She said those acts had the potential of causing breast cancer and other related diseases and advised women to avoid such practices.

Madam Anim was addressing members of the Anglican Clergy Spouses Association, Accra Diocese, during a free breast screening exercise for members of the association and the general public.

The exercise, which is the first of its kind, was aimed at creating awareness for women to have their breast screened for breast cancer.

Lifestyle

Madam Anim also identified “bad lifestyle” as some of the causes of breast cancer cases in women in the country.

“The way we eat, the level of alcohol intake, excessive smoking of cigarette and lack of exercises at all levels have one way or the other led to the chances of one contracting the disease,” she explained.

She further mentioned that people, who had history of breast cancer in their family, were likely to experience same and as such might need to go for early detection and onward treatment.

“The older you are the greater the chances of you getting the disease,” she added.

Madam Anim appealed to women who breastfeed their children to cultivate the habit of good hygiene while breastfeeding them.

She said women got infectious diseases as a result of the amount of sweat that emanated around their nipples, explaining that those germs could redirect themselves into the nipples and infest the breast in the end.

Early detection

Madam Anim advised women to seek early treatment to save them from going through difficult times when the problem had already developed to an advanced stage.

She said the team was expected to screen over 200 women for cancer and mentioned that as at 12 p.m. last Thursday, over 80 women had been screened with about 10 of them discovered to have bad cases.

She said those with lumps were given some first aid and referred for further treatment.

She urged women who were 40 years and above to conduct a breast self-examination every month to know their status, explaining that such an exercise would go a long way to clear every doubt from their minds of having the disease.

Massive turnout

The Vice-President of the Anglican Clergy Spouses Association, Mrs Theodora Nana Dufie Nelson, for her part, expressed joy at the massive turnout for the exercise, explaining that the association’s aim was to ensure that women in the parish and the community were free from breast cancer disease.

According to her, the exercise was significant due to the increasing rate of cancer cases in the country, a situation which is causing fear and claiming the lives of innocent women.

“Innocent women have fallen to this disease because they failed to follow advice from medical practitioners,” she stated.
She said the team would continue to create awareness for its members and the general public to seek early detection and treatment.