The National Breast Cancer Fund was re-launched yesterday in Accra . The aim is to provide resources for screening, testing awareness creation as well as supplement cost incurred by breast cancer patients. The Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs Hajia Alima Mahama who did the re-launch said the fund will provide the platform to re-strategize and build on past experiences to ensure its sustainability.
She said the fund will early next year be launched in all the ten regions, for active involvement and support of all Ghanaians at community, district and regional levels.
Hajia Alima said the scourge of the disease coupled with challenges in managing it necessitated the revival of the fund. She called on churches, civil society organisation, individuals and NGOs to donate to the fund in order to save more lives. In a speech read on her behalf, the Deputy Minister of health Dr. Gladys Ashitey said the disease in Ghana is estimated at 50 to 70 cases in every hundred thousand women.
This, she said, is worrying since the survival rate of the disease is low. According to her, low level of awareness, late detection and the high cost of treatment contribute to the increase of the disease.
Dr. Ashitey advised women to regularly do self examination, adding that the re-launch of the fund will give the needed assistance for people to seek early treatment. Direct donations can be made to the fund at SG-SSB Bank account number 0011010050161 countrywide.
