Cervical cancer could be cured if detected early during screening at an appropriate health facility, Mrs. Monica Danso, Assistant Staff Midwife at the Family Planning Unit of the Sunyani Municipal Health Directorate has assured.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview, Mrs. Danso said the disease could also be prevented if any abnormality or infection was detected during testing.
She said women participation for the screening had now increased at the Unit as a result of continuous education by health professionals through the media educating and urging them (women) to go for regular check-ups to know their status about the disease.
She observed that women who were mostly at risk were those who engaged in sex at an early age and also women who had active sex life with multiple partners.
Mrs. Danso advised that women who had family history of cervical cancers must have regular screening for at least once a year for early detection to prevent complications, which normally could lead to loss of lives,
Mrs. Danso urged the media, especially the local and community FM Radio Stations to offer free air time to enable health promotion and education officers to reach out to more women about the disease and any other deadly disease to prevent loss of lives through preventable diseases.
She entreated the general public, particularly men, to join the campaign in preventing the disease by encouraging all women to have a systematic examination to detect any abnormal cells in their cervix.
Mrs. Danso explained that early result of the screening would help health care practitioners to come out with an accurate measure to control or treat any abnormality that could be cancerous but explained that symptoms in some cases might not be detected earlier until conditions have gotten to advanced stages.
Mrs. Danso reiterated that regular screening could reduce the risk of advanced cancer and urged women to pay attention to early screening for cervical cancer to save their lives
She disabused the minds of many women who thought the test was painful and stressed that "the procedure only takes a couple of minutes and was painless".