3 organisations partner to screen students for breast, cervical cancers

A student checking her vitals before screening

 Close to 80 ladies made up of students of the KNUSTFORD University and some members of the public have been screened for breast and cervical can­cers as part of the campaign on breast cancer awareness marked in the month of October.

The exercise was organ­ised by the KNUSTFORD Uni­versity Women’s Commission­er (WOCOM) in collaboration with the Ladies in Media Or­ganisation, a ladies empow­erment group and Gateway of Hope, a non-profit making organisation centred on health and education.

The two-day event on October 20-21 was conduct­ed by medical professionals from the Tema General Hos­pital and Ga East Municipal Hospital, led by Dr Barbara Entsuah.

It started with an orien­tation by Dr Barbara Entsuah to educate the young women about breast and cervical cancer, urging them to com­mit to maintaining healthy breast and abstain from unsafe sex, which is, having multiple sexual partners.

On the second day of the exercise, the women underwent a comprehensive examination preceded by sugar and blood pressure checks, followed by the breast screening with the red light and cervical cancer detection gadgets.

After an interactive session, it emerged that a greater number of the ladies had little or no knowl­edge about the two deadly cancers for which reason Dr Entsuah explained that apart from the Pink October set aside to create awareness, it was important for women to make the checks and exam­ination a daily affair.

She said a number of women were aware of the existence of the disease but are ignorant of the symptoms, risk factors, and preventive methods.

Dr Entsuah stated that breast cancer was a serious health issue that affects many people and was im­portant to raise awareness about it not just in October but on a daily basis.

The National President of Ladies in Media Organi­zation, Ms Margaret Barden on her part stated that the most frequent type of cancer among women was breast and cervical cancer but sad­ly, more than 85 per cent of women were unaware of the risks associated with them.

She said students can play a key role in informing and educating society by promot­ing screening and providing education at the same time.

The Women’s Commis­sioner, Ms Adiza Ali thanked Gateway of Hope and Ladies in Media Organization for responding to the call for the initiative to educate and screen the females for breast and cervical cancers.