Jean Monic Foundation Educates Girls In Volta Of Ghana On Breast Cancer

The girls being taught the self breast examination by the facilitators

By Desmond Tinana

According to a research published in The National Library for Medicine in 2022, “Globally breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer with an estimated 2.3 million new cases and 685,000 deaths in 2020. In Ghana ignorance and fear are the major reasons fuelled largely by myths and misconceptions.” The research suggests that breast cancer awareness and education needs to start early to bring about a change in knowledge, attitude and practices. However, Breast cancer awareness activities in Ghana have usually targeted adult women.

Jean Monic Foundation , a Non Governmental Organization in the Volta Region of Ghana in collaboration with Legends Hub has therefore embarked on a sensitisation workshop in Ho the Volta Regional capital to educate some girls of the Salvation Army Basic School in Godokpoe located in Ho Municipal Assembly on breast cancer, its causes, prevention and treatment.

In an interview with the Executive Director of Jean Monic Foundation Doris Esenam Dzah explained that, the decision to conduct the exercise came as a realization that most of the NGOs are not really going into the adolescents’ education on breast cancer. According to her, a survey conducted among the learners during the workshop proved that they are not knowledgeable about the subject.

Some of the areas addressed were, signs and symptoms of breast cancer, predisposing factors and risk factors among others.

In Doris words “breast cancer is when there are changes of the cells within the breast and these changes lead to growth of cancerous cells which also multiply and form what lumps or tumors.”

The girls were advised to stay away from lifestyles and activities that can cause breast cancer like smoking and alcoholism as they are risk factors for cancer. Other risk factors include obesity, genetic predisposition, early menarche, late menopause and family history of breast cancer. Doris explained that, if there are several people in the immediate family who have had breast cancer, it makes the risk greater.

She added that, “personal history can also increase the chance of breast cancer whereby if you have had cancer in one of the breasts that is either the right or the left there is a greater chance of getting it in the other.”

Bosso Sena Nelly, a nurse, and volunteer at Jean Monique Foundation also educated the girls on the signs and symptoms of breast cancer. She mentioned that, there are two signs which include early signs and advanced signs. For early signs, there would be lumps or thickened lumps in the breasts, where the lumps are immovable and painful as well as nipple discharge. The advanced stage includes redness of the breasts and enlargement or swelling of the breasts.

Jasmine Dagadu, another nurse and a volunteer at Jean Monique Foundation also took her turn to explain how to prevent breast cancer to the girls. She stressed that maintaining a healthy weight, regular exercises, reducing the intake of alcohol, eating a well-balanced diet and avoiding smoking are things that can prevent them from getting breast cancer. She also talked about breastfeeding which prevents the occurrence of breast cancer.

She also taught the learners breast self-examination which can be done while standing, while sitting or while lying down. To conduct a self-breast examination while standing “you have to expose the breast bare standing in front of a mirror, check the size, the shape and then the color of the breast to see if everything is in place. Raise your hand and put it at your behind your head, visually demarcate your breasts into four parts then starting from the tail of the breast which is right under your armpit, use the lower side of your palm to massage in a circular motion gently but a little firmly and deeply so as to be able to touch the inside of your breasts and feel whether there are lumps or not. After you are done, press your nipple to see whether there will be any discharge.

She advised the girls not to conclude that they have breast cancer if they feel any abnormalities in their breast but rather report to the hospital for further investigations and treatment.