More than one thousand residents benefited from a medical outreach and free breast cancer screening organised by Gold Fields Ghana Foundation (GFGF) at Damang and Amoanda in the Prestea -Huni Valley Municipality of the Western Region, on Saturday.
The GFGF programmewas held in partnership with the Rotary Club as part of the breast cancer awareness month marked inOctober each year, to detect early signs of the disease.
Doctors at the event, reported that, patients diagnosed with diabetes and high blood pressure, were advised to continue with their medications, monthly check -ups and regular exercises.
Giving a talk on detection and management of breast cancer, the Health Services Manager, Gold Fields West Africa, Dr Ishmael Sackey,harped on early reports of the disease to ensure good attention.
He advised women to remove all fears and doubts about surgeries andbreast cancer, and, rather seek medical attention,stressing “don’t wait for the disease to be serious before you seek medical attention.”
“Cancer can spread from the head to toe. It begins and gradually spread to other parts of the body, and, soweneedto draw our attention to this and stay longer with early detection,”DrSackey added.
He said, one critical symptom of breast cancer was a lump in a woman’s breast and told women to regularly do self -detection at home even with the help of the men.
The General Manager,Abosso Gold Fields Limited, Michiel Van der Merwe, assured that GFGF was committed to improving community access to health care and mentioned that, it had invested about GH₵ 240,000 in the programme.
To date, he announced that GFGF invested about GH₵4.8 million in thehealth sector including the provision of health care centres, doctors’ and nurses’ quarters, hospital equipment, drugs and outreach programmes.
Gold Fields, Mr Merwe said,would ensure the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in its catchment areas including health and education.
The Municipal Health Director, Prestea -Huni Valley,Mr Joseph Kwame Sampson,noted that in 2020, the World Health Organisation estimated that,out of about 2.3 million women affected by breast cancer, 700, 000 died.
This situation, he said, was unacceptable and therefore, advised society to make conscious efforts to reduce the mortality rate.
The breast, he explained, underwent changes during puberty, menstruation and child- giving stages and advised women to take note, by alsoreporting to health experts.
The Rotary President at Tarkwa, Daniel Baddy, called for collaboration with Gold Fields to bring health care to the communities and also put smiles on the faces of women affected by breast cancer.
He said, in 2019, the Tarkwa Rotarians together with Gold Fields organised a breast cancer screening programme for 200 women at Damang and Amonda and that one woman with a suspected case, was now doing well.
FROM CLEMENT ADZEI BOYE, DAMANG
