Kumasi, Aug. 12, GNA - Dr Baffour Awuah, Head of the Oncology Department, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), has raised concern about the growing trend of breast cancer cases in the country. From 102 diagnosed cases in 2004, the figure shot-up to 558 in the year, 2008.

Dr Awuah was speaking at the first oncology workshop organised by the Department with support from the Breast Health Global Initiative, the University of North Norway and the Susan .G. Komen Foundation. He said as part of an intervention to help deal with cancers, KATH was setting up a comprehensive Cancer Centre, where data would be collected to assist in effective policy making and implementation. To this end, 100 nurses had been trained by the hospital to diagnose and collect data on patients at the wards. Through this, 7,000 women had already been screened and of the number, 27 diagnosed of cancers.

Dr Awuah advised health providers to ensure early referral of patients to medical facilities where they would receive the needed care. He said poverty, ignorance on the part of patients and some health care providers, delay in pathology reports, late diagnosis and the use of traditional medicines were problems making the treatment of the various forms of cancer difficult. He noted that if cancers were reported to the medical facilities in the early stage, treatment would be possible and said in the case of breast, it could be done without necessarily having to remove it (breast).

Cancers kill more than 10 million people annually and between 60 and 70 per cent is from developing countries. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that about 16 million people would die from the disease yearly by 2020 if countries failed to develop effective strategies to fight it. Dr P. K. Karikari, Medical Director KATH, who chaired the occasion called on all to take cancer education serious.