Dr Atsu Dodor, the Director of Clinical Services, at the Western Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service, says cancers are becoming common due to altered lifestyles.
He has, therefore, called on Ghanaians to revert attitudes such as excessive drinking, bad sleeping pattern, tobacco use and poor eating habits to reduce the risk of cancers, particularly breast cancer.
Dr Dodor noted that one factor leading to the deaths of many cancer patients was late reporting.
The Director of Clinical Services was speaking at the launch of the Port of Takoradi Breast Cancer Awareness Month in Takoradi in the Western Region.
He mentioned some signs of the disease condition to include lumps, redness, or wrinkles on the breasts, discharge from the nipples or sudden change in nipple colour, sudden change in breast size or shape and swollen lymph nodes.
Madam Sandra Opoku, the Director of the Port of Tema, who was the special guest of honour at the launch, entreated people with the condition to trust in God for healing by pursuing early treatment as God only helped those who first make the right choices.
She recounted her encounter with the condition in 2014 and how she focused on treatment and strict adherence to all clinical procedures that saved her life.
Madam Opoku said, “then, I was the legal services director, but God had a bigger plan for me and see me eight years down the line as Director of the Tema Port…if I had relied on some unfolded belief patterns, societal connotations and attitudes I may not have been alive to see this goodness of God in my life”.
She continued, “of course I prayed and occupied my mind with the word of God, work and treatment, but did not move from prayer camps to another…I want families to know these truths and support people in this condition to take the right decisions for their survival’s sake”.
Ms Daphne Kemmeh, a Deputy Director at the Western Regional Coordinating Council, noted that there was hope for the afflicted and encouraged them to brace for the storm to their survival.
Source:GNA