Dr. Wiafe — Breast cancer risk factors including alcohol, shisha, and bleaching
Dr. Beatrice Addae Wiafe, the founder of Breast Care International (BCI), has counseled the populace, particularly young women, to refrain from excessive alcohol consumption, shisha smoking, and the use of bleaching products on their skin, as these are some of the risk factors for breast cancer.
Dr. Wiafe said at a rally following the BCI breast cancer walk in Accra on Saturday that while there is no known cause of breast cancer, there are some risk factors that can result in developing the disease. As a result, she advised both men and women to live healthy lives and steer clear of those risk factors.
“Earlier, ladies in Ghana were not interested in smoking shisha, but now many women smoke, especially our young women.
If precautions are not followed, we will have a lot more of our women suffering from various malignancies, as one puff of shisha is equivalent to ten cigarettes.
Recently, the chemicals some women use to bleach their hair have also been identified as risk factors, she continued.
Dr. Wiafe, who is also the CEO of the Peace and Love Hospital, further advised everyone to prioritize raising awareness of breast cancer because it was no longer just a problem for women but had evolved into a social and financial one.
It is concerning that the majority of our working women are succumbing to breast cancer or losing their lives to the disease and that the majority of these women leave behind children, which raises its own set of problems.
Therefore, breast cancer is a problem that should concern everyone, not just women, she stated.
Walk
The “BCI Ghana Walk for the Cure 2023” was the name given to the BCI walk that was organized to raise awareness of breast cancer.
“Breaking Myth, Fighting Cure” was the theme.
The walk and rally brought together several breast cancer survivors as well as stakeholders and activists to raise awareness of the illness and inform everyone about the importance of routine screening and early and prompt identification.
Neglect
Dr. Chukwudi Jude Ihenetu, the Chief of the Igbos in Ghana, asked friends and relatives of breast cancer patients not to abandon them during the course of treatment but instead to encourage them and provide them with all the love and support they would require.
To dispel misunderstandings and preconceptions regarding the disease, he further urged opinion leaders, particularly men of God, to urge their congregations to seek the closest medical institution when they sense or see any changes in their breasts.
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