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The Spectator Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign
• Kanieshie Market Complex, the venue for the breast cancer screening
Breast Cancer is one of the topical medical adversaries the world is facing today. It occurs in women and rarely in men. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there were 2.3 million women diagnosed with breast cancer and 685, 000 deaths globally in 2020.
As of the end of 2020, the WHO said there were 7.8 million women alive who were diagnosed with breast cancer in the past five years, making it the world’s most prevalent cancer.
This means that the disease is endemic to women, which gives credence to the sensitivity of this cancer towards women.
For this reason, The Spectator, Your Weekend Companion, is beginning a breast cancer campaign this October (Breast Cancer Month) to create awareness on the dangers of the disease to women in particular, who coincidentally align with the brand personality of the newspaper.
Breast Cancer has reached national and global prominence because of its traumatic and potentially devastating effect on women. The Spectator Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign, therefore, will be under the theme, “Life Before and After Breast Cancer: A future of Positivity and Hope.”
Objectives of the Campaign
The Spectator, a uniquely feminist health conscious brand, supported by its socially responsible organisation, the New Times Corporation, publishers of our newspaper as well as Ghanaian Times, intends to use the month-long campaign to educate the public on early symptoms and signs of Breast Cancer; preventive measures, diagnostic and treatment centres; the measures put in place for early detection; the various options available for cure; and also to assist in the management of patients of Breast Cancer, among others.
Events for the Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign
There will be four main events for the Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign, and these include the unveiling of campaign in The Spectator, breast screening at the Kaneshie Market Complex, Talk at Labone Senior High School and articles in the newspaper.
Breast Cancer Screening
The Breast Cancer Screening would be held on Thursday, October 6, 2022, at 11:a.m. and Friday, October 7, 2022, at 10:a.m. It would be preceded by an opening ceremony at the first floor of the Kaneshie Market Complex on October 6 at 10:a.m. to officially unveil the campaign.
Medical doctors and nurses from Kaneshie Medical Centre and Kaneshie Polyclinic would be present to perform the screening. About 600 women are expected to go through the two-day breast cancer screening.
Dignitaries to attend
Dignitaries expected to grace the opening ceremony are the Minister-designate of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Hajia Lariba Zuweira Abudu, Country Representative of World Health Organisation (WHO), and Managing Director of New Times Corporation, Mr Martin Adu Owusu, to mention a few.
Talk on Breast Cancer
Experts from WHO Ghana, Ghana Health Service (GHS) and Ladybits Health and Wellness Clinic would educate students of Labone Senior High (SHS) and other students in Accra on Breast Cancer at the Labone SHS campus on Friday, October 21, 2022, at 1:p.m.
Coverage
The Spectator would do extensive publications of the month-long Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign. Articles on breast cancer written by health experts and other authors with knowledge of the disease will be featured in the paper. The coverage of the two main events (Breast Cancer screening at Kaneshie Market Complex and talks at Labone Senior High School) will also be published in both The Spectator and the Ghanaian Times.
Partners
The Campaign is organised by the New Times Corporation in partnership with WHO (lead partners), Labone School Senior High School, Unichem Ghana Group, Kaneshie Market Complex, Kaneshie Medical Centre, Kaneshie Polyclinic, and Cheezzy Pizza.
A lot of information on Breast Cancer is in store (in The Spectator) for readers throughout the month. Book your copies in advance.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
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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
