Pink Month: Men urged to assist their wives in examining their breasts

Khalida M. A. Seidu, a gender advocate, has urged husbands to assist their wives in the self-examination of their breasts for early diagnosis and treatment.

She explained that the involvement of husbands in self-examination of the breast at home would help encourage their wives to do regular breast cancer checks and to report to the health facilities for further testing when necessary.

Khalida Seidu, who is also a lecturer at Dr. Hilla Limann Technical University, said this in Wa during a free breast cancer screening exercise to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month (Pink Month).

Also known as the Deputy Upper West Regional Women’s Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), she organised the exercise with support from Supper Cool Pack Mineral Water, Cool Pack Mineral Water, and Alhaji Alhassan Uthman Gbangu, a businessman.

A total of 256 women in Wa went through the screening with five of them who were suspected of having breast cancer referred to the Wa Municipal Hospital for further screening and testing.

She explained that the exercise was necessitated by the importance she had attached to the health and well-being of the vulnerable groups in society, especially women, coupled with October being breast cancer awareness month.

She said all the women who came for the screening were educated on the symptoms of breast cancer and how they could do self-examination at home.

Some women, who spoke to the GNA after going through the screening, thanked her for the initiative as it had helped them to know their breast cancer status.

“I thank God for this screening because we usually don’t know our status, but now that I have gone through this, they (the nurses) said I don’t have it, so I am happy".

I hope it will not be only today, she should do it often and it will help us a lot”, Hajia Hamida Nasir, a beneficiary said.

She encouraged other women to always take advantage of such free screening exercises to know their health status.

She said: “It is better to do it now and know your health status rather than to wait and go to the hospital later to pay and do the same test.”

Hajia Kutum Yakubu, another beneficiary also expressed gratitude to the benefactor for the kind gesture and prayed for God’s blessing for her to extend the initiative to many women in other parts of the region.

Maria Johana Yuorpor, the Chief Executive Officer of Mara Foods, who also took part in the screening exercise said breast cancer awareness creation should not only be loud in October but it should be an all-year-round campaign.

She said people were gradually realising the need to go through regular screening and encouraged women to endeavour to do a self-examination of their breasts and to seek specialist attention when necessary.

Adishetu Bolibie, a midwife at the Wa Municipal Hospital, asked women to look out for abnormalities in their breasts including a “moving” lump, unusual discharges, and pores on the breast, and should report to the health facilities for further tests if those signs were seen on their breasts.