Seven cancer care solutions are set to be rolled out in health facilities in Kumasi and the country at large.
The initiative under the City Cancer Challenge Foundation (C/Can), is already targeting the over four million inhabitants in the Ashanti Region capital with quality and access to cancer care.
A Special Advisor to the Minister of Health, Dr Baffour Awuah and the Mayor of Kumasi Hon. Samuel Pyne launched the projects at the Prempeh Assembly Hall on Friday (December 9) under the theme: “Sustaining the gains under the City Cancer Challenge Kumasi Initiative in Ghana: Way forward for Cancer care, Prevention and Control”.
Pyne, who is also the Chair of the Kumasi C/Can City Executive Committee lauded the various stakeholders, for their contributions to the successes chalked since the start of the project.
“Kumasi joined the initiative in 2018, and together with C/Can we have collectively designed, planned and implemented cancer care solutions with stakeholders across the country. A multidisciplinary approach team to cancer care has become the golden standard globally with the fact that survival of cancer patients can be improved by this approach.”
“Some equipment has been purchased with the support of GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) for the commercialization of Wee SPECT CT machine which will enable Patients from catchment areas of the greater Kumasi region to benefit from the machine designed for early cancer diagnosis.”
Director of Africa and Europe for C/Can Sophie Bussmann-Kemdjo, said, “I am impressed with the commitment and willingness of Kumasi’s health stakeholders. Together they have developed and begun implementing solutions to advance cancer care that can be scaled across the whole country. It’s fascinating to see the power of city-led initiatives that then have an impact beyond the city.”
He pledged the continuous support of C/Can International to help advance the project across the country.
On her part, the President of Breast Care International, Beatrice Wiafe Addai called for a collaborative approach to integrate the country’s cultural values into the public education programmes in order not to alienate the primary target intended to benefit from the education.
“Socializing the guidelines imposes a responsibility on us all to integrate our various cultural values into our mass market public education programmes. These values should not be detached from our cultural way of doing things which detachment could potentially alienate those intended to benefit from our primary healthcare models designed to achieve the objectives of the guidelines.”
Kumasi has been part of the City Cancer Challenge Foundation (C/Can) initiative since 2018 and has co-created projects with over 256 local health professionals, 53 patients and 32 Ghanaian institutions.
The Multi-sectoral body is composed of the Minister of Health, Director General of Ghana Health Service, the Manhyia Traditional Authority, the Ashanti Regional Minister, the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of Kumasi, hospital CEOs and heads of departments, the non-communicable disease (NCD) Programme Manager and Representative of cancer patients survivor groups.
The Ministry of Health will look to replicate the Breast and Cervical Cancer guidelines in other parts of the country and it will also serve as the standard for which reference will be made in the management of breast and cervical cancers in the country.
SOURCE: DAILY MAIL GH
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