Accra, Aug. 30, GNA - First Lady, Ernestina Naadu Mills, on Monday expressed concern about the little or no attention at all given to cancer as a disease compared to malaria, HIV and AIDS, and other communicable diseases.

She said a strong cancer prevention campaign and programme would greatly reduce the number of new cases that were occurring today and which continued to increase according to a research by the World Health Organisation.

"It is essential for government agencies to work with hospitals to create an avid and widespread cancer awareness campaign. It is through early detection, early screening, change in lifestyle and diet that we can successfully battle some of the prevalent cancers facing Ghana and Africa as a whole".

The First Lady expressed these concerns when she opened a two-day conference on "Cancer in Africa: Prevention, Cure and Treatment" in Accra.

She said cancer had been a serious public health issue affecting many people and was gradually gaining root, causing devastation and needed to be uprooted.

The conference is organized by Emofra Africa with support from Ridge Hospital, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, The Trust Bank, Zoomlion Ghana, Aramex, Huawei and Finatrade.

It is aimed at addressing the growing problem of cancer in Ghana and Africa, provide the platform for health professionals and the general public to share ideas and relevant information about cancer and its treatment, and set up committees with the task of battling against cancer and ensuring that Africans have a fighting chance against the devastating disease.

Topics to be treated for the two days include breast cancer, cervical cancer, nutrition, mental health challenges and cancer, oral cancers, prostate cancer, neurology , brain tumors and cancer, hematology and pediatric cancers, liver cancer, current trends in leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma in Africa, childhood cancers and the profile of adult haematological cancers in Africa.

First Lady Mills noted that with early diagnosis, the right treatment plan, solid unit of family and medical professionals, cancer will no longer be viewed as a death sentence but rather as a disease that can be faced head on with a successful outcome.

She called for more research to be conducted in the field of cancer and supported financially to enable the experts to determine treatment plans that are compatible to Africans, adding "cancer is a serious health problem affecting many people and there is the need for all of us to assist in creating the awareness".

Dr Sylvester Anemana, Chief Director of the Ministry of Health, said the Ministry planned to procure the needed equipment for the tertiary, secondary and primary institutions for cancers of all forms.

"The good is that Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital has some equipment which included radiotherapy and chemotherapy and it is our hope that all hospitals in the country are equipped to avert the migration or transfer of patients from the primary hospitals to the teaching hospitals just for diagnosis or treatment".

Ms Garce Larkuo Marabe, President of Emofra Africa, called for the need to invest in health infrastructure and train healthcare professionals in the global cutting technology that was being used to battle cancer in other countries.

She called for a total change in the lifestyle of Ghanaians and be more healthy, form community support groups that will seek the health needs of the people, adding "a healthy Ghana is a prosperous nation with unlimited potential".