A celebrated Midwife in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region Madam Mary Azika has advised women to take advantage of men’s insatiable love for the breast to prevent breast cancer.
She observed that men have an inordinate desire for the breasts of women, a development she noted is good for the prevention of breast cancer.
As part of an ongoing breast cancer awareness in the month of October, Madam Mary as she is passionately called in an interview on Bolgatanga based Dreamz Fm monitored by MyNewsGh.com admonished women to avail themselves frequently for professional breast assessment, take note of early warning signs and immediately seek medical attention to avoid an escalation of the condition.
She expressed worry over the late reporting of breast cancer cases saying “Most of the women come when it is far advanced. As I said earlier on when it starts you don’t feel any pain in the breast. It is when the breast starts changing like becoming big and they start feeling the pain that’s when they suspect and ask what is happening to [my] breast. The best thing is to always go for breast examination and I’ll encourage every woman to come for breast examination”.
Madam Mary Azika encouraged men to visit the breast examination centres with their wives to learn the breast examination procedure in order to constantly and accurately examine the breast at home.
“Men should play a role in preventing breast cancer. They should encourage their wives when they deliver to breastfeed because good breastfeeding also prevents cancer. They should come and will teach them because we know men like breasts so much. When children sack the breast for two years, they [men] come back to sack the same breast. So they should protect their wives’ breasts by coming with them to the clinic so while we examine we teach them to do the same in the house and when they detect anything they are not sure they can come to the clinic and we will confirm. The men should also sack the breast to help prevent cancer,” she advised.
According to the Ghana Health Service, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is marked in countries across the world and helps to increase attention and support for awareness, early diagnosis, and treatment as well as palliative care for women facing this disease.
There are about 1.7 million new cases and 522 000 deaths from breast cancer worldwide.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and is the most common cause of cancer among women in most countries.
In low- and middle-income countries the incidence has been rising steadily due to increased life expectancy, changing reproductive patterns (such as later age at first childbirth and less breastfeeding), and the adoption of western lifestyles.
Early diagnosis remains the cornerstone of breast cancer control. When found early, and if adequate diagnosis and treatment are available, there is a good chance that breast cancer can be cured. If detected late, however, curative treatment is often no longer an option. In such cases, treatment may improve quality of life and delay disease progression, while supportive and palliative care should be readily available to relieve suffering for patients and their families.