CANCER IN GHANA 8th COMMENT

I heard a really nice new at bbc health which talk about the experience of a journalist named Claudia Hammond whose picture is above, who traveled to Ghana as part of a research about the increase of the cancer in that country. As in many other African countries, the cancer in Ghana is increasing.
People now are living longer and choosing westernised lifestyles leading to a much higher risk of the disease.
In the report the woman said that for 2020 there will be a million new cases of the disease in Africa every year.

In the hospital, Claudia meets oncologist Dr Baffour Awuah, who explained her that the hospital is the only cancer centre in the north of the country and serves 12 million people. The doctor said that with money also coming from neighbouring countries the resources are stretched.
Dr Awuah said that the biggest problem they have is that many people come to the hospital too late for their cancer to be cured. And taht people is who die at hospital.

The good notice is that Ghana is ideally situated to become a cancer treatment centre for West Africa. A fact recognised by a charity launched in Accra last month.
AfrOx (The African Oxford Consortium) wants to develop a cancer plan for the country.
Raising awareness, screening and early diagnosis are all important parts of the plan and if it works the hope is that other African countries will be able to follow suit.