“Cancer is the fourth most common cause of death in Ghana and the five most common breeds are cancers of the liver, breast, cervix, prostate and stomach”, he said.

Dr Bello was speaking at the 2nd Annual Physiotherapy Lecture, organised by the Ghana Physiotherapy Association on the topic: “The role of physiotherapy in the prevention of cancer”, last Thursday in Accra.

Dr Bello said cancer was the fastest growing non-communicable disease (NCD) in the world today, owing to several factors such as lifestyle, genetic composition, obesity and the lack of physical exercises or activity, among other factors.

According to the lecturer, cancer had become the leading cause of death in developing countries, while in sub-Saharan Africa, it was the seventh most common cause of death with breast cancer leading.

Risk factors

Stating that about one-third of cancer deaths worldwide were preventable, Dr Bello listed risk factors that could cause cancer as lifestyle – living in affluence, physical inactivity, alcohol and tobacco intake and occupational risk factors.

Others are exposure to unhealthy environmental conditions such as pollution, socio-economic factors and body tissue damage and repair.

Physiotherapy

Dr Bello said current statistics showed that every one out of two men had the chance of developing cancer, while every one in three women were susceptible to developing cancer in their lifetime, but urged health personnel to see its prevention as worth pursuing with every patient they attended to.

He prescribed physical exercises as one way of preventing cancer, cautioning, however, that “It is not enough to get on the road and jump. It is an illegal thing for anybody to jump on the road without consulting the physiotherapist. Not everybody can do just any exercises”.

Dr Bello recommended a health policy reform that would incorporate physiotherapy in public health programmes.

The General Secretary of the Ghana Physiotherapy Association, Mr Christopher Afful, said currently Ghana had 223 registered physiotherapists, 187 of whom were active, adding that physiotherapists could be found in all the teaching, regional and district hospitals.

Life must go on

Delivering the second lecture, a Physiotherapist and Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Ms Anna Hughton, said 2,000 women were diagnosed with cancer in its advanced stage in Ghana in 2012 because they were afraid to check their status early.

She, however, said being diagnosed with cancer was not the end of one’s life and urged those diagnosed to seek early treatment and go on with their lives.

Ms Hughton encouraged cancer survivors to also seek early help to embark on exercising regimes.

The President of the Ghana Physiotherapists Association, Mr Samuel Otoo, said the lecture was held to educate the public on what health conditions physiotherapy could help treat.

A Professor of Immunology at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Ghana, Andrew A. Adjei, who chaired the lecture, urged the physiotherapists to make themselves visible and educate the public on their role in the health setup of the country.