By Yaa Oforiwah Asare-Peasah, Geneva, Switzerland Courtesy: CHOCHO Industries/Newmont Ghana

Geneva, Sept. 5, GNA - The Okomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi is intensifying activities in its cancer control programme to reduce the rise in cases reported at the hospital. The hospital is currently engaged in cancer control, diagnosis, prevention and palliative care, Dr Baffuor Awuah, an oncologist at the Hospital, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview at the World Cancer Congress in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Congress on the Theme: "Towards True Cancer Control" was organised by the International Union Against Cancer (UICC). It was attended by delegates from all over the world.

Dr Awuah, who was speaking during a photo exhibition mounted by staff of the hospital to showcase efforts made in the control activities last year said the hospital had organised training programmes for health workers in rural areas in the Ashanti Region on how to detect breast cancer at the early stages and refer them for immediate and appropriate intervention at the hospital. He said apart from the nurses and medical assistants trained in the districts, the oncology staff at the hospital had been organising outreach programmes to educate women groups and churches on cancer prevention.

They also undertake home-based palliative care, especially for patients who are either too ill or cannot afford to attend hospital due to financial constraints. He said though there was no cancer registry in the country now, records show there was an increase in the number of the annual reported cases.

For example, he said, records available indicated that Korle-Bu recorded between 800 and 1,000 cases annually while Komfo Anokye records between 500 and 600 cases within the same period. He warned, however, that those figures represented the official reported cases only. He expressed regret that people think cancer was a hopeless disease, "but I think otherwise because cancer, like any other disease, can affect anybody and so should be prevented and controlled to the barest minimum".

Dr Awuah said the meeting afforded the five-member team from the hospital, the opportunity to showcase their activities to the international community, share ideas with other experts from both the developed and developing countries and hold consultation that would help improve performance back home.

"It also helped us to position ourselves well to meet the increasing number of cases and the accompanying challenges and deal with them.

"The most important of all was the fact that as a Teaching Hospital we always need funds to undertake projects and we had the chance to discuss sponsorship for the development of an oncology nursing training programme back home."

Dr Awuah was accompanied by Ms. Mary Agyapong the oncology nurse at the hospital, Mr Paul Opoku, a registrar and two oncology trainee nurses. Ghana was hit by cancer deaths, including high profile persons in the judiciary, the political arena, the country's premier university and an advocate who had established a foundation to source funding for the control of the disease.