Ghana loses over 1,500 women annually to cervical cancer and over 3,000 women are diagnosed of the cancer at its complicated stage making it impossible to cure.
The number of deaths caused by this illness has the potential of increasing due to late diagnosis and very few women voluntarily walk into a health facility with the aim to screen for the disease, according to health officials.
They are worried about the unavailability of women subjecting to screening.
“When it comes to cervical cancer, the alarm really is the fact that what we tend to see in our clinics are advance cases, we see cases at a time when there is relatively very little we can do for the women, we see cases when the disease has advanced and complications have set in, and these cases can be very difficult and very heartbreaking for families and the women themselves,” the President for Medical Women Association of Ghana, Dr Naa Sodzi-Tettey lamented.
The illness which exposes women to abnormal bleeding, offensive smell among other symptoms has received very little attention and education. Dr Sodzi-Tettey indicated that early detection of the cancer can be cured, therefore encouraging women, especially those who are sexually active to go for screening.
The Association in a bid to sensitize people and reduce cases has partnered with Lexta Group of Companies, producers of YAZZ products to embark on awareness creation in second cycle institutions to educate young people. The President of the association believes screening can reduce the plight of many women who suffer from the disease.
“The issue is right there with us, people rarely get up and voluntarily go to clinics and say, I like to have my cervical cancer screened, it is very rare”.
The Lexta Group of Companies is in this partnership because majority of its consumers are women. According to the Chief Executive officer of the company, Mr Martin Brobbey, supporting the project is a way of giving back to the society by championing and intensifying education to create awareness among young women.
The company aims at reaching out to all girls in secondary schools in the country. The project has started at the City Business College which will be extended to other schools as well.
Mr. Brobbey was very passionate about helping women out of the problem. “We have taken it upon ourselves to take cervical cancer as an issue confronting women, and to champion that, educate them, screen them and give them support, so we are working with Medical Women Association of Ghana to champion this program and make sure the women who patronize our products, our sanitary pads, our washing powder, tooth paste, our diapers, we should also care for them”.
The company is also committed in reducing the high unemployment rate in the country. They hope to start its production company in Ghana. The company which currently imports from Asia and Europe wants to take advantage of government’s one-district-one factory incentives to begin production in Ghana.
“What Ghana should expect this year is that Lexta will go into production, we want to take advantage of the one-district-one factory”.
Lexta Ghana Limited (LGL), the producer and supplier of Yazz products and Hooch Foods in Ghana is undertaking its flagship Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project to benefit some selected Senior High Schools (SHS) across the country.
The project dubbed: Lexta ‘Teen Care’ Campaign has the following components – Cervical Cancer & Feminine Hygiene, Oral Care and Clean-up Competitions.
The objective is to teach students how to properly manage their hygiene needs by cultivating good personal and general hygiene habits in their adolescent years which is a crucial phase in their development.
The campaign will visit the selected Senior High Schools in all 10 regions of the country with seasoned health professionals including Dentists, Gynecologists and General Health Practitioners to educate and engage the students.
