In a quest to repel future disasters in women’s health, the President of the Breast Society of Ghana (BSoG), Dr Hannah Ayettey-Anie, has urged women to stop dreading mastectomy and visit the hospital at the first notice of a lump or any abnormality in their breast.
According to Dr Ayettey-Anie, the fear of mastectomy, which is surgery to remove a breast to treat or prevent breast cancer, is preventing many women with concerns from having their breasts checked. To intimate that an early step could preserve the breast, she stated; “According to our research, a lot of people with issues do not turn up because of fear of mastectomy, but this can be prevented if they come early enough when they notice they may be at risk. If you don’t come early enough, the situation becomes difficult to salvage.”
Dr Ayettey-Anie, also a Senior Specialist Radiation and Clinical Oncologist at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), made these remarks during BSoG’s maiden health walk through the principal streets of Accra to sensitise the public on breast cancer and breast care.
The walk was organized with the theme “Early detection saves lives and living beyond breast cancer together we can” and a group of over 100 people, which mainly consisted of nurses, doctors, nursing students, and other healthcare workers, participated and shared flyers on breast cancer with the public.
Dr Ayettey-Anie also encouraged people that have been diagnosed with breast cancer not to default but rather stick to their treatments and drugs as that could prolong their survival. She added that there was also the option of plastic surgery, where a different part of the body was taken to reconstruct the breast and said it is a safe process as it was difficult to identify that the breast was replaced.
Also, Dr Charles Arhinful, a General Surgeon at the Volta River Authority (VRA) Hospital, cautioned women who were 40 years and above to get a mammogram done every year for the early detection of any abnormalities in the breasts. He explained that the mammogram can pick cancer when it has not yet formed a lump and encouraged women to avail themselves of the process.
Dr Arhinful also urged women to take this October month of awareness on breast cancer to check and screen their breasts at any approved centre offering the service.
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