Mr Frank Ghartey, Executive Director of Mammocare Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), committed to enhancing breast cancer awareness, on Friday said that the disease cannot be cured through herbal treatment.

He therefore advised women who seek herbal treatment after being diagnosed as suffering from the disease, to desist from the practice. Mr Ghartey, was addressing market women at a forum at Cape Coast to educate them about the symptoms of the disease and the need to seek early medical attention.

He said because people have an erroneous impression the disease can be treated with herbs, some women resort to orthodox medicine only after herbal treatment has failed. Mr Ghartey disclosed that the disease which mostly affects women between the ages of 39 and 53 years is believed to be brought about by the intake of fatty or oily foods, and that obese women and women who indulge in the excessive intake of alcohol are among those commonly at risk.

He said the disease is now on the increase in the country and that between 50 to 70 out of every 100,000 women screened in Accra, are diagnosed as having the disease. He therefore appealed to women to among others, reduce the consumption of fatty foods, regularly self-examine their breasts and seek prompt medical attention when they detect symptoms of the disease since it is expensive to cure in its advanced stage. Twelve out of 130 women screened at the function were detected to be suffering from the disease.