Gender
Awareness: First weapon against breast cancer
October is globally observed as Breast Cancer Awareness Month -a period dedicated to raising awareness, honouring millions of lives touched by the disease, and reaffirming the worldwide commitment to equitable access to care and improved survival for all.
This annual observance, marked in countries across the globe, serves as a rallying point to increase attention and support for early diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship. The 2025 theme, “Every story is unique, every journey matters,” places a spotlight on the deeply personal experiences of breast cancer survivors and patients. It underscores the diversity of their struggles while reinforcing the urgent need for compassionate, timely, and quality care regardless of geography, income, or background.
Behind every diagnosis lies not only a medical condition but also a story-one filled with courage, resilience, and hope. These stories extend beyond individuals, shaping the experiences of their families, friends, and entire communities.
Breast cancer continues to be the most diagnosed cancer among women worldwide. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), approximately 2.3 million women were diagnosed in 2022, and about 670,000 died from the disease.
“These are not just numbers but mothers, sisters, daughters, and friends who deserve hope and dignity,” the WHO emphasises.
Survival rates, however, differ starkly across regions. While the five-year survival rate exceeds 90 per cent in high-income countries, it drops to 66 per cent in India and 40 per cent in South Africa. The reasons are clear: unequal access to early detection, timely diagnosis, and effective treatment.
If current trends remain unchecked, both incidence and mortality are projected to rise by 40 per cent by 2050. To address this, the WHO established the Global Breast Cancer Initiative in 2021, working with partners to strengthen health systems and reduce preventable deaths worldwide.
The situation in Ghana
In Ghana, breast cancer poses a particularly pressing public health concern. It is the most common cancer among women, accounting for about 15 per cent of all malignancies.
Studies reveal a troubling trend: almost 70 per cent of women are diagnosed at advanced stages, where treatment options are limited and survival rates much lower. In 2012, nearly half of Ghanaian women diagnosed with breast cancer lost their lives to the disease.
These statistics point to late presentation, cultural stigma, and limited access to screening facilities as some of the key factors fuelling high mortality.
Experts warn that unless more women come forward for early screening and timely treatment, these figures may remain stubbornly high.
Executive Secretary of the Breast Cancer Society of Ghana (BCSG), Mrs Georgina Kumah-Dzagah, said the numbers are not just statistics, they represent lived experiences. A survivor herself, she knows first-hand the difference early detection and treatment can make.
“My journey could have ended differently if I had ignored the early signs,” she reflected. “That is why the theme ‘Catch it early, treat it right, survive it’ is not just a slogan to me. It is a lifeline that can save countless women.”
Mrs Kumah-Dzagah believes awareness is the first weapon in the fight. She stresses that women must be proactive, know their bodies, and act quickly when something feels unusual.
“A lump, nipple discharge, or changes in the skin should never be ignored or treated with fear and silence,” she explained. “Hospitals and screening centres are there to help us, not to harm us. Early detection gives the best chance for a cure.”
The Executive Secretary also raised concern about the role of misinformation and reliance on untested remedies saying, too often, delays and misplaced trust in alternative cures cost lives.
“Treating it right means trusting science and trained professionals,” she stressed. “Modern treatment -whether surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or hormone therapy -may be tough, but it saves lives. I went through these treatments myself, and though the journey was not easy, I am living proof that treatment works when given at the right time.”
Her message resonates strongly in a society where cultural beliefs sometimes discourage women from seeking hospital care, and myths about breast cancer fuel stigma.
For Mrs Kumah-Dzagah, survival is not simply about conquering the disease. It is also about reclaiming life, hope, and purpose.
“Breast cancer is not a death sentence,” she affirmed. “Survivorship comes with challenges, but it also brings strength. Today, I speak not just for myself but for every woman still in the fight.”
A call for collective action
Mrs Kumah-Dzagah believes that breaking the silence and stigma around breast health is critical. She called on women, families, and communities to support open conversations and proactive health checks.
She said “let us be bold to check, quick to act, and committed to supporting each other. If we catch it early and treat it right, we will surely survive it.”
She said, BCSG continues to lead nationwide campaigns to create awareness, encourage screening, and support patients and survivors.
Through advocacy and education, the organisation, she said reminds women that vigilance, timely treatment, and community support can turn the tide against breast cancer.
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
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When Ama Serwaa stepped out of her room that night, she paused at the doorway and looked back. Her two-year-old son was asleep, his tiny chest rising and falling gently. She bent, kissed his forehead and whispered, “Mummy will be back soon.”
It was a promise she never kept.
Ama was 28, seven months pregnant, and hopeful. She had been feeling unwell all day, but as many women do, she tried to endure it. When the bleeding started, fear crept in.
By the time her husband and neighbours realised it was serious, night had fallen and transport was hard to find. The nearest health facility was far away. Every minute felt like an hour.
