News:
December 19, 2013
Mrs Freda Prempeh, the Member of Parliament for Tano North, has appealed to men to assist their wives to undertake self-breast examination for cancer detection.
“Men should not use the breast for pleasures alone, but also help their wives to undertake periodic self-breast examination,” she said,
Mrs Prempeh said this at a breast screening exercise on some women at Bomaa in the Tano North District of the Brong-Ahafo Region.
The exercise, organised by the Breast Care International, a non-governmental organization, was initiated by the MP. More than 700 women and girls were screened.
Mrs Prempeh said the rare at which breast and cervical cancers were spreading and killing women in the country was very sad and needed a radical approach in tackling.
She said since men were the head and had authoritative powers in the nuclear family line, they ought not to only provide the materials needs but also spiritual and the health needs of the family members.
Mrs Prempeh said when women got infected with chronic illness, it affected the entire family and that necessitated the importance for men to be concerned about the well-being of their wives.
She said early detection was a major headway in controlling the breast and other related cancers.
Mrs Adwoa Afriyie Beniako, Public Relation Officer of Breast Care International, said the exercise was aimed at empowering women and girls to examine their own breasts.
She said it was recommended that aside breast cancer detection, it was appropriate women and girls undertook regular breast examination at least once a year.
This, Mrs Afriyie said, would also help them to discover abnormality in the breast and go for prompt medical examination.
She mentioned sharp pains and regular itching of the breast as well as discharge of blood from the nipples as some of the signs of breast cancer adding that if not detected earlier, the cancer spread faster to the lungs, heart, bone and the brain resulting in death.
Mrs Afriyie said breast cancer could affect any person at the age of 16 and above including men, adding that two percent of the disease was among men.
GNA