The Breast Society of Ghana (BSoG) has highlighted the need for the country to establish a dedicated fund for treating breast cancer as the world commemorates the 2023 Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Development Diaries reports that many Ghanaians die from breast cancer because of their inability to afford the treatment required to deal with the disease.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month is an annual international health campaign organised by major breast cancer charities every October to increase awareness of the disease and raise funds for research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Ghana and accounts for over 31.8 percent of new cancer cases.
Also, about 70 percent of women initially diagnosed with breast cancer in Ghana are already in the advanced stages of the disease, making it harder to treat.
A member of BSoG, Dr Naa Aryeetey has said that the establishment of a breast cancer fund in Ghana is crucial to tackling the disease.
‘Establishing a breast cancer treatment fund in Ghana is crucial and demands urgent attention and robust financial support because it will help alleviate the financial burden on affected individuals, enabling timely access to quality healthcare while facilitating public awareness campaigns and educational initiatives’, she said.
‘It will also help reduce incidences of late-stage diagnoses, and ultimately save lives’.
For her part, the Greater Accra Regional Health Director, Dr Akosua Owusu-Sarpong, said systems must be implemented to promote early detection of breast cancer through awareness creation programmes in various communities across the country.
Photo source: USAID
