Breast Care International (BCI), a non-governmental organization (NGO), is advocating for more treatment centers in rural areas and emphasizing the importance of a social support system for those battling breast cancer, especially those who may be disadvantaged.
According to BCI, the lack of proper healthcare and awareness are the main reasons why breast cancer is so severe in Ghana.
The NGO made this statement at the media launch of the Breast Care Ghana Walk for the Cure.
Dr. Beatrice Wiafe Addai, President and Founder of BCI and Peace and Love Hospitals, spoke to the media about the challenges faced by women with breast cancer in rural areas.
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“All the treatment centres are in the cities so imagine a woman who is leaving in with no offence Sehwi-Akontombra and not even Akontombra proper but the village with a problem. What should she do? There is no money to travel all the way, it is expensive. The distance the lack of counselling there, her husband has left, and she doesn’t know who to talk to, the lack of support.”
“We don’t have any social support system in our country. When you go to the developed world, if a woman has breast cancer, she knows where to go. If they have leukaemia they know where to go to. So there are a lot of offices and agencies where one can get help. And you agree with me that poverty is staring in our faces everywhere you go even in the city,” she said.
