• Mr Martin Adu-Owusu (middle) with the dignitaries at the launch

About 500 women at the Kaneshie Market Complex, who were screened on Thursday and Friday as part of The Spectator Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign, have been advised to continue treating their breasts with outmost care, even after the campaigns for the month of October are over.

According to Mrs. Gloria Owusu, the Group Administrator of The Community Hospitals Group, the breast remained an important asset for women, babies and men as well, hence the need for it to be “preserved very well.”

She said it was important for traders to take time off their busy schedules and avail themselves of regular medical checkup, including the early detection of breast cancer.

She stressed that late diagnosis of the disease could produce more adverse effects, therefore, women should take advantage of free screening opportunities where health professionals could examine them thoroughly.

“The irony of breast cancer is that people are afraid to check because they think the disease is so deadly that they do not want to come anywhere close to it. But we forget that what we may go through eventually when it is detected late is worse than we can imagine.

“Women can go about their trading activities and still squeeze sometime for medical chech up and give prompt attention to their health needs and avoid delays which have always ended up in medical fatalities,” she noted.

The Spectator Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign, themed: “Life Before and After Breast Cancer: A Future of Positivity and Hope,” formed part of the effort by The New Times Corporation and its partners to help reduce the devastating effects of the disease.

As partners of the campaign, Mrs. Gloria Owusu said The Community Hospitals Group had dedicated the month of October to free breast screening as well as other obstetrics and gynaecological check-up for women.

“We have positioned ourselves as gentle giants in the health industry that is why we find it fulfilling to partner the New Times Corporation and other stakeholders on this progressive mission,” she said.

Mrs. Owusu further urged women to take their health needs seriously and remain active while going about their businesses.

Some traders who spoke to The Spectator praised stakeholders for the initiative and promised to take the message of regular breast screening seriously.

Madam Lucy Awuku said women should not shy aware from seeking medical help breast cancer, which did not have any spiritual connotations.  Madam Florence Quartey also said she would continue to do the screening regularly, although she had not been diagonesed with the disease while Madam Comfort Osei Amoafo commended organisers for the initiative.

By Ernest Nutsugah