Breast Cancer Awareness: Dr K.B. Tandoh Outreach offers free screening to 200 residents of Asunafo North

The Dr K.B. Tandoh Outreach has offered free breast cancer screening and general wellness checks to over 200 men and women in the Asunafo North Municipality of the Ahafo region on Wednesday in Goaso.

The outreach team, led by Dr Kwabena Bempah Tandoh, a former Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES ), provided comprehensive services including breast examinations, HIV testing and counselling, as well as checks on height, weight and body temperature.

Dr Tandoh, also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Orpington Group, explained that the outreach was created to strengthen education, health, youth development, agriculture and general community welfare, with this health initiative specifically designed to raise awareness of breast cancer, promote early detection and encourage timely treatment.

He pledged to replicate the screening exercise in other communities including Mim, Asumura, Ayomso and their adjoining villages.

“Good health among residents of a country improves productivity,” he said, urging citizens to take ownership of their health through regular exercise, healthy lifestyles and early medical consultation.

The Global and African Picture

The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies breast cancer as the most common cancer globally, accounting for 2.3 million new cases and around 670,000 deaths in 2022. One in twenty women worldwide will be diagnosed with the disease during her lifetime.

If unchecked, new annual cases could reach 3.2 million and deaths 1.1 million by 2050 – a 68 percent surge. Survival rates exceed 90 percent in high-income countries but fall to around 40 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, due to late diagnosis and inadequate access to treatment.

Across the WHO African Region, about 146,000 new cases and 71,000 deaths were recorded in 2022. In Ghana, approximately 16,000 new cases occur each year, with nearly half of patients dying – a grim reflection of delayed reporting, limited infrastructure and public misconception.

Breaking Myths, Promoting Awareness

At the Goaso event, Hannah Gyekyewaah, Midwife at the Breast and Cervical Cancer Unit of the Goaso Government Hospital, dispelled myths linking breast cancer to bra wearing, deodorant use, breast size or spiritual causes.

“These are false and not scientifically proven,” she said. “Women should instead perform monthly self-breast checks and promptly report any unusual lumps or changes to healthcare professionals.”

One participant, Sophia Omare, lauded the exercise, noting: “A healthy people live in a wealthy nation. Dr Tandoh’s initiative has given us confidence to take our health seriously.”

The WHO’s Global Breast Cancer Initiative stresses that community-based screenings like the Dr K.B. Tandoh Outreach bridge healthcare gaps, especially in rural and semi-urban Ghana, where late-stage diagnosis remains common.

Early detection not only improves survival chances but also reduces treatment costs and psychological distress. By combining education, screening and counselling, such programmes become a lifeline for underserved populations.

Breast cancer is not only a medical concern. It is a development, equity and gender-justice issue that demands collective action.

For journalist Emmanuel Adu Gyamfi based in Ghana’s Ahafo Region, championing regional development, the health and safety of girls and women, commended the Dr K.B. Tandoh Outreach for this exemplary community health initiative.

By bringing preventive screening to the grassroots, the outreach embodies the essence of health equity and human development.

I call on government agencies, NGOs, corporate Ghana, and international partners to collaborate and scale up such life-saving interventions – so that fewer women and families in Ghana, Africa, and across the world suffer needless loss to breast cancer.

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.