Dr. James Edward Mensah, head of the Urology department at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital has called on government to institute measures to prosecute practitioners in the herbal sector who claim they have treatment for prostate cancer.
According to him, these self-acclaimed herbal doctors do not have scientific knowledge about the disease; rather they are amassing wealth out of the ignorance of people who visit their facilities for treatment.
Prostate cancer is a disease that starts from the prostate gland. The prostate is a small, walnut-sized structure that makes up part of a man’s reproductive system. It wraps around the urethra, the tube that carries urine out of the body. Dr. Mensah explained that these herbal doctors are just misinforming and killing people in the country, as a result of their activities.
He continued that it is difficult to diagnose and predict the symptoms of prostate cancer at its early stages; hence it beats his imagination as to how these herbal doctors treat people with prostate cancer. Dr. James Mensah made the call when management of Tullow, Ghana, presented GH¢10, 000 cheque to the Urology department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital over the weekend, at a short but impressive ceremony.
Apart from pressing on government to prosecute herbal doctors who claim to have treatment for prostate cancer, the Head of the Korle-Bu Urology Department appealed to government to make financial and logistic resources available for the training of doctors in urology.
According to him, capacity building and awareness creation are other areas for consideration towards the fight against prostate cancer in the country since the rate of the disease is quite alarming. He continued that, about 150 men visit the facility every day, with other cases becoming complicated and leading to the use of cartita to enable them urinate after they have used certain concoctions prepared by these herbal practitioners.
Dr. Mensah further pointed out that, about 508 men weekly visit the facility for replacement of their cartita. Presenting the cheque on behalf of management, the Communication Manager (CM) of the company, Mrs. Beatrice Natue, disclosed that the donation was part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
Explaining the motivation for the donation, the CM for Tullow Ghana said, the money was realized by employees of the company during the celebration of “Movenber Week” to support treatment and research into urology. The “Movenber Week”, which is observed every November, according to Mrs. Natue, is an Australian tradition where the beards of men are shaved to raise funds to support charity and society.
She assured the management of the hospital and general public of her company’s readiness and commitment to sustain the support to health facilities, since health is the biggest area of need of the country.