By the time Ama arrived at the Ada district hospital, she was barely conscious. Within minutes, she was gone. Her unborn baby died with her.
In one night, a child lost his mother, a husband lost his wife, and a family lost its future. Ama became another silent statistics- another woman who left home pregnant and never returned alive.
Maternal mortality remains a challenge as far as reproductive healthcare services in Ghana are concerned.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines it as the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, regardless of the duration of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes.
This continues to be a great concern with majority of all maternal deaths occurring in developing Africa with more than half in Sub- Saharan Africa.
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) says, the country has recorded a slight increase in the institutional maternal mortality rate for 2024.
Data presented by the Director for Family Health, Dr Kennedy Brightson, at the Fifth National Maternal, Child Health, and Nutrition Conference in Accra shows a rise from 109.22 per 100,000 live births in 2023 to 110 per 100,000 live births in 2024.
Owing to the still high levels of maternal mortality in developing countries, especially Africa, it is now increasingly being recognised that actions required to achieve improvements in maternal health should involve comprehensive, multi-faceted approach.
Across Ghana, stories like Ama’s unfold quietly. There are no sirens, no headlines, no public mourning. Just hurried burials, unanswered questions and children growing up with fading memories of a mother’s voice.
It is this painful reality that formed the backdrop to a high-level Maternal Mortality Roundtable attended by the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, as Ghana intensifies efforts to end preventable maternal deaths.
The roundtable, convened by the Office of the President through the SDGs Advisory Unit, in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), was held under the theme: “No woman should lose her life to give a life.”
But for families like Ama’s, these words must mean more than fine speeches and conference banners. They must mean real change that reaches the last woman in the last village.
Speaking with emotion and urgency, Dr Lartey reminded participants that maternal mortality is not just a medical failure, but a failure of care, equity and accountability.
“Saving women’s lives must go beyond rhetoric,” she stressed. “It must be seen, felt and materialised in our communities, our clinics and our homes.”
She called for strong community accountability mechanisms, warning that when maternal deaths are normalised or hidden, society becomes complicit in the loss. Every woman who dies in childbirth, she noted, leaves behind a trail of grief that does not end at the grave.
“History will not judge us by the speeches we deliver today,” the Minister said quietly, “but by the lives we save through the path we take.”
She urged all stakeholders, government agencies, development partners, traditional and religious leaders to move beyond promises to clear commitments, timelines and responsibility, insisting that maternal health cannot remain an annual discussion while women continue to die daily.
Yet Dr Lartey was equally clear that the fight against maternal deaths also begins with women themselves. She urged pregnant women to take antenatal and postnatal care seriously, noting that many complications are preventable or manageable if detected early.
Health experts present acknowledged a painful truth: some women delay or skip antenatal visits because of distance, cost, fear or cultural beliefs. But these visits can be the thin line between life and death the place where danger signs are noticed before it is too late.
Dr Lartey reminded the nation that maternal health is not the burden of one ministry alone, but a shared moral responsibility — from policy makers to health workers, from chiefs to pastors, from husbands to neighbours.
“When women survive, children are born, families thrive, communities prosper and nations grow,” she said. “Saving women’s lives is not charity. It is justice.”
Today, Ama’s son calls his grandmother “Mama.” Her husband still keeps her cloth folded neatly in a box.
Her absence is felt in small, crushing ways an empty seat, an unanswered call, a child asking questions no one can answer.
Ama’s death should not be just another story told and forgotten. It should be a reminder and a warning.
If Ghana’s commitments remain words on paper, more women will leave home pregnant and never return. But if action replaces rhetoric, if women are supported to seek care, and if communities refuse to stay silent, then fewer families will have to whisper goodbye at a graveside.
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
Dr. Akua Gyima Asante, the Medical Superintendent of the LEKMA Hospital, has urged pregnant women to attend regular antenatal clinics, adhere strictly to medical advice, and report early to health facilities when they notice any unusual signs.
She advised nursing mothers to practise exclusive breastfeeding, maintain good hygiene, and attend postnatal clinics to ensure the health and wellbeing of both mother and child.
Dr. Asante gave the advice after the LEKMA Hospital recorded nine successful deliveries on New Year’s Day, marking a positive start to the year.
She said the first delivery was recorded at 12:30 a.m., with five male babies and four female babies delivered during the day.
Six of the deliveries were normal, while three were conducted through caesarean section, Dr. Asante said, adding that the mothers and babies were in stable condition and responding well to medical care.
She commended the dedication and professionalism of the hospital’s healthcare staff for their role in ensuring safe deliveries and quality maternal care.
She reaffirmed LEKMA Hospital’s commitment to providing quality maternal and child healthcare services to residents of the Ledzokuku Krowor municipality and called for continued support to help the facility sustain its services. –GNA
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