The International Maritime Hospital (IMaH), in collaboration with Ghana News Agency, Tema Regional Office, has rolled out the 2023 Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign to increase awareness demystify the myth surrounding them.
As part of the campaign, every week, health professionals from the IMaH will appear on the Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Office public health advocacy platform ‘Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility’ to propagate on issues of breast cancer.
The initiative aims at promoting communication on health-related topics and setting the medium for the propagation of health information to influence personal health choices by improving health literacy.
The theme for the 2023 breast cancer awareness campaign is the global theme ‘Keeping Her in the Picture’, a plea to everyone to keep an eye on the well-being of the significant women in their lives.
Dr. Justice Baidoo, a Medical Officer at IMaH who appeared on the health advocacy platform, noted that breast cancer, which is an abnormal growth of the breast cell, affects a lot of women and is very common among black women.
He stated that although some males may be prone to having breast cancer, he added that though there are some causes of breast cancer, such as genetics, late childbirth, age, and pregnancy, there is no one specific factor that causes breast cancer.
‘When it comes to causes of breast cancer, we do not have a singular factor responsible for the cause; there are multiple causes that make one prone to having cancer,’ he said.
D. Baidoo noted that the human body has a hormone named oestrogen, and a high or continuous amount present in the body makes a woman likely to develop breast cancer.
He explained that some women may notice discharge from their nipples or have lumps in their breasts, but not all discharge or lumps may be as a result of developing cancer; some may be the collection of fibroids or fats, but it is important for them to visit the hospital for early screening and checkups.
He said: ‘It is not all lumps or discharge in the breast that are cancerous; some breast conditions may present themselves as lumps within the breast, so not all lumps point to breast cancer.’
He also stressed that it was important for breastfeeding mothers to exclusively breastfeed their children or wait until the age of two to wean them off breast milk, stating that it reduces the chances of them developing cancer in the breast.
He advised, especially women, to take advantage of the celebration and get their breasts screened to avoid further implications because it is ‘better to be safe than to be sorry.’
The Regional Manager of Ghana News Agency in Tema, Mr Francis Ameyibor, urged journalists to step up public education on breast cancer issues.
He said: ‘Let’s use the power of the media to educate, to save lives.’
The GNA and the IMaH joined the rest of the global community in observing October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an annual campaign to raise awareness of the disease and nudge people into seeking medical care.
Source: Ghana News Agency