Ghanaian medical experts are concerned about the growing number of young women, some as young as 14 years old, who are being diagnosed with fibroids.

They attribute this trend to the consumption of food and other things contaminated by heavy metals from illegal mining activities popularly known as 'galamsey'.

The Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr Isaac Osei Koranteng expressed concern over the increasing prevalence of fibroids among young Ghanaian women.

He noted that fibroid was in the past more common in women over 30, but now appear in much younger individuals.

He attributed this troubling trend to the consumption of contaminated food, particularly with heavy metals such as mercury and cyanide, stemming from galamsey activities.

Dr Koranteng explained that “Fibroid is becoming so common nowadays compared to when we were in medical school. We are having fibroids in young women. 

He was speaking at a forum in Accra organised by Mrs Racheal Hesse Matey, the 2023 Best Practicing Midwife for Greater Accra Region in collaboration with International Palace Church [The Palace], on safe modes of childbirth among women.

“During our time you hardly see a fibroid in a woman less than 30 years old. I mean, most commonly 40. But now we are seeing fibroids in 14 years, 16 years, 18 years, 20 years, and not just fibroid, other diseases are coming up earlier than we expect, like breast cancer. 

“I can’t still imagine why we have breast cancer in a 20-year-old, which we are reporting now, 22 years, 24 years, some of the things that we are exposing ourselves to nowadays, especially cyanide, mercury that we use for galamsey. It has contaminated all our soils and our products are from the soil, contaminating our waters and a lot of people. Mercury is a heavy metal, lead is a heavy metal."

Dr Koranteng emphasised the detrimental effects of heavy metals on health, stating that “When heavy metals are introduced into your body, you can't get rid of it. It will stay in your body and cause damage and the food we eat nowadays has also undergone tremendous change. We used to eat typical traditional food, now we prefer fried rice, and chicken. I believe all these things are contributing to why we are seeing some of these diseases occurring at a younger age.”