Pharmaceutical outfit, Ernest Chemists Limited, has presented a cheque for GH¢10,000 to the Breast Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital to facilitate awareness creation of breast cancer in the country.
The Brands Communications Manager of the company, Ms Sharon Anim, said the donation formed part of the company’s drive to help create awareness of breast cancer during the Breast Cancer Month and to contribute to the general wellbeing of Ghanaians.
The month of October has been set aside globally as the Breast Cancer Month to help create awareness of breast cancer.
The breast cancer awareness month is a yearly campaign to educate people on the importance of early screening,test and more.
The campaign starts on October 1 and ends on October 31 every year.
Wellbeing
Ms Anim said Ernest Chemists was interested in the general wellbeing of Ghanaians and would continue to help improve the health of the Ghanaian people.
She said the company was committed to helping the relevant institutions and organisations to reach many people with information on breast cancer.
Ms Anim said as part of the company’s measures to ensure that no Ghanaian woman suffered from breast cancer, it had set up two centres in Accra in collaboration with the Breast Unit of the Korle bu Teaching Hospital to provide free breast screening on weekends for all women during the breast cancer month.
The donation, she said, was to support free surgeries for breast cancer victims and support the unit in creating breast cancer awareness.
The event was graced by the 2019 contestants of the Ghana’s Most Beautiful (GMB) reality show.
The GMB contestants were expected to use their influence to reach many women with information on breast cancer.
The beauty contestants underwent breast examination at the Breast Unit after touring the facility to familiarise themselves with procedures.
Detection/treatment
A former Head of the Surgery Department of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Prof. Joe Nat Clegg-Lamptey, advised women to seek early care when they detected changes in their breasts.
He said early detection and effective treatment could save the lives of breast cancer patients, explaining that the hospital had competent team of doctors to take proper care of breast cancer patients.
He said about 90 per cent of breast cancer patients who reported their cases on time and were treated survived, adding that many breast cancer patients reported their conditions late due to the fear that their breasts would be amputated.
Professor Clegg-Lamptey, however, debunked the notion that sucking of breast by men could help protect women against breast cancer.
He said women who allowed their husbands or boyfriends to suck their breasts with the idea that it would protect them against breast cancer were doing so in vain.
He explained that it was only breastfeeding that could protect women against breast cancer and not sucking of the breast by men.
BY: Zadok Kwame Gyesi
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