Bolgatanga, Dec 11, GNA - The Centre for Sustainable Development Initiatives (CENSUDI) and Afrikids Ghana, non-governmental organizations operating in the Upper East Region, on Friday organized a one day breast cancer awareness creation forum. It was part of activities to mark the 16th day of activism against gender base-violence.

The forum was attended by women groups, Municipal and District Gender Officers and NGOs and was aimed at raising the awareness on breast cancer. It also gave participants the opportunity to seek clarification on issues related to breast cancer. A public nurse, Mrs. Elizabeth Issaka, said about 69 per cent of women in developing countries including Ghana had no access to cancer treatment centres as compared to the developed countries where majority of victims of Breast Cancer had access to treatment.

She said treatment centres in the country were few and that there were not more than three of such facilities, forcing victims of the disease to travel to Kumasi and Accra to access the facilities. She aid there was the need for the facilities to be provided in all the regional capitals to enable people have easy access to them. Speaking on the causes of Breast Cancer, Mrs. Issaka explained that breast cancer was largely hereditary but could be caused as a result of too much consumption of alcoholic drinks, fatty and sugary foods and appealed to women to limit the intake of those food items. About 200 women underwent free and voluntary Breast Cancer screening and also took time to ask questions about the symptoms of the disease.