A day’s seminar for Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives in the Eastern Region on oncology training for community-based nurses, has ended in the regional capital Koforidua, with a call on stakeholders to feature breast cancer prominently on their list of healthcare priorities. 

The seminar, under the auspices of Breast Care International, was also attended by the Regional Minister, Eric Kwakye Daffour, and his Deputy, Joseph Tetteh.

Addressing the second and final seminar on National Basic Oncology training for community-based nurses, Founder and President of Breast Care International, BCI, Dr. Beatrice Wiafe Addai, called on the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives to embrace the project aimed principally at breast cancer awareness creation and the provision of jobs for unemployed nurses at the community level.

Under the Project, the first of which took place in Kumasi earlier this month, one hundred and twenty unemployed nurses drawn from all the Districts in the two pilot regions of Ashanti and Eastern, would be equipped with the know-how on diagnosing breast cancer and referring same to Hospitals for further checks and examination.

  
Dr. Wiafe Addai explained the project was underpinned by the knowledge that early diagnosis was critical in the breast cancer treatment chain, hence the placement of these nurses at the community level to readily  diagnose the condition in a grand scheme to curtail prevalence.

Dr. Wiafe Addai said fighting breast cancer required a multi-facetted approach which took on board the contribution of all stakeholders, noting “no effort should be spared in the struggle to free our women from this ignoble disease.”

She said BCI was introducing the oncology module as a sequel to the hugely successful annual flagship program, “BCI Ghana walk for the cure” with its attendant showcasing of survivors and weekly free breast screening programs across the length and breadth of the country.

“The project would be forward-looking and proactive in character to the extent that these nurses would go knocking on doors to carry out free screenings in homes. We are convinced women apprehensive of stigmatization among other wrongly held notions would be covered under this novelty,” she explained.

The Eastern Regional Minister, Eric Daffour and his Deputy Joseph Tetteh, associated themselves with the need to intensify breast cancer awareness creation programs in a region endemic with cases.

Frequently asked questions including the risk factors and management of the disease were addressed by Dr. Beatrice Wiafe Addai.