As October draws to a close, the President of Breast Care International (BCI), has urged the public to continue breast campaigns in the country to prevent late screening.
Dr. Beatrice Addai Wiafe, says because breast cancer does not just happen in October, ladies should get interested in going to the hospital for frequent checkups.
Dr. Addai-Wiafe stressed the importance of workplace education and awareness raising given the hectic schedules of working mothers.
“Today, we came to educate their (Contracta) members of staff. Workplace education and awareness creation and screening are very important because the working mother is always busy.”
The oncologist stated that, a working mother does not have time to screen themselves and therefore the late-stage of the disease occasionally manifests in them.
Speaking at a breast cancer awareness event organised by the Contracts Construction Company Limited in Kumasi, Dr. Wiafe-Addai also expressed her gratitude to the construction firm for providing transportation, medication, food, and other services to more than 20 breast cancer patients at the Peace and Love Hospital.
In order to prevent the late stage of the sickness, which she says is highly expensive to cure, she recommended to women to examine their breasts routinely.
“One late-stage case can cater for 10 early-stage diseases. So why don’t you come early so that even if you don’t have money, we can support you to go through your treatment? If you come late, then you are just coming to squander all the money that people have contributed and that is not good enough,” she noted.
Due to the high levels of fat they contain, Dr. Addai-Wiafe also advised the general public, in particular women, to avoid consuming too many “fast foods” because it is bad for the health of their breasts.
According to Mr. Emmanuel Danso, a consultant at the Contracta Construction Company Limited, the event was organised as part of their social obligation to protect the public and their employees against breast cancer.
He said that several sensitisation activities have been planned as part of their ongoing campaign to raise breast cancer awareness in several districts of Kumasi, including Bantama, the Racecourse, and the Airport areas.
Mr. Danso also mentioned that the cost of treating breast cancer is high, which is why the company has chosen to support some breast cancer patients for the past two years in an effort to decrease unnecessary deaths.
“It’s part of our corporate social responsibility because treating breast cancer is not easy, it’s very expensive so as part of our corporate social responsibility, we sponsor them for this payment for the past two years,” he indicated.
