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Health News for Sunday, November 8, 2020
Source: GNA
2020-11-08
Dr. Yvonne Otubea Otchere, Executive Director of PsycCare Consult
PsycCare Consult, an organization that advocates for women’s health and provides psychological support, has organized a free breast cancer screening exercise for residents of Ashiyie, near Accra.
The screening exercise, organized by PsycCare Consult in collaboration with the International Central Church of the Gospel (ICGC), Heavens Gate Temple, Ashiyie, was preceded by pre-screening counseling and breast cancer education as part of efforts to create disease awareness.
Beneficiaries were asked to note signs such as “Lumps, hard knots or thickening; swelling, warmth, redness, or darkening; change in size or shape; changes in the skin; itchy, scaly pain, or a rash on the nipple; pulling the nipple or other parts; unusual nipple discharge; and new pain at a point that does not go away ”.
Dr. Yvonne Otubea Otchere, a consultant psychologist and CEO of PsycCare Consult, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency during the screening exercise, said that breast cancer was curable and early detection was key.
She said that by this year, they had boosted advocacy for breast cancer in at-risk men because traditional campaigns had focused on women, hence the need to raise some awareness regarding men as well.
“There are huge psychological barriers associated with raising awareness, she noted. Stigma continues to thrive and breast cancer is commonly viewed as a female disease,” she noted.
This year, we have also reoriented our men on the relevance of the breasts, “he said.
“The breast is a symbol of life, she noted. A woman is expected to breastfeed her baby for the first two or three years of life! No breasts, no life and men must understand this and support the campaign by getting screened and encouraging the family unit to be examined. “
Dr. Otchere noted that “Breast Cancer Detection, Treatment and Defeat” was this year’s theme, and said they believed that everyone should be involved in breast cancer screening.
She explained that she asked for conventional treatment for people who may find lumps in their breasts to undergo surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy and to receive advice and support to undergo these medical procedures.
He pointed out that the role of spiritual healing was important, since the word of God was health and brought health to the soul.
She said that breast cancer patients were not “demonized”; thus, the adoption of exorcism by religious organizations as a treatment for patients with breast cancer and that had contributed to the late presentation in the health facility contributing to the death of breast cancer patients.
Dr Otchere said that regarding the third preamble being ‘defeating’, they believed that defeating breast cancer was a mental and behavioral process and that people should be aware that there are viable support systems to help them even when a lump is detected.
Madame Charlotte Brobbey, a senior nurse officer in the Department of Surgery at Korle Bu University Hospital, also told the GNA that on examination some recipients had breast lumps and others had fluid in their breasts; however, most of the people tested had no problems.
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