The Northern Media Ladies Association, a group made up of female media practitioners in Upper East, Upper West, Savannah, North-East and Northern regions is targeting to screen about 10,000 people for breast and cervical cancers, through its annual breast cancer awareness programme dubbed “Walk4tities”.
Already, the initiative had screened 126 women in the Wa Municipality of the Upper West Region after a breast cancer awareness march through the principal streets of Wa to create more awareness about the two diseases and the need for women to get themselves screened.
Two suspected cases of cervical cancer and one case of breast cancer were identified and referred for further screening at the hospital.
According to the founder of the Walk4tities, Leatrice Naa Kwarley Richardson, she had suffered a locomotive disease in the past and had also lost a relative to breast cancer hence the motivation to start the initiative.
She mentioned that the idea was borne in 2018 to get people more aware about the condition, and to also support affected beneficiaries to get referrals to the hospitals where they are given further tests, the first electronic diagnosis and studies for profiling and possible treatment if the patient could afford.
She stated that breast cancer was a serious disease which unfortunately had been downplayed and ignored in the northern part of the country, due to limited awareness and poverty, which had prevented many from getting tested and even undergoing treatment after testing.
The Walk4tities started as part of a northern radio awards scheme for journalists in the northern part of the country, but it is now an entity on its own and the implementation relies heavily on female media practitioners across the region who are engaged in the mobilisation.
“We are hoping to provide a safe space for persons with the two conditions alongside persons who have recovered from the conditions to enable them have a better quality of life,” she stated.
The founder lamented that securing support for the projects over the years had not been smooth sailing, due to the fact that many people had downplayed the potency of the breast cancer and how it could affect the lives of victims and their families.
She used the opportunity to announce the screening in the Upper East, North East, Northern and Savannah regions within this month and encouraged the women in the regions to patronise the exercises.
The month of October has been earmarked as Pink Month and women are encouraged to get tested during the month of October.
A beneficiary of the screening exercise in Wa, Madam Rafika Amadu, lauded the intervention and said it would help them know their status as women with the two deadly cancers.
FROM LYDIA DARLINGTON FORDJOUR, WA
