beaten New Edubiase United 2-1 at the Robert Mensah Park. Enoch Odoom struck first for Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs in the 19th minute but Steven Asante equalized for New Edubiase United before halftime. After the interval, Godfred Eshun scored from distance in the 65th minute to help Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs secure all the points.
Here are the results in Zone Two
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Cervical Cancer alert: Avoid sex at early age
The Programmes Manager of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Mary Efua Commeh, has advised young girls to avoid sex at an early age.
This, she explained, will give the cervix the opportunity to mature before they become sexually active.
“You need to delay what we call the first sexual intercourse as much as possible to give the cervix the opportunity to mature before the person becomes sexually active,” she said.
Dr Commeh stated this in an interview with The Spectator in Accra on Tuesday as a part of the Cervical Cancer awareness month.
According to her, cervical cancer was the second leading female cancer in Ghana with a total of about 3,072 cases annually, and out of that, 1,815 deaths are recorded, representing more than 50 per cent.
She indicated that “If young girls are going to be sexually active, then you need to talk to your parents about being vaccinated.”
She explained that vaccinating young girls against human papillomavirus (HPV) has been found to be a very effective way of preventing cervical cancer.
“There are countries that started HPV vaccination years ago and they are not seeing any cervical cancers now because they would have eliminated most of the high-risk HPVs in their women. So if the high-risk HPV is not there, then obviously the results on cervical cancers are going to go down,” she added.
Dr Commmey said the HPV vaccination is recommended for young girls aged nine to 14 years, adding that it had been found to be highly effective, not just for cervical cancers but for other HPV-related cancers, such as anal cancers, cancers of the vagina, genital warts, amongst others.
She further elaborated that the idea is to put up a barrier before the HPV comes in and that once a young female encounters it, she is already protected.
She also mentioned that for cervical cancers, the main cause is called HPV infection, saying generally, all sexually active women acquire HPV at some point in their lives.
However, the Programmes Manager of NCDs at the GHS mentioned that the body has a way of clearing the HPV, explaining that it is a natural mechanism that goes on, unfortunately, there are a few women whose HPV persists.
Moreover, she noted that the numbers for Cervical Cancer tend to be much higher because at times, clients would wait, and try all sorts of medications before they finally report to the health facility saying “we actually lose some women before they get to the hospitals with over 75 per cent of the cases coming in its third and fourth stages.”
Dr Commey, therefore, called for public awareness while ensuring the availability of information for prevention and control.
By Jemima Esinam Kuatsinu
