October is designated as the National Breast Cancer awareness month and Euracare Advanced Diagnostics & Heart Centre joins the global community to stand in solidarity with all those who may have lost loved ones to cancer and the courageous cancer survivors. We stand in solidarity with those who are committed to the fight against cancer even as we express our profound gratitude to organizations, governments and individuals who are contributing their time, energy and resources to raise awareness about breast cancer.
As women are more prone to breast cancer, Euracare recognizes that women’s health and well-being is a key component of human security and a sound health is one of the prerequisites for internal peace and by extension a peaceful co-existence. Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women worldwide, with approximately 1.4 million patients diagnosed annually. Half of all patients with breast cancer occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), which are experiencing a double burden of rising noncommunicable diseases with existing prevalent infectious diseases.
This cancer burden is reflected in Ghana, a lower-middle–income country, because breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer deaths in Ghanaian women. Over 90% of women with breast cancer in Ghana present with advanced cancer compared to 10% in high income countries. Because treatment of early cancer is more effective and more affordable, early detection is an important goal for a low-income country such as Ghana.
Euracare in collaboration with the staff of the Ghana Commercial Bank on the 22nd of October 2020 gave a health talk on breast cancer, risk factors, signs and symptoms, diagnosis, and management. Staff joined in at the Head Office in Accra, and via Microsoft Teams for other members across the country. The Oncologist, Dr Pearl Aba Anoa Scott, a Specialist Radiation Oncologist from the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital was our resource person for the event.
