Over 2000 people die of breast cancer every year in Ghana – Report

Two thousand, three hundred (2,300) out of 5,000 people diagnosed with breast cancer every year, die of the disease, according to the Global Cancer Observatory report.

This figure is far higher than the estimated 1,462 people who died in Ghana in the global covid-19 pandemic.

This means that breast cancer is claiming more human lives than the Covid-19 pandemic, which has been in existence for the last four years.

Dr Mrs Beatrice Wiafe Addai, Chief Executive Officer of Breast Care International (BCI), told the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi that, the increasing mortality rate of breast cancer was due to late diagnosis, which often made treatment very difficult.

She noted that breast cancer had gone beyond public health concerns to become a developmental issue, which was negatively affecting the Ghanaian economy as most women diagnosed with the condition formed part of the workforce.

Dr Addai said although breast cancer mostly affected women, one to three per cent of men were also found with the condition in the country.

She, therefore, stressed the urgent need to make breast cancer a daily topic for discussion to educate the general public on the dangers associated with the disease.

Dr Addai recalled that the World Health Organisation (WHO) had warned low- and middle-income countries to give attention to breast cancer to help reduce the rate of breast cancer deaths by 70 percent in 2030.

She explained that breast cancer had no preventive measures because its cause was unknown.

However, there were risk factors such as the use of skin lighting agents, hair relaxers, smoking, especially shisha, and excessive alcohol intake, among others, which needed to be controlled.

According to Dr Addai, research conducted by the Ghana Breast Health Study with the National Cancer Institute of the United States of America discovered that some hair relaxers contained carcinogenic chemicals, which increased the risk of developing breast cancer.

The research, she said, involved three hospitals, including the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, and the Peace and Love Hospital in the country.

Again, Dr. Addai noted that according to research, smoking shisha was more dangerous than cigarette sticks though they were all cancer risk factors, as a puff of shisha was equal to 10 sticks of cigarettes.

She mentioned that the uncontrollable risk factors for developing breast cancer were being a woman, previously developing a lump in the breast that disappeared on its own, and family history of the condition.

She encouraged citizens, especially women, not to be afraid of clinically examining their breasts to ensure that they were either safe or had developed the condition to be treated early to prevent its spread.

“People often die of the spread of the cancer and not the presence of the cancer. When it is diagnosed early, there will be no need to cut the breast,” said Dr Addai.

Again, she advised women to avoid treating breast cancer with herbs because the Food and Drugs Authority has not given a licence to anyone to cure cancer with herbs.