President of Breast Care international, Dr. Beatrice Wiafe Addae, says Ghana could make a major headway in reducing breast cancer if screening is made free. Though treatment for the disease is presently free under the National Health Insurance Scheme, screening is not covered by health insurance. As the world marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, Dr. Wiafe Addae appealed to government to make the first stage diagnosis for breast cancer free. It is estimated one woman dies globally of breast cancer every 68 seconds. While the developed world has made efforts to reduce the infection rate, Africa and other developing countries still record high rates of infection and death from the disease. It is said that due to the myth associated with breast cancer, only 25 per cent of people affected by the disease report to a health facility at the early stage. Witchcraft, fate, failure of individuals, death as a result of mastectomy, beliefs of no cure and, especially, stigmatization are synonymous to breast cancer. However, screening, which is said to be expensive, is a major barrier to the fight against the disease. Dr. Wiafe Addae says her organization plans to host a major breast cancer screening and awareness programme on the 27th of this month at Bechem in the Brong Ahafo Region. This will be preceded by similar exercises in Accra and Kumasi. The Chief Executive of Peace and Love Hospital in Kumasi called on government to step in to address the challenge on screening. “‘The government has to come in because the countries who have managed to reduce mortality from breast cancer have been able to that because screening is free, however in our country the health insurance caters for cure but we need to have a preventive one”, said Dr. Wiafe Addae. Breast cancer tops the number of cancer-related ailments reported in health institutions around the country. Ashanti Region tops the list, followed by the Brong Ahafo and Central Regions. There are reports about 20 per cent of women who seek treatment for breast cancer at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) are divorced by their husbands. Doctors say the situation is making many patients reluctant to reveal their conditions to their spouses. A survivor recounts to Luv News the difficulties she went through after being diagnosed of breast cancer. “Just being told to let them take off your breasts is not easy because this is something you have not prepared [for],” she said. “I said to myself why don’t I accept it; when I cover myself nobody sees it, I don’t know what people have covered so let me accept it.” According to Dr Beatrice Wiafe Addae, women who give birth after age 33 are at more risk to contract the disease. She indicated that men are also vulnerable, stating that 24 out of the reported 462 cases in 2004 were men